Math--what have you used, what are you using now...

[mamamoose]

...what are the pros and cons as far as you can see, etc?

 

I am mostly searching for my 5th grader, and wanted a thread with it all! Haha

[OneStepAtATime]

What has your 5th grader used in the past and why are you switching away?  Or at least considering it?

 

 

[Chelli]

Have used:

 

Singapore Standards

Horizons

Math Mammoth

Math in Focus

Beast Academy

MEP

BJU

Miquon

Life of Fred

 

Using Now:

Math in Focus

Miquon

Math U See

Mathematical Reasoning Beginnings

 

Can you tell I've struggled finding a math program to fit my oldest?!?  :lol:  :cursing:  :lol:

[3 ladybugs]

I am not to 5th yet. Here is my list of what I have used though:

 

Singapore Standards

Shiller Math

 

Currently using 

Miquan - NEVER in a million years would guess he would be getting math as well as he has with this the last month and half. 

[freelylearned]

We have used Saxon and Life of Fred. Saxon was good in k-3, but once we hit 4th it was too much review and the introduction of new topics was too scattered. My son needed to stay on a topic for awhile before moving on.

 

We are using Singapore and enjoy the hands on introduction to new topics and the mastery approach. It's just the right amour of work and challenge for us.

[Sarah0000]

We've used:

 

Right Start

Singapore

Mep

Miquon

 

But not any of them in the complete way they are intended.

 

This coming year for third grade math we'll be trying out Beast Academy and Key to Fractions and Key to Geometry, and continuing mental math from Singapore 3.

[Sarah0000]

Sorry, didn't include pros/cons. We're not at fifth grade math but I prefer programs that are creative enough to do during read alouds like Life of Fred ( I forgot to include that in my previous post) and hopefully BA, or that are clear enough for independent work like Miquon and hopefully Key to books that way I never have to have separate math time. Singapore and Mep doesn't fit those needs for us.

[StartingOver]

We have used or tried Miquon ( loved it ), Math Mammoth ( the kids felt there was to much time between skills ) Singapore ( they hated all the different books ) Life of Fred ( burned out fast ) Then we returned to Saxon ( my older kids all used it ) and the kids like the constant review. So here we stay. I really want to try AOPs with my youngest, math minded child, but we will see. For now it works, they are retaining and not hating Saxon.

[ScoutTN]

Dd used Right Start all the way through level E, then switched to Math Mammoth, because there wasn't a next thing for her in RS. Happy in MM 6. Using Math Minutes for spiral review and Singapore CWP for some extra challenge. 

 

Ds went through RS level C, but it is not a great fit for him. He needs the algorithm taught first, then the mental math explained after her is comfortable. RS does it the other way around. Also not enough practice. Switching to Math Mammoth with a workbook for some spiral review. 

 

Love the RS card games for both!

 

RS pros: It is hand-on and visual. Very conceptual. RS cons: lots of manipulatives to keep track of, not always clear teaching progression. Price, but has a high resale value. 

 

MM pros: conceptual, inexpensive worktext, very responsive customer service and excellent website with lots of free resources. MM cons: For some, mastery design is a con. Not lots of help for the teacher if the student doesn't get it from the text.  Layout is too busy for some. Would not have been a good choice for my kids in the early years - too much pencil and paper work.

 

[Sherry in OH]

My fifth grader will be using MEP year 6.  I do not recommend starting MEP at this level.

 

MEP Pros: inexpensive (printing costs), thorough, encourages thinking rather than rote memorizing, early introduction of advanced concepts, single worksheet per lesson, built in review, easily adaptable for single student and non-British student.

 

Cons: Steep learning curve for teacher; teacher intensive: lessons must be taught, the worksheet is review; not easily accelerated; intended for classroom use in UK, adaptation required for single student and for use in other countries; does not cover US standard measurements

 

My son started MEP at the Reception level.  Most of my experimenting with other math programs has been at the early elementary level.

 

Life of Fred Apples to Honeybees – my children read these for fun.  They like the storyline.  I think they work best as supplements.  My fifth grader has also read the Fractions book. 

