Which grade school math did you stick with?

[Ausmumof3]

We've used Singapore. I totally agree with the former comment. Actually I've missed stuff because of the flipping around...

 

I wouldn't say no regrets but they are possibly more to do with our usage. I regret not buying the teachers manual for the first two level. You really do need it if you haven't learned the Singapore way to teach. I somewhat regret not doing more of the mental math and enrichment but my oldest is a very slow calculator so it takes us at least an hour to heh through the basics most days.

 

Also the cost. Ouch. In Aus it costs over $200 a year for the basic program which is partly why I haven't bought all the parts at times - instructors guide, or extra practice of tests.

 

I'd really love it if they used the same approach to teaching but rolled everything into one monster book or maybe just a teachers manual and a workbook not the textbook too. And had all the parts inside the text but with comments against bits that are optional enrichment.

[Mrs Twain]

Horizons K-6 for all of my kids, all of the problems every day.

It has given them a very solid foundation.

[Peaceful Isle]

I have used both Math U See and BJU math for elementary math. I really like both for different times. My sons have used BJU this year for k5 and 5th grade. I use MUS gramma and delta for 3/4 th grade because it teaches multiplication and division so well, imho.

[laundrycrisis]

Mastering Mathematics for mastery of facts, and Horizons for everything else. Both have large print and simple, well organized pages. Horizons has color ink and occasional puzzles. Horizons gives a wide spiral. It had worked very well for both kids. (Both are religious. We ignore what we consider religious fluff that has nothing to do with math. )

Edited May 2, 2017 by laundrycrisis

[fralala]

Agree with Singapore.

 

My only regret is that with my first child, I didn't realize that spending lots of time working deeply on deceptively simple seeming topics in the early grades is key in a conceptual program because my own approach to math was conceptually unsophisticated. The drive to accelerate rather than go deeper was actually counterproductive.

 

I am keeping all the books for the baby when he's big enough because I like its multiple approaches, its ability to create flexibility with numbers, and it made me a lot stronger in elementary math myself, which I think is key-- the teacher is more important than the curriculum in elementary math (and other subjects, too, but no one needs my whole "it's a mistake to try to reform schools by giving teachers new and flashier curricula" diatribe here!). However, reading through the different experiences on this thread with different curricula definitely reinforced that opinion for me!

[Junie]

We use Abeka from K through 3rd.  Then we use Saxon 5/4 through Advanced Mathematics.

 

This sequence has worked ok so far.  There have been struggles, but none that seem to be the fault of the curriculum.

 

My only regret is that I don't have a magic wand to transfer dh's math smarts into the dc's brains.

[Susan in TN]

Singapore K-3, Math Mammoth 4-7

[nixpix5]

I very much disagree with that Horizons statement as well. My 9yo is a strong math student but also very Stubborn so two different math books work best. She has bounced back and forth between Horizons and Singapore or Math in Focus with ease. The level is comparable across the board with those three programs.

 

My middle schoolers went from Horizons to AoPS, Foerster, and Math Olympiad and have excelled.

I could have written this myself! My daughter is also bouncing between Horizons and Singapore and it is working perfect for her. She wouldn't have it any other way. She did horizon book 1 then singapore and now is finishing horizon book 2. They both speak to her but she likes variety. Her story problem comprehension shot up after completing singapore this year and made some areas of Horizons where she struggled a bit a smooth sail.

[strawberryjam]

CLE Math together with RedBird Math (Stanford EPGY) for the word problems (don't do the word problems in CLE).

 

Why?

 

We tried Horizon Math, Singapore Math, Mathematical Reasoning, Math Mammoth and Miquon Math, but none was a good fit on their own. I loved Singapore a lot at the start cause it was so clever but it took a lot of prep and I found I had to spend a lot of time re-teaching myself math since I wasn't taught this way. My kid also found it pretty easy, but didn't retain much at all! Once you include the teacher's guides and all the suggested manipulatives it also gets really expensive.

