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MEP question


mommaslp
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Hello:)  Those of you who use MEP, a few questions: 

 

- can it be used as a supplement to help with conceptual/mental teaching in a program that maybe doesn't have that as its strength? (CLE + MEP)

- how do you use MEP, do you print off all the pages and corresponding TM ahead of time and hole punch?  Or just print as needed?  Is it fairly open and go? 

- is MEP mastery or spiral?  

- do most kids test in at lower grades?  should someone start at the beginning no matter what or is there a placement test?  

 

thanks:) 

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Hi Momma,

 

I think MEP as a supplement would be tricky because it has a lot of repetition. So if you use it along something else, you need to be really picky.

 

I think the best part of MEP are the lesson questions, not the worksheet ones, so I would glance through the teacher's manual and choose the best ones and print those out.

 

I do print out everything because otherwise I get sidetracked. Also, I like to circle the best problems and then just do those. I don't have my child do the review days (multiples of 5) unless she's been having a tough time with the content.

 

The tricky parts are the class problems. I think moving a child back too much would be discouraging and annoying (as well as boring). Try looking over the scope and sequence and then selecting a place for your child to be successful. I chose to move my kid back about one semester because she was pretty angry with math when we made the switch. She knows when she needs extra review and is pretty good at asking for a review page. If she's doing well, we often cross off half the problems.

 

The message I want to drive home here is that MEP isn't a workbook - the workbook "supplements" the discovery you do with the teacher. Just using the workbook really strips the program of its excellence.

Emily

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I don't know if I would call it open and go....I find it really helps to read over the lesson beforehand. That said, there is generally not a lot of prep you need to do aside from that. I have read the TM off my laptop, so I don't think you HAVE to print them out, though some people might find that helpful. I don't know if there is a placement test. I just had dd do every four worksheets (pgs. 4, 8, 12, etc) without the teaching bit until she got to a point where she was having difficulty with the problems. At first she rated them easy, and as we got farther on she said they were just right and after doing 3 pages after she said that, they started getting hard for her. I went back two weeks and starting using the TM from that point.

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Every 5th lesson is review, so what I would do to find the correct place to start is do just the worksheets that are multiples of 5 until you find the sweet spot then begin the full program there. You can do several worksheets each day until you get there. (So start a grade or two behind and do pages 5, 10, 15, etc.

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If I were using MEP as a supplement, I would read throught the learning objectives and overview for each year to determine a starting year.  I would then look at the scheme of works for that year to target lesson weeks of interest.  I would print the lesson plans for those weeks and go through them circling the exercises I wanted the child to complete.   I would make the decision to print worksheets or copy masters based on those exercises – Just a few worksheet problems from a lesson? I’d handwrite them.  More problems than I want to handwrite? Print the worksheet or copy master.

 

For a  child is working at or above a fourth grade level in another math program, I would look at the secondary level of MEP.  Years 7 through 9 were designed for middle grade students who had not used the primary level of the program.  Years 7 through 9 cover the same topics as years 4 through 6 in a format that is more easily cherry-picked.

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For Years 1 and 2 it's been changed so every 5th lesson is no longer just review. However they haven't added extra content, they've just taken those pages out, and you can still get them under "revision questions" on the website. 

Edited by Fardo
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It is a spiral conceptual curriculum. In the early grades it would be hard to use as a supplement because a lot of the teaching is in the lesson plan not the worksheets and the lessons are not quick. Since it is spiral it is a little harder to cherry pick. I did not realize the middle grade program was similar but arranged in less if a spiral so if you have an older student that is probably a good option. For the primary program I just glanced through the lessons and saw what kind of problems my kids have covered or could answer easily and go until it was a spot they could work on.

Edited by MistyMountain
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I print the student sheets and have the TM open on my tablet. We are afterschooling but I use the whole program more or less, though I have shifted topics around to suit us by consulting the Scheme of Work. I simplify lessons by clustering the TM content (actually I think it's called Lesson Plan) at the beginning or end of the student sheet rather than trying to choreograph having her repeatedly shifting attention between the sheet and me as it says to do in a classroom environment. We are working considerably behind her PS grade level to consolidate skills which I belatedly realized were not being developed to the promised level in PS but it's certainly not necessary for everyone to start at the beginning. Once I got used to it, I realized it looks more different/radical than it is, just due to the graphical style which was very unusual to my eye. Some of those differences actually make it easier, for example writing everything in those little boxes that show the student exactly how many digits/characters are required. It does take some getting used to though. So it gets quicker as you go.

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I admit to using MEP and another math curriculum at the same time grades 1-3 for my first three children.  After that it was too much work to really keep two programs going fully.  For year 4 I used it more like a supplement and it wasn't as successful for us.  I do print out the teacher manual because it is crucial.  There are many parts to the lesson that are not on the student sheet. 

 

I do not consider it quite open and go because there are often materials you need to have ready.  However, the teacher manual gives great instructions usually. 

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