 

Beast Academy – my children love the guidebooks.  We have used the 3A-D workbooks sporadically.  Both children would rather keep MEP as their math program and BA for fun.

 

 

Ray’s Arithmetic – solid but boring at the early elementary level

 

Everyday Number Stories – another vintage textbook.  This was my backup if we didn’t like MEP.  It is primarily word problems in a story format.  Cute for early elementary, could be used as review for older elementary.  No teacher guide.

 

Funtastic Frogs workbooks and plastic frogs – Workbook exercises are repetitive and predictable.  Best used as a supplement.  My children enjoyed playing with the frogs.   

 

Right Start Activities for the AL Abacus and Workbook – Worksheets were boring, I found the program hard to implement.   Children liked the abacus (we used it with the early years of MEP).

[Susie in MS]

For 5th grade we used Math Lessons for a Living Education. For my dd less is TRULY more when it come to math.  Most  other math books have far more problems than is necessary for most children to learn the subject. When my dd would see a page full of numbers she would shut down. Cutting the lessons in half or even in fourth didn't really help all that much for her. That visual of all of those numbers was still in front of her. MLFLE was not overwhelming to her like other maths were. 

 

Another thing that we really like about MLFLE is that it applies math to real life and is hands on. The story line kept her seeing how math is needed. One lesson I remember was for dd to come up with a menu and a shopping list. She was to figure the cost. Then she had to cook the meal using even more math. We cut the recipe in half so that added to the math there as well.

 

Extra pluses for MLFLE are the price and the fact that there is NO teacher's manual, nor is one needed. 

Cons: IF your child needs lots of practice you would need to add to it. The new level 5 is not expected to be available till August.

 

Right now we are using SCM's Your Own Business: Pet Store while waiting on MLFLE book 6 to be published (it will be a while). This  has proven to be a good choice for her. Dd is engaged in the whole operation of running her own business while using decimals, etc. Yesterday she even did more than I required of her. So this math also has that real life application that she needs. 

Cons: It is very, very bland in appearance. Learning which forms (inventory, profit and loss, etc) to use can be a bit of a learning curve. 

 

As you can imagine word problems, especially in a story format, works well for her. 

 

For dd, numbers all over the place are useless and mind boggling , but when they are giving a reason for being she is able to open her mind. 

Edited July 12, 2016 by Susie in MS

[ondreeuh]

I used at least a level out of Singapore US Ed., Horizons, CLE, Saxon, Math in Focus, Holt's middle school math series

 

I dabbled in Miquon, Math Mammoth, and Beast Academy

 

I have used Math in Focus consistently with my youngest (1A-4B) along with Math Minutes (for mixed review) and bar modeled word problems. It has worked wonderfully here. We are pausing to work on Beast Academy and more puzzle/challenging math to develop perseverance. He finished all of MIF 4 in 3 months, and I am nervous about charging ahead.

 

My oldest had the piecemeal math foundation before doing courses 1-3 in middle school. He is doing well in PH Algebra 1 and I see no reason not to continue with that series through Geometry and Algebra 2. Then we will decide what to do next.

Edited July 12, 2016 by ondreeuh

[3 ladybugs]

I am not to 5th yet. Here is my list of what I have used though:

 

Singapore Standards

Shiller Math

 

Currently using 

Miquan - NEVER in a million years would guess he would be getting math as well as he has with this the last month and half. 

Forgot pro cons. :blush:

 

Singapore standards - Pro - well laid out, easy to read. 

Con - Lots of extras to buy, not everything is taught in a logical manner, not colorful, VERY school like. 

 

Shiller Math - Pro - Scripted, built in review, supplies included, no need to teach children what they already know, full motion, multi sensory, songs, games, teaches algebra in early levels.

Con - not enough repetition, have to purchase 3 years at once

 

Miquan - Pro - VERY cheap, spiral based, colorful, child directed, 

Con - not flashy, only goes up to 3rd grade.