 

Even though neither of my kids are crazy about CLE, they much prefer it to Singapore cause they find CLE very straight forward and the spiral incremental approach is so non-threatening and not frustrating like other programs. They also like the format of the workbooks and reference charts which make it portable. It's also written to the student so it's very independent and I hardly ever have to teach them much. They are both getting over 95% in their math regularly. My daughter is set to skip a grade in math next year. I also find it fairly advanced and easy to accelerate. It's so thorough so you don't have to worry about gaps. Sometimes my kids ask me WHY they need to learn all this stuff, but I've explained that they big picture will make more sense once they have their foundation skills set. For my kids, starting off with the big picture didn't work. What we are doing now is working.

 

We transition to CLE at some point in Grade 2. For Kindergarten to Grade 1/2 I find CLE a bit too dry, so I used a combination of Miquon and Math in Focus/Singapore and lots of manipulatives, then afterwards start at CLE 100 and accelerate it (skip quizzes, tests, cross out redundant review and double up on lessons) so they finish both CLE 100 and 200 before Grade 3. It's the perfect combination for my kiddos but it was a lot of trial and error to figure it out.

 

If I had to start all over again I might look into RightStart for the first year or two then switch to CLE. Currently my plan is to switch to Saxon for Algebra and beyond.

Edited May 2, 2017 by strawberryjam

[coastalfam]

I think we are sticking with MUS. We tried Singapore and Life of Fred before landing on this. I like it because it effectively explains math to the kids (they get it), it is simple to teach, and the worksheets are simple and straightforward. On a day without a new lesson, math can get done in 10 minutes, and that leaves lots of time for fun math enrichment activities that I want to try, or just doing a math computer game. If I was to do it over again, maybe I would have tried RightStart, but for our particular situation, it probably would have been too involved. We need simple, yet effective, get-it-done math in this family.

[Guest]

Saxon. My daughter chose it for us. She's twenty eight now but this was when she was in third grade, I think, or maybe second.

 

She melted down and refused to use the something zillionth math book I had bought for her and there simply wasn't any money to buy more curriculum and of course this was before Amazon overnight express much less CurrClick.

 

So I wound up throwing a mommy tantrum and tossing every math book in the house, including my own leftovers from college, on to the bed and telling her she could use any one she wanted but she had to pick one.

 

Then I closed the door and played a game with the baby or something to calm down.

 

When I came back, dd was hugging this first edition of Saxon 54 I had bought discounted for her to grow into and crooning, "MY math book."

 

Of course she didn't finish it that year but she did a reasonable amount of the review at the beginning that was developmentally appropriate and she's such a drama queen that it was totally worth it.

 

I don't remember how long it took me to talk then-dh into it or maybe it was a grandparent who paid for it but she did Saxon 3 next, finished 54, and stuck with it all the way to early college admission. She's not in a STEM career but she has been hired (and paid) to do bookeeping before she even had an AA just because she's so good at that kind of stuff. When she was a teen, she got her kicks totaling up the grocery bill faster than the cash register could and from 76 or at least pre-Algebra on, she was pretty independent.

 

Her older younger brother had the benefit of Saxon 1-3, which he completed at more or less age appropriate level, if not 1 in kindy, 3 in second etc. at least 1 in first and 3 in third.

 

By the time her younger younger brother came along, I could hardly wait to play store and make the Infamous Saxon Brownies and have a do-over only with the INTERNET and a chance to schmooze with other homeschoolers who loved Saxon too and exchange ideas for expanding it and write fanfic and...

 

Huh? What? Who? What is this Singapore you speak of? Math Mammoth???? But that's just workbooks!!!!! Well, now that you mention it you do have a point about this sucky thing about Saxon and that annoying thing about Saxon and...

 

So we looked around a bit and tried this that and the other when ds the younger and I burned out but nothing quite fit so we went back to what Miss Drama Queen chose.

Edited May 3, 2017 by Guest

[Farrar]

Mushroom did all of Miquon. He also did all the Beast levels he could, but then he ran out.

 

BalletBoy made it from MM1 through most of MM4. But then we went all over the place for awhile and eventually finished out with MEP.

