Math U See, Math Lessons for a Living Education, or CLE

[jmjs4]

We are currently using Math Lessons for a Living Education for my 6 and 7.5 year old.  They are both so-so about it (not really liking it), and I am not sure I love it either. I am considering switching to CLE or Math U See instead.  Does anyone have any input on these three math programs?

 

TIA!

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We have had good success with CLE in the early grades. I like the emphasis on fact memorization. Their flash card system is genius. Now in 6th grade and as concepts get harder, we're running into some issues. My son doesn't feel like he gets enough instruction on each concept before it moves onto the next thing. We've dabbled with Math Mammoth and Beast and both of those were too mastery-based and not enough review. 

 

I have not used either of your other programs, however. 

[HomeAgain]

Math U See was a great fit for my oldest. He loved the short lessons, the visual and hands on approach, and the amount of review was just right for him. We did up through Pre-algebra before switching, but that last year we supplemented a lot.

 

My youngest hated it. It moved too slow, he didn't want to use the big blocks, and the mastery based approach drove him bonkers. I got him to use the dvd lessons for epsilon and zeta, and he liked the fraction tiles, but he would have rebelled had I made him use the program in its entirety. He preferred MEP, which is also scripted but allowed for more math play, and smaller c-rods that didn't clutter the table while he worked something out.

[Amy M]

I use MUS and love it for my oldest son, and merely like it for the second. But I think I'd feel that way about any curriculum for the second. Math is not his thing. Here is my review of MUS, and then a more thorough explanation of why I chose it a few years ago. We have used Alpha through half of Zeta now with the oldest, and I'm going through Primer now with kids #3-4. I plan to stick with MUS, but we do supplement as well. It's been great for us.

[ksr5377]

We have been using CLE for the past two years and I have loved it.  However, I just purchased MUS for next year.  The past few months I have realized that while my two girls are getting the right answers, they have no idea WHY they're getting the right answers.  I am not skilled enough in this area to just organically teach them this, I need more hand-holding.  There's not much offered in the CLE teacher's manual to help with this.  After talking with a MUS rep I discovered that while students can watch their videos, they're really intended for parents to watch to teach us how to teach the lesson.  This is perfect for me!

My oldest is going to go down a level and review, to help fill in some of the things she's weak on.  Since I know some of it will be easy for her, I was told to introduce the lesson and then have her teach the concept back to me(this is what we are to do with every lesson).  Then, if she knows it right away, have her do one worksheet from that section. If she does well, move on to the next lesson.  

[athomeontheprairie]

No help. Just putting this out there... My dd9 has really struggled with math. It was hard every. Single.day.

We used rs. I love rs. But it had to go. In December I bought math lessons for a living education-to finish this year.

Does she LOVE it? No. But she likes workbooks. She likes knowing we are doing pages 1-4 then stopping.

I don't know what we'll do about next year, but right now, I'm very thankful for it.

 

OP, I hope you find what works for you.

[MyLife]

We use MLFLE, and really like it. Have you been able to pin point what you and your kiddos don't like about it?

 

I haven't used MUS or CLE, so I cannot compare them to MLFLE. I will say that spiral math is not a good fit for my kids, so CLE is out of the picture for us.

 

ETA: I purchased the CLE addition and subtraction flashcards before starting MLFLE. Once we started MLFLE, I continued with the CLE flashcards instead of making our own right brain flashcards. I agree with the above poster that the CLE flashcards schedule is GREAT!

Edited April 24, 2017 by MyLife

[mykidsrmyjoy]

I have actually used all these math curricula. I started with CLE, switched to MLFLE, then went to MUS, and finally came back to CLE. Math was an extreme source of frustration for DD at first, but, although she doesn't love it, she has no trouble with it now and tolerates it pretty well.

 

I used the first edition of MLFLE, before Master Books started printing it, and TBH it just seemed a bit cheesy to me. It also seemed like there wasn't any rhyme or reason to the way the math facts were taught.

 

We liked MUS at first but then grew tired of doing the same thing every. single. lesson. The mastery approach just was not a good fit for her at all.

 

CLE has been perfect for DD. She enjoys the variety of different problems on each lessons and thrives on the gentle review each day. I've seen her math understanding really grow this year. She is applying what she's learned in her math to math situations IRL. I'm extremely pleased with CLE and am very happy to have found something that works well for DD.

[jmjs4]

Have you been able to pin point what you and your kiddos don't like about it?

 

 

 

Neither of my children seem to enjoy the stories.  Today my daughter had to use the place value village and mat to count to 45, and afterwards she had to do the same to 27.  She moaned and complained the whole time.  Neither of them likes doing the place value exercises.  

 

 

They both love and adore Logic of English Foundations.  I would love to find something for math that they enjoyed.  I know everything is not going to always be fun, but I would prefer it be something they dread to do everyday.  I wonder if Rightstart or Horizons would be better.  We did use Horizons in K, and they never complained.  I am intrigued by Rightstart, but kind of scared to teach it.  LOE already takes up most of the morning hours.

[athomeontheprairie]

Neither of my children seem to enjoy the stories. Today my daughter had to use the place value village and mat to count to 45, and afterwards she had to do the same to 27. She moaned and complained the whole time. Neither of them likes doing the place value exercises.

 

 

We skip the stories. I do not care. I also do not do the projects.

 

RS is what we came from. It's what I use with both the older and younger siblings. I use a lot of the RS games along mlfale.

 

Also, while I AM for changing if needed-mop program is perfect. Can you take the parts you like and leave the parts you don't?

[MyLife]

Neither of my children seem to enjoy the stories. Today my daughter had to use the place value village and mat to count to 45, and afterwards she had to do the same to 27. She moaned and complained the whole time. Neither of them likes doing the place value exercises.

 

 

Hmmm. My kids love the place value village, but I realize all kids are different. If they are complaining, I think I would stop mid-lesson and ask why they are complaining, not in a mean way but just to try to understand what they are thinking.

 

I own Uncovering the Logic the English book, but I'm not familiar with the whole program. It takes up most of the morning? Maybe they are tired by the time they get to math. I'm not suggesting that you change LOE since it is working well, but maybe they need a longer break, snack, etc.

 

I'm not trying to convince you to stay with MLFLE if it's not working for you, but I flip flopped around in math trying to find what worked for my kids. For my oldest, once I determined that spiral math had too much review for him and that he doesn't love using manipulatives all the time, I was able to narrow down some of my choices.

[mamamoose]

Right start is time consuming but for one kid it's not all that more burdensome than any other math program, if your kids like card games. My kids didn't love the games and saw through them, so while I like it for math fact practice, they didn't necessarily and it became time consuming trying to manipulate them into playing. For one student it would be okay. I haven't settled on a math I love either. I like mastery, but really wish there was a program that was mostly mastery with about 10 minutes each day of review. If math mammoth incorporated this it would be the one. Sigh...

[jmjs4]

It takes up most of the morning? Maybe they are tired by the time they get to math. I'm not suggesting that you change LOE since it is working well, but maybe they need a longer break, snack, etc.

 

 

That might have been a little of an exaggeration.  It feels like it sometimes though!  We usually start school at 900 or 930, and LOE takes until 1030 or 1100.  Usually that is because there is a card game, and the kids are having so much fun I let them play for a while.  At 1030 or 1100 we usually take a break, and then its usually time for me to make lunch.  So it does seem LOE takes all morning.  It does cover handwriting, reading, and spelling though.  They are learning cursive, so we do spend some time working on letters, combining cursive letters to make words, etc.  I'm sure we could get it done quicker, but I don't want learning to be something we rush through to get done, and then all the love of learning is lost.  Math is usually after lunch.