[mamamoose]

Here's where we are at: Dd was in public school up through October of last year and Ben we pulled all our children to homeschool. Dd is behind in Marh but only about a half a year, and conceptually she was struggling. We used Right Start Level D which she completed and really liked, but we supplemented with Math Mammoth because she needed to move more quickly than RS to catch up and those lessons are long and teacher intensive. She is still behind where I want her but she does really well--she was a full year behind when we pulled her out of public school despite always getting As, so we are getting there. She liked Right Start and I really want to keep going but E isn't ready yet, so I think we are jumping ship. I also think I am ready to be less involved in her Math every day!!! I bought Marh mammoth and beast academy and I think that's where we are--math mammoth 4 (finishing up long division, decimals, and some measuring in August and Septembwr and then on to 5). My other kids will continue in Right Start (B and C/D) with math mammoth work texts for supplements.

[2_girls_mommy]

We did Rod and Staff in 1st -8th for my oldest.  She is now in Lial's Algebra. The younger is working through R&S right now.  So far my plans for her are the same- to finish Rod and Staff.

[smudge]

I have a girl heading into 5th. She also has inattentive ADHD and some other processing kind of stuff. Anyway, at the end of 1st she was in PS and thanks to her teacher and the math exercises she was convinced she was stupid. Nevermind the fact that she was reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Indian in the Cupboard!

 

Long story short, we decided to pull her and do HS for both her and her sis- 2 yrs younger. Started out with Math Mammoth. It's a fine program, but to her little ADHD brain it was overwhelming. Math became a daily nightmare. I switched to Horizons. That was better for her. Smaller chunks, and it was just a front/back of a page.

 

I tried BA, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to work the problems without looking at the answers in the back every. Single. Time. But the kids did like looking at the graphic novel aspect of it.

 

Horizons does not give me enough teacher helps to know what to teach. I have given her the CLE and Saxon placement tests so we may switch yet again. With CLE I like the fact that it comes in booklets, I think this would be better for DD than Saxon and writing problems down..

[Ewe Mama]

Oh boy. Here we go with the list of math we have used. This will take some time.

 

Horizons - Kindergarten, too many things going on on each page

 

Rod & Staff - Love this in the lower levels when it is a workbook or there is enough space to write in the textbook. Very thorough.

 

CLE - overall, my favorite. Used levels 100-Algebra. My boys have been grumbling over the amount of work, and are not retaining, so we are switching. Hopefully some mathematical joy will be found again.

 

MM - I need more direction in teaching this when difficulty arises. It's great for kids who are math intuitive, but lacks clear-cut directions for the less mathematically inclined.

 

McRuffy - loved this for the lower levels. I wish we had continued this with the boys.

 

RightStart - Just was not a good fit for me and my teaching style.

 

Miquon - I need clear direction on how to teach this without having to flip through three other books to figure it out. I like the idea of it, but in practice, I am too intimidated by it.

 

Mathematical Reasoning - just did not like it. Books fell apart, not much actual teaching instruction.

 

Strayer Upton - if I had another one to teach from the beginning, I would probably use these because I like the looks of them. Yes, I own them, but have never planned to make use of them. I just like them!

 

MEP- see Miquon's explanation

 

Life of Fred - too many typos for me to get past, plus there isn't enough practice.

 

Schiller - I liked, but my youngest did not. Fortunately, I purchased it used at a very good price.

 

KinderMath - my favorite for the very young PreK level.

 

Math U See - great for kids who do well with mastery, but mine need a more spiral approach.

 

Math Lessons for a Living Education - very sweet program. I have liked what we used.

 

Lial's for Pre-Algebra and both levels of Algebra. My eldest has done very well with them,but she very mathematically inclined.

 

 

 

I just placed an order for Beast Academy, Teaching Textbooks, and Singapore to figure out if my boys will do better with these. Actually the Singapore is for me to try to figure out!

 

I always wanted to try Math on the Level. I find it very intriguing.