[Alice]

Singapore.

 

No regrets. It has worked great for three kids of varying math abilities. I like the way it teaches problem solving, mental math and basic number sense. I did very well in math in school but all my kids are better than me at manipulating numbers in their heads. I credit that to singapore.

[Abeilles]

We tried many and got behind bc nothing was clicking - MEP, MM, RS Math, Khan, etc. However there were two programs we loved and used - Miquon (all 3 years) and CLE. CLE has been a life saver and I have been so pleased with the results. My two oldest will be doing CLE Algebra for 7th grade.

[Momto4inSoCal]

We bounced around a bit in the beginning but once we found math mammoth we stuck with it. We've used MM grade 2-6.

[LinRTX]

I did Miquon with 1st and 4th. And Saxon with all of them. My oldest started Saxon in Algebra and went through Calculus. My other three started with Saxon 2; the oldest girl went through Calculus, the next through Advanced Math, and the youngest (finishing her junior year) is halfway through Calculus.

 

It has worked with them all. The oldest 2 are engineers, the third is in nursing. The youngest is leaning toward computer science.

[ScoutTN]

Right Start K-4th, then MM 5-6.

[Love Home]

R&S math! We are just finishing up the 8th grade book (finished 1-6 and part of 7th), and I love how thoroughly each topic is covered with constant review of previous material. There is no skipping around from topic to topic like many other programs, so it's perfect for a non-mathy child.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Love Home

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Singapore Standards, levels 1-5.  

 

Why:  Because it made sense to me as a teacher.  I teach it well.  

 

No regrets.

 

We're about to embark into AOPS, and I really hope it will be a program with stick-with-it power for all of upper level math.  

[PentecostalMom]

Abeka and Saxon have been good here. It was more suited to the children that have used it. I am currently using Saxon, MUS, and Singapore Standards.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ElizabethB]

Singapore, no regrets, it was a strong foundation for both, one a natural at math, the other a natural at LA but needing more work with math. They are both better at mental math and flexible solving of simple math than me thanks to Singapore.

[Elizabeth 2]

We've used all of the levels of Math Mammoth, 1-3 for one, and 3-5 for the other.  Honestly the biggest reason I bought it was because I'm cheap.  Between a sale and a discount code I had, I got the first 6 levels (all that was out at that point) along with the links for printable worksheets, for under $50.  I just print the books at the beginning of the year and put them in a three ring binder for each kiddo.

 

As for the program,  I liked that it works with the Common Core math standards without the extremely confusing questions that many of the public school programs contain.  DS11 was in PS for 1-3, so continuing math in the same manner seemed reasonable, plus I wanted to make sure that if they needed to return to PS, they wouldn't be majorly out of sync. The way it is taught its the way my brain intuitively manipulates numbers, but was never explicitly taught.  

 

DS11 wanted to try something else when he was 9 despite my disagreement. I offered Saxon since I could get a used 2nd ed 5/4 set for $20.  After I showed it to him, and he agreed, I purchased.  Within a month he realized his mistake.  Eventually, I relented and let him switch back. 

[IsabelC]

After trying a few things, we stuck with Math Mammoth (plus a few other odd bits and pieces for variety). It seemed to get the job done with minimal hassle and not too much tweaking, the kids didn't mind it, and it's good value for money. In an ideal world, with an unlimited budget, I would have bought a different curriculum for my third child. But as it is, no regrets. On the whole, I'd say I agree with Susan Wise Bauer's suggestion that it's usually not worth lying awake at nights worrying about math curriculum.

Edited May 6, 2017 by IsabelC

[Plink]

For my neuro typical kids: BJU

 

Why?: I plan to use their science for high school, and preferred knowing that all of the skills needed would be in place. It is rigorous, colorful, hands-on, and simply perfect for us. I also like that it is mastery based, but cycles between harder and easier chapters so that kids don't get too bogged down in the difficult stuff.

 

For my dyscalculic kid BJU is too fast paced, but everyone else loves it (actually looks forward to their math lessons) in our house.