Math Mammoth vs. Rod and Staff math

[Sunshine89]

I'm considering going with Memoria Press for our curriculum next year... and they suggest using Rod and Staff for math. 

 

I purchased Math Mammoth a couple years ago from the homeschool buyers coop so I already have it (have to print it though) and I also have a Singapore workbook (the common core aligned version from Costco) that I was going to try to add it (because I have it)

 

but then Memoria Press suggests Rod and Staff and that has me scratching my head. They discount their program if you buy the entire year bundled so I was tempted to go that route and use the Rod and Staff and maybe Math Mammoth as a secondary (I have the light blue and dark blue series so I can print by grade level or topic) but then I have 'heard' that Rod and Staff has a lot of problems so I'm not sure if that would just be overkill?

 

Anyways, thoughts on each of these programs? I would be using if for 1st and 2nd grade this upcoming year... 

Edited June 15, 2016 by Sunshine89

[mama25angels]

Have you used MM in the past? Did it work for your students? If it did then I would continue to use it, if not then definitely give rod and staff a try.

[Sunshine89]

Have you used MM in the past? Did it work for your students? If it did then I would continue to use it, if not then definitely give rod and staff a try.

 

No next year is my first official year homeschooling, though I have been thinking about it for awhile... my oldest is ready for second grade and was in public school for kindergarten and 1st and my second child is ready for 1st grade and was in kindergarten at the public school. 

Edited June 15, 2016 by Sunshine89

[wapiti]

Note that a Singapore workbook from Costco is not the same as the program from Singaporemath.com.  It may be a knockoff (e.g. the Frank Schaffer workbooks).

 

Math Mammoth is Asian-style like Singapore.  Rod and Staff would be more traditional.

 

I'm not sure I'd care what math program Memoria Press sells.  Use what you think will fit your students best.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited September 23, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Sunshine89]

Note that a Singapore workbook from Costco is not the same as the program from Singaporemath.com.  It may be a knockoff (e.g. the Frank Schaffer workbooks).

 

Math Mammoth is Asian-style like Singapore.  Rod and Staff would be more traditional.

 

I'm not sure I'd care what math program Memoria Press sells.  Use what you think will fit your students best.

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure it is the knock off which I don't really care since I only even intended to use it as a supplement. I liked that it had problems similar to what my kids did in public school. Should I be concerned about the way concepts are taught in the book though? Or just be aware that it's not the original Singapore books.

[Sunshine89]

I've used nearly every level of R&S math and seen a few MM levels up close. R&S does not have more problems than MM IMO. They're both mastery approaches and have simple, uncluttered pages.

 

MM is Asian flavored and teaches multiple ways to solve similar problems. It's all consumable workbooks that you'd have to print for each kid. There are lots of problems, and plenty of users appear to cross out problems or tweak the printer settings to have less on a page. It's usually one of the preferred books on the "conceptual math only" threads. If I recall correctly after completing book 7 a child is well prepared for algebra 1.

 

R&S is old school math. Very traditional. Grades 1 and 2 have workbooks. 3-8 are textbooks. 3 and 4 actually have enough room to write directly in the student textbook, and they're inexpensive enough I didn't feel the least bit bad about that. These books were written assuming grade 1 is the first math your child has ever seen. 1 starts with number recognition and gently works up to +/- facts through ten and other random concepts in the middle. It's really more K level compared to most publishers. 2 goes up to twenty, and is still a bit behind most publishers. (If you get this book, the work can be pretty redundant and my mathy kids skipped swaths of this book. We did every problem of every lesson in books 1 and 3 though. 2 is just wonky.) By book 4 the scope has caught up to programs like Saxon and such, and a child who has completed book 8 is ready for algebra 1. This one usually gets knocked on those "conceptual math only!" threads, but if you're doing the program as intended it's very conceptual. The building blocks are worked on thoroughly before the whole picture is put together. Like by the time my little ones got to working directly with fractions they understood what a fraction was inside out and backwards.

 

I think pretty much every math curriculum sold to homeschoolers gets the "too many problems" complaint. It's a homeschooler thing in general. One series I really, really like for math elementary kids gets that complaint too. My (naturally mathy, granted) kids could rip through two lessons, doing every problem, in the same amount of time their kids were getting through one with problems crossed out. Problem volume is relative I guess.

 

I was more concerned that it might be too many problems if I somehow tried to combine the two since I'm thinking of buying the program along with the memoria press package. If it's not our thing I can shelve it or resell it on ebay. My oldest (2nd grade this year) is very strong in math.