 

I think the only big math program we have never used is Saxon. LOL,

[birchbark]

Have used:

 

Miquon (fun, but didn't solidify skills)

Singapore (didn't create solid understanding and retention here, plus too many books)

CLE (too many concepts going on at once)

Math Mammoth (dry and intimidating-looking)

 

Now using:

 

Strayer Upton (cute, incremental, thoughtful presentation of topics)

Systematic Mathematics (video-based, incremental, reusable, middle school level)

[almcclur]

I grew up with Saxon, and then we dabbled with Singapore long ago before stumbling on Rightstart. My oldest has Asperger's and this program was excellent for him. We used it all the way up until Geometry and then switched over to VideoText, which was just ok for us. Then he went on to pass the CLEP Algebra and took Trig at a community college. This year he's 16 and taking Calculus at the community college. At the end of this past year (his Sophomore year) he got a 700 on the Math part of the SAT, so objectively this path has been good for him.

 

My second son is going into 5th grade and we've stuck with RightStart for him too, though he's a very different kid. It is still a great fit. Granted both of them have a decent comfort level with the subject but I think the program helped with that since we've used it from the start. Anyway, he is wiggly and struggles with academics. He'd just rather be outside or bouncing on something or playing games. But out of all of his many lessons-related complaints Math has never been one. The variety of the activities in the lessons keeps him engaged interested. The card games are excellent, and he requests them all the time. The manipulative are useful and not just filler/fluff. There is enough repetition for him to remember things, and that is an impressive feat in itself considering the number of times we have to repeat other material. 

 

If there is any con it's that you can't really just give them the book and say, "go do it." But math is so important and missing something (or learning it badly) in the grammar stage can just mangle their progress later on (as I witnessed with my poor sister, who had a string of bad teachers and now believes herself just incapable of math).

 

Anyway, the teaching part is all quite scripted and I didn't feel like there was really any prep necessary as long as you've got the manipulative supplies laying around. It's the program I'm the most satisfied with out of everything we've tried. Actually, in any subject. 

 

Now if only I could find its Science equivalent!

 

[Holly]

I used several programs, mostly with my oldest.   :blush:

 

Saxon K--liked this and used it with 2 of my DC, will probably use it with the 3rd.  Switched from Saxon because I wanted something less workbook-y...although I often wish we'd just stayed here.  lol

Rightstart K--too time consuming on my part and couldn't see it working with 3+ children.  My DD didn't care for it either.  We still use many of their manipulatives and Math Games book

Singapore Primary Mathematics (1st through 3rd grades)--Loved this one, and DD did okay with it, but DD still really struggled with math.  I would have stuck with it, but wanted something easier for her to understand.  My older DC have pretty good mental math skills, and I credit it to SM.

Mathusee--We currently use it, everyone likes it okay.  Very easy to teach with a large family.  I plan on continuing with this one through high school, supplementing a bit with math fact drills.  I like the minimalism of this program: simple, plain worksheets, very basic weekly schedule (Video and A on Monday, WS B & C on Tues, etc), and very few manipulatives.  

 

Other's I tried with later DC:

Singapore Earlybird--this one was great for K

R&S preschool books--Books C and I are math focused and really fun for K.

Funtastic Frogs--didn't care for this as much as I thought I would.

Miquon--I wanted to like this, but I didn't get it.  I'm not a math-y person, so I really struggled with how to do this.  

Math Mammoth--we used a semester of this when DD was struggling with subtraction with regrouping.  I over-all liked it, but preferred the format of SM.  It might have worked better with a child that didn't need so much one-on-one help with math.

 

If money weren't an issue, I probably would have continued SM with my 2nd child.  He's very math-y and I think would have done well with it.  However, I do like having everyone in one program.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Holly

[Soror]

Every one....

 

Right Start- B-E; worked great for my son in the lower levels but not so much in the upper levels. Great use of manipulatives and little writing for those who struggle w/ writing but have good understanding. Cons: lessons take a long time, teacher intensive

 

Horizons- 1-3, parts of 4-6; pros- straightforward, plenty of review; Cons- teaching material and explanations are lacking

 

Beast Academy- all of 3, 4 and half of 5th; Pros- Engaging, Deep, Rigorous; Cons- Little review & mastery based can make it difficult for retention

 

dabbled in: 

 

MM-everyone here hates the layout- too much on a page and very unappealing, so many problems!!!

