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Similar to MM but spiral?


JanaKay
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I used MM with my son in 1st grade, and I really loved the way it teaches math!  I soon found out that my son needed more review though.  He'd finish a chapter on one topic, and by the time there was a review on it, he had forgotten how to do it.  We ended up using Horizon, which worked well for him.  I did miss the way MM explained things, and the conceptual, mental math aspect of MM.  I also like that MM is a pdf and I can print it as many times as I need (without taking up room on my shelf).

Is there a math curriculum that teaches in a way similar to MM that uses conceptual and mental math, but also is spiral (with more review)?

Thanks!

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Singapore (STANDARD, not US) is a mastery based program but it has a lot of built in review.   (I would say it reviews concepts more often than math mammoth.  It has a cumulative review at the end of each unit.)   It is also very easy to supplement.   The Singapore workbook pages are a lot shorter than math mammoth, so it is easier to supplement IMHO without the kid losing steam.   They make an extra practice book (regular review problems) , an intensive practice book (challenging review problems), a challenging word problems (VERY challenging word problems, may want to use it a grade behind), a mental math book that could be used as review, etc. etc. etc.    So you can really tailor in how you supplement it.   

Another option would be to supplement Math Mammoth.  I have two easy ideas on how to do that:

1)   Teach a regular math lesson, then you PLAY math.   I would suggest buying the RightStart games book to do this.  (It goes really well with Singapore and Math Mammoth)  So you would do a typical lesson with math mammoth, and then pull out a game from the right start book to review concepts.   (Counting money, number bonds with war from the abacus, or whatever you think he might need practice in.   etc. etc.)    There are lots of other math game books out there if you don't like right start.   

2)  Add "Math Warm UP" to your lesson.    Before each regular lesson, work a few review problems from math mammoth on a white board (or with manipulatives) with your son.   Then teach your regular math lesson.   You could pull problems from the workbook and change numbers.  (Or not...I bet he doesn't remember ever problem.)   Or you could pull example problems from the Math Mammoth topical books.  (I forget the name of those...blue series?  light blue series?)    You could also buy a cheap kumon book and keep it around for review/"Math warm up".

 

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We've used MM from book 1-4. I switch up the sequence to make it a BIT more review friendly.

If there's a solid skill chapter, we go through that chapter until it's done. I will SKIP the Mixed Review section of the chapter and set it aside for later.

If there's a "fun" chapter like money, shapes, measurement, I'll alternate those pages with what ever the next chapter is. Sometimes I switch off daily, sometimes weekly - depending on the topic and the kid. Again, I set aside the Mixed Review pages.

Once we finish all the chapters for the year (or perhaps just whenever we finish book B), I make a Review Packet that includes all those Mixed Review pages and the separate Cumulative Chapter review pages that are in a different pdf file. I sort them by chapter so it goes chronologically through the year again.

After THAT, I will give them the big End of the Year Test - mostly for review purposes, but also so I can assess any potential holes... by this point they've gone through the material TWICE.

And honestly, if they did alright doing the chapter itself, then come across those one or two seemingly random review problems, I'll help them through it and just go with my gut if it's a "just haven't seen it in a while" issue or a "they really have no memory of this" issue.

 

As with all homeschool issues, trust your gut. Hope my explanation was helpful!

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I was thinking MEP. It will involve a bit more from you as teacher than MM, but it is a lovely, solid (and free for the printing) math program.

Another option is to continue MM with an independent daily review program - look at CorbettMath 5-a-day maybe? I think there was an Australian published workbook of daily review recommended here (but can’t remember or find the title right now). We used DreamBox as an independent review/reinforcement for my kids who used BA. 

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We use MEP as our primary math, and break it up into two sessions. After (or sometimes before) each session, dd does a page of Singapore Challenge Word Problems that is a year behind, or a page of BA a year behind, or something from MM at level as a bit of review for something done previously. And a page a day from Evan-Moor Math Skills Sharpeners - the color catches dd's attention and makes her want to do them, plus they are usually pretty easy. All in all, we work on math about an hour a day, which seems like a lot. It came about partly because I am paranoid about not getting math right, and partly because dd needs the extra practice and reinforcement. At any rate, she has improved tremendously in the past year, so I am not going to mess with what seems to be working. :-)

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What Carriede describes is an excellent way to make mm more spiral.  We do something similar, working from a skill chapter and an “other” chapter concurrently.  We also space the cumulative reviews.  I think doing that is likely to be sufficient for you since you say horizons worked well.  Math mammoth also has new spiral review workbooks, which are designed to go right along with the regular worktext.  That might be a simpler option for you.  https://www.mathmammoth.com/skills_review_workbooks/

I agree with others regard mep, but I’d also like to add the FAN math books as an option.  I use them with a traditional curriculum for my kid who needs more spiral than I can sanely get from mm.  There is a process skills book, which is problem solving.  There is also a speed maths book, which is mental math.  I use both books a year behind the regular curriculum.  This has been really good for us.  You might consider just continuing with horizons (if it ain’t broke) and adding the fan math.

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On 4/12/2018 at 4:40 PM, Syllieann said:

 Math mammoth also has new spiral review workbooks, which are designed to go right along with the regular worktext.  That might be a simpler option for you.  https://www.mathmammoth.com/skills_review_workbooks/

This looks like just what I would need!  Thanks for the suggestion.  I didn't know they had these, but I did see they only have the review books for grades 1-3, which would work for my younger kids, by not my oldest. Hopefully they will come out with the higher levels soon!

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