How do you schedule 2 maths? (BJU & MUS)

[Bay Lake Mom]

I know a lot of you keep 2 math programs going at the same time.  I'm at the point where I'd like to do this for my 9 yo.  She's just started her 5th grade year.  She's working through a few final chapters of BJU 4 (DLO), then she'll move into BJU 5.  We're doing BJU for a few reasons : 1) It's a solid program, 2) she doesn't "hate it", and 3) Daddy wants her to have a "normal" looking math curriculum for his own comfort.  (He's good with all of the other choices we've made, but he wants a good foundation in Math and things like MUS, Singapore, Right Start... make him nervous.  He does not have time to invest in understanding these either.  I respect his opinion/decision.)

So, last year I purchased MUS Gamma because I considered adding it to her BJU studies.  I let her do a week of MUS and then a week of BJU.  Well, all she wanted to do was MUS.  She called it her Fun Math!  We still had to keep the BJU going though, so we didn't get to fit in MUS as much as we'd like.  For those of you who keep 2 maths going at the same time, how do you schedule it?  Alternating weeks didn't work well for us because the BJU chapters are longer than a week and it would take forever to get through the year of BJU.  I'd like to hear how everyone is fitting 2 maths into their weekly schedule.

Dad would be fine with adding MUS to BJU, but not giving up on BJU yet.  Suggestions?

(I also own MUS Alpha, and if I can figure out the scheduling I would love to add that for my youngest who is also doing BJU Math.)

[HomeAgain]

I would pick one to do the main lessons of, and one to do review/testing from.  We use Right Start with Life of Fred.  RS is our main lesson time - review, drill, testing is done with this for the most part.  Occasionally it'll hit something new, or we'll spend more time on it during the "fun" parts, like the drawing.  Life of Fred hits everything on warp speed so I can get a good idea of what he grasps easily and what he may need to slow down on and work harder at.  If he doesn't need a lot of extra practice, we'll touch on it with Right Start but maybe skip some of the work.

It helps to have a set amount of time for math, though.  During the school year I set the timer for an hour.  Whatever gets done gets done, the rest can wait for another day.  Often we'll do a RS lesson and chapter of Fred in one day, doing part of one orally so the written work is still the same amount.

[TracyP]

When I have used 2 math programs, I have set aside 2 blocks of time for math. This has looked a little different for each kid. But this year I have one in a similar position to yours.

My 5th grader will be using a MUS/Math Mammoth combo. I have it planned so that we will work on MUS in the morning - we will watch the video together and I will be available to help, but this will be mostly independent. I want him to complete 2 sheets each day, so I expect that to take about 30 min. 

We will meet again after lunch to do MM together for about 20 minutes. This isn't enough time to complete MM, so I am skipping some chapters. I'll skip anything that he is really solid on (last year that was a chapter that focused on multiplication facts), I skip the tests, and I skip chapters that I consider unnecessary (geometry and time).

I have done 2 math programs fairly often with my kids. I have never done both those programs completely. There has always been overlap, and/or unnecessary review lessons, and/or no need to complete last chapters before starting next level. I'm not familiar with BJU, but I'd be looking at those places to see if you could cut it down.

 

[PeterPan]

I would do the MUS in the summer, BJU in the school year. You're schooling year-round, yes? So let her do MUS double pace (which she'll be fine with), and then have her go to her next level of the BJU. Honestly though, are you sure she even NEEDS the MUS?? Did you do a placement test? I don't think a student successfully completing BJU4, going into BJU5, should need MUS Gamma. If you want that, go over and look at Youcubed and Boaler Mindset Mathematics: Visualizing and Investigating Big Ideas, Grade 4  That would be actual thinking about math, talking about math. That's the kind of enrichment you want a gifted dc doing. Or get her living math books. Around that age my dd was reading books like A Gebra Named Al and The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure  She may be liking the MUS because it's easy and something she can fly through.

If there are fun pages for her in the MUS (pages that make her think, their honors pages) and you have it, fine, throw 'em in. Did you ask her why she thought it was fun? Did she like that it was easy? Or were there pages of brain teasers that she enjoyed? Some of the MUS levels have honors pages that are really nicely done. If you know what she was liking about it, that will tell you something. BJU should have enrichment pages on the cd in the tm. Have you looked there? For the upper levels their enrichment stuff is TERRIFIC, really, really fun. They used to have it for elementary too (Stretch Your Mind workbooks). If she likes thinking about her math, those pages can be really fun.

Do you have reason to think she's NOT understanding and thinking through her math well? It's like when people rave over Singapore bar diagrams and word problems. There are people who do those naturally, without having been taught, and there are people who struggle to do them even after they've worked through all the levels. I wouldn't assume she needs things she doesn't need. If she wants more fun with her math, enrich with things that make her think. If you school year round, you might feel comfortable having Fridays as fun math maybe. I probably wouldn't do that. I'd probably just stick to pace with your BJU, get it done, then do fun math all summer, just me. Or do enrichment pages 3 days a week just as an additional thing. 

The BJU math makes a shift in grade 7, and that's where I would consider making your jump if you want a jump. She sounds like a strong enough student that she might go to the Dolciani pre-algebra or Derek Owens or something else. Sticking with the BJU would be ok, but if she's not liking the tone of the new editions (which are really really stepped up, oh my, like not at all doable for some kids), then that would be a point to jump off at. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by PeterPan

[nixpix5]

I have a son currently doing BJU and Gamma. MUS has a lot of review in a week and BJU tends to spread a chapter over 2 weeks roughly. Day one we do the first page of the BJU chapter front and back and page A of MUS. Day 2 we do the next BJU page and page B. If the MUS concepts are easy then day 3 we do BJU 3rd page in the chapter and just the MUS story problems or I circle select problems. We follow this general trend until we reach the MUS pages that include cumulative review for the week and then depending upon how he is doing I either have him do the whole last 2 pages of the week and no BJU that day or if he has if down cold I have him do a few MUS problems and always story problems. We never skip those.

If the BJU chapter is one he has down cold I sometimes will x out a section of review but it is rare, we typically complete all of the BJU problems.

My kids have always done 2 pages of math front and back daily from the beginning so they feel like they are having a light day when I cross things off. As math concepts become more challenging and the work lengthier, I do decrease the problems done on the 2nd math program. We love MUS for the video lessons and the fantastic story problems.