 

MIquon- Some of my kids have liked and some not so much, sequence is atypical, teacher intensive and a bit hard to figure out but really stresses good understanding

 

Saxon- Just started 5/4 with my daughter; cons of course are that it is so repetitive and lots of problems- but repetition is a plus for her, so far I think it has a lot of review but it is greatly increasing her confidence which was shook last year w/ Horizons 3. I believe it will be a good fit for her, never would have worked for my son(way too many problems) and I don't think it will work for dd2 either(too slow for her) but all kids are different.

 

MEP- have used R w/ 2 kids and parts of 1 w/ 2. Too conceptual for my older daughter. It is going ok w/ my younger daugher, she flew through R and I started her on 1 last year but she hit a block, so after doing various things I decided to try 1 again. Tenatively I think I'd like to take her through 2 and then onto BA gr. 2 when it releases next summer, we'll see. Cons- teacher intensive, lessons can be long, non-traditional; Pros- stresses understanding and critical thinking

 

So many others we've used bits and pieces of- CLE (too much repetition, too much on the page, a fair amount of good teaching but some really lacking in explanation), Gattegno (enjoyed what we used but a bit cumbersome). 

 

I've bought MUS pre-algebra and Algebra for ds but he hasn't used it yet. My impression so far is that it is light w/ few problems, although the teaching seems to be solid. I bought Delta for my DD but she didn't like the look of it and honestly 2/3 of the book would have been review and I decided to stick w/ spiral for her (Saxon). I believe MUS will work well for my son, I'm looking for a quick run through to solidify pre-algebra skills and I think it will work well for that. So much of what I looked for had too much review for what we needed, he still doesn't do well with tons of problems and at this point knows things pretty well he just needs a bit more practice.

[alisoncooks]

Oldest is heading into 5th.  We went through:

 

1. Singapore:  loved the inclusion of games & the way the concepts were taught; I struggled to organize all the parts & it didn't include enough repetition/fact practice
2. Math in Focus:  easy to implement, graphics & presentation appealed to my daughter; expensive, didn't like the hunt for used teacher's manuals which were bulky and classroom-focused
3. Math Mammoth:  didn't like the free-flow form (ie. there are no lesson breaks, you go at child's own pace doing however many pages); I wanted a bit more guidance; DD was visually overwhelmed by the full pages
4. BJU Math: we liked that it was mastery-based but each lesson had some review of previous concepts, colorful graphics appealed to DD, 1-page a day in early grades was perfect for us; teacher's guides were expensive and bulky and aimed toward classroom use, my daughter needed even more review, I got tired of the heavy-handed religious focus

 

What we used for 3rd & 4th (and likely will for 5th):  CLE

Pros - very bite-sized instruction, gently introduces topics, lots and lots of built in review, built in quizzes/tests/fact drills, inexpensive, great teacher's manual for early grades (though we switch to just answer key in 4th), Christian curriculum but not heavy-handed

Cons - the word problems are NOT strong, some lessons can include 4-5 pages of work in 4th/5th grade which can be overwhelming

[blondeviolin]

USED:

-Singapore Math (colorful, engaging, HIGs are easy to use, good understanding. My oldest needs more incremental.)

-Beast Academy (comic book! Very thorough. Mom-intensive because Mom wants to tag along. This is the way I like math.)

-Teaching Textbooks (we used this for one year to give my oldest a break and reset. She went through two years of it. It's super gentle, spiral, but definitely behind and lacks conceptual teaching.)

-Saxon 5/4 (spiral, incremental, good problem solving, TONS of problems)

-Miquon (fun, tactile, good understanding. Scope and sequence is different.)

 

Dabbled in:

-Math Mammoth (too many problems for my oldest)

-CLE (good spiral, work texts, inexpensive)

-Math in Focus (fun bright workbooks. Never had the teachers manual, never had a problem.)

 

ETA: my oldest will be fifth grade. I have her the choice of math and she picked Saxon. At this age, I feel like they can have a bit of a say (within reason).

Edited July 14, 2016 by blondeviolin

[Kel & the Kids]

The best combo I've found for us is Rightstart A-E and then moving on to Saxon in grade 5. 

 

BJU - used through 6th - too teacher intensive, not enough practice, the math didn't stick.

Math Mammoth - used in middle grades, went too many different directions at once for my crew.

R&S - grade 1, we just preferred the fun format of Rightstart.

Miquon - never quite got the hang of it, DS didn't like it at all!

Thinkwell - grade 7 - total waste of money for us, not enough practice and boring - switched to Saxon

 

Righstart provided a great foundation for understanding how numbers work, and it was fun (mostly!)!

 

Saxon has been a huge hit for us - my last resort.  I would never have thought it would work.  The kids love knowing exactly how much work they have to do each day, theylove the fact that there are no "scary" lessons presenting some huge difficult concept, and they love getting great math marks, even on our standardized tests ; )  

 

[Heidi]

I used MM for 3 years.  I switched to CLE two years ago.  I switched because MM was cumbersome for my kids.  It required a lot of brain power, which isn't bad, but more than I thought was necessary.  It was cluttered and just too much.  The kids didn't like it.  MM is mastery and conceptual.

 

I decided to try the opposite of MM and try CLE.  CLE is spiral and traditional, requires less deep thinking but still rigorous and good.  It is less cluttered and I like the TM much better because it is easier to check work.  CLE math for all my kids forever and ever, amen. ;)

[Cake and Pi]

It seems every kid needs his own path through math in my house.  My oldest will be just be starting 5th grade math, so I don't actually have experience there yet.

 

#1 did RightStart A-E (1st ed), then moved to Beast Academy 3C-D, 4A-D, and will start 5A in a couple of weeks when we start the 16-17 year

#2 did RS A through the first half of C (2nd ed.) then jumped to the beginning of C in 1st edition with BA 3A thrown in as a suppliment, and will pick up where we left of in RS D and BA 3B when we get going again.

#3 did RS A (1st ed), Singapore 1A-B (with an unofficial SM workbook from Costco), and the first half of RS B, but is now mostly working in MEP 1 with the occasional lesson from RS B and he likes to read the textbook for SM2.

 

So my pros and cons vary from kid to kid.

 

RS - parent intensive, but so, so worth it in the lower levels.  E is where it started to loose it's charm for me with DS#1, probably because he was younger and the topics were aimed at older kids with better fine motor skills.  Very few worksheets in the lower levels (pro for fine-motor delayed DS#1, con for worksheet-loving DS#3).  Very hands-on (pro for kinesthetic DS#3, con for hates-to-touch-manipulatives DS#2).  Very verbal (pro for auditory-learner DS#1, con for visual-learner DS#2).  Straight forward teaching instructions that are relatively easy to accelerate (pro).  Built in review (pro for DS#2 and #3, con for DS#1)

 

BA - can be done completely independently by the student (whoo hoo!) unless you have a kid who insists that you read the comic and each of the questions to him because he processes better when he hears someone else read them.  Challenging (pro for DS#1 who will just eat up a difficult problem, con for DS#2 who has perfectionist tendencies, hates to be wrong, and may not even try if he's not sure he can get a correct answer). Very little in the way of review (pro for DS#1, con for DS#2).  

 

MEP - Pros for DS#3: puzzly like BA, built in review, visually appealing daily worksheets.  Cons: difficult to accelerate, I'm not a fan of the teachers manual (but I don't really need it), and I'll have to supplement to cover U.S. customary units.  It also doesn't look like something you could just jump into at the higher levels very easily.

 

SM - Pros for DS#3: early levels have a fun "math storybook" aka textbook.  Cons: lots of pieces and parts.  We get the textbooks and home instructors guides free through our charter but not the workbooks, and I'd really rather have him working in the intensive practice books and/or challenging word problems, but I don't want to buy them because his interests jump around so frequently.  I've also read through the textbooks for 3-5 and liked the presentation, but wasn't entirely happy with the order in which they introduced topics.  I prefer RS's scope and sequence.

 

We've also watched a few random videos from Math U See and used their fractions overlays.  MUS was just meh over here, but it has been nice to have someone official looking back me up on the TV when my kids have argued with me over math topics.  

[MatthewBlackwood]

I would begin by figuring out what type of learner he is, how he learns best. And then look for a curriculum that teaches him in the way that he learns.

 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[strange_girl]

Oh, we definitely have a math odyssey here too (and we're not even to 5th grade yet)!

 

USED:

Liberty Math: DD did this in K, and it was ok. Lots of repetition, boring. She did learn from it, though.

 

Horizons: solid math, but there was just too much on the page. DD would get completely overwhelmed before she even started.

 

Math In Focus: pricey, and not my kids' learning style at all. Certainly not my learning style. Regretted this one.

 

A Beka: like Horizons, solid but very messy pages.

 

MEP: my son used the primer level of this and it was ok, but it was too easy for a K'er. He was bored. Probably should have just used Yr 1, but I was bored too and we moved on.

 

CLE: great math! I still love CLE. I love that it is traditional math, clearly taught, and well laid out. But, there are 4-5 pages in some lessons, and even though my kids handled it well, there was just too much! My kids do not need to do flash cards and speed drills and 5 pages of lesson every day in 2nd grade to master the math! They just don't. If they struggled with math, maybe. They don't.

 

 

So, this year I went completely rogue :svengo:  and ordered MCP (Modern Curriculum Press) math for both my kids. Inexpensive, short lessons, not 20 pages of practice for each thing, no speed drills, and no flash cards. Ask me again in 6 months how we like it, but right now it looks just about right for us.

[Guest]

Have Used:

TouchMath {LOVE the dots}

Calvert Math

Singapore Primary

Singapore Standards

Math U See

Key To...

Bob Jones

Saxon

Developmental Math

Teaching Textbooks

Horizons

Rod and Staff

McRuffy

School of the Redwoods Pre-Alg

Time4Learning

American School Math

Modern Curriculum Press

 

Currently Using {aka what finally works!}:

CLE Math- this is the only program any of my kids have ever made progress with. Any time we switched to something else {once I found it}, they lost ground. This was/is true for my struggling math guy Son 1 down to my dd. We will never switch again!

Edited July 18, 2016 by Paradox5

[...................]

Horizons 1-6 very good

Saxon 2-Alg 1/2, - not a fan of the elementary, however 5/4 and up are solid programs for focused kids.

 

(I think the popular recommendation to use Singapore for elementary and then Saxon for older grades is a good one.)

 

AOPS Pre Alg and Intro to Alg- IMO for only extremely gifted math students with moms who have math backgrounds and that enjoy math being a puzzle every single day. ...it was not a fit for my son.

 

Using now-

Dd will use horizons Pre Alg and finish Zacarros Challenge Math

 

Ds will go back to Saxon for Algebra 2.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Calming Tea

[amsunshine]

My dds are rising 8th and 9th graders.  We've used:

 

Singapore Standards K-6:  We used this with the excellent HIGs, the Intensive Practice books and the CWP books.  I loved the logical progression of topics and how they built on one another for elementary.  I also appreciated the IP and CWP for challenging my dds and helping them think outside the box.  The IP books are especially good for kids who love math puzzles.  I liked the activities outlined in the HIGs for concrete presentation of topics and feel the whole series gave my dds a very strong foundation in arithmetic.

 

Singapore Discovering Maths/Dimensions Maths:  We used the first 3 levels of this series.  Loved how elegant the presentation of topics was in this series.  Excellent problem sets.

 

AoPS Pre-Algebra, Intro to Algebra, and Intro to Counting and Probability:  We used these texts as supplementation.  My dds preferred the PreA text to the Intro texts, but we've often brought out each of the books to do a chapter or two here and there.  Excellent, challenging problem sets.  I personally don't like that this series is not integrated, the way Singapore is, so I wouldn't use it exclusively.  But that's just a personal preference, ymmv.  AoPS is a high quality series -- especially good for kids interested in competition math.

 

Saxon Algebra 2 and Advanced Maths:  This is what we used this past year.  We don't like these quite as much as Singapore, but Singapore became difficult to source through our charter, and I wanted a good, integrated math curriculum as an alternative.  Saxon is not colorful, and it's fairly dry, but it's solid, and I do like its constant, built-in review. My dds have done very, very well with it.