What if you have a kid who needs mastery AND spiral math?

[hollyhock2]

Are there any math programs out there that are both mastery and spiral? I have a feeling my 11yo might need both. Most spiral programs I've seen spend little time on the new concept before all the review problems, and most mastery programs have hardly any review. It's like he needs the best of both worlds: a full page of practice problems on the new concept, and then more pages of review. Does such a thing exist? Or should I be looking at using two different maths at once? (TT is what he's using and done well with so far. I could supplement with pages from MM, which I also own, for example.)

Ideas and experiences welcome!

[Jackie]

You could add in some spiral review in a fun way by having him play Prodigy Math for a while a few times per week. It’s fun enough that it likely won’t feel like a chore, and gives a good mix of problems or you can use the teacher portal to assign certain types of problems.

[hollyhock2]

2 hours ago, parent said:

Good question.  I also think that balance is needed.  Have you used MM?  I thought reviews described it as mastery with review, but maybe I'm mixing curricula?  That's what I recalled reading and why I was considering MM.

Yes, I have used it through all the levels (except 7) with multiple kids. Definitely not enough review for this kid.

[Ellie]

Which ones do you think are mastery, and which ones do you think are spiral? I haven't really figured that out.

[8filltheheart]

What about using a spiral program for review coupled with MM's themed books for mastery? 

[HomeAgain]

How much do you want?
Right Start is spiral but warms up with review each day and plays review games after.
Math U See is mastery but splits the lesson in half: 3 pages new, 3 pages review.

We don't use Right Start anymore but we did like the set up of review/new/review.  We still do similar at home: lesson + board game, or lesson + Prodigy time.

[ScoutTN]

I have used MM and added review pages from their website and  from other math books I own. Plus games and Prodigy. My student does a quick warm up before the lesson, then 15-20 minutes of review later in the day.  

[Clemsondana]

This year we had great success with using Life of Fred one day each week.  If there is a book that aligned with something that you need to review (Fractions, Decimals and Percents) that could be a fun way to do it.  We were using the algebra for review one day while the other days were on geometry.   

[maize]

I use Math Mammoth graded books (not the topical ones) and have my kids do pages from different sections. So maybe a subtraction page, a multiplication page, and a geometry page on the same day. This spreads out the mastery concepts so they are practicing them over a longer time period.

[Coco_Clark]

I have one of those (also 11).  Our perfect mix has been Math Mammoth for mastery and Teaching Textbooks for review.  At first we did both every day, as a TT lesson only took about 15 min.  But then TT started getting harder so we are now doing MM on M/W/F, and TT on T/The.  TT does run about a grade below MM, it's worth noting.  That works great for us as it's solid REVIEW, but if you want the same topics Id suggest going a grade up in TT.

I've tried to use Math Mammoth alone, using pages from different sections to self spiral.  It was a total fail, somehow not enough mastery OR review.  🙄.  

[Wallflower]

RightStart math is mastery AND spiral.  It is spiral in the presentation of topics and mastery through the constant review and instant recall (accomplished through playing games).  It is very conceptual and engaging.    On the downside some say it is teacher intensive, although the lessons are designed to be short and there are a lot of moving parts (manipulatives) that go with it.  They typically open each lesson with mental math drills of basic facts and a review lesson for what was previously taught.  Then they move on to the lesson. I always liked that it was scripted as well.  They also intertwine geometry from the very beginning!

We have since moved on from RightStart but used it for years and were very pleased.  Kids that I know who have used it do have instant recall and mastery of facts.  Pretty cool!  Good luck choosing, there are so many great choices out there!!!

[Emba]

Have you looked at Rod and Staff? The chapters focus on one topic (mastery) and each lesson includes significant practice on the new material of the day, but then the rest of the lesson is review of previous topics. 

[TheAttachedMama]

I think the BEST mastery math programs have spiral review built in.   For example, Singapore Standards (NOT US version) has really nice periodic spiral reviews written into the program.  The same thing can be said of Art of Problem Solving Pre-Algebra (IF you use alcumus and have it set to "mastery".)   

[hollyhock2]

18 hours ago, Ellie said:

Which ones do you think are mastery, and which ones do you think are spiral? I haven't really figured that out.

Well, obviously, I don't know them all, but I was under the impression that MM, MUS, R&S and MCP were all mastery, and Horizons, TT and CLE were spiral. The rest I don't know enough about to say.

13 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

What about using a spiral program for review coupled with MM's themed books for mastery? 

I'm thinking I may need to do something like that.

12 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

How much do you want?
Right Start is spiral but warms up with review each day and plays review games after.
Math U See is mastery but splits the lesson in half: 3 pages new, 3 pages review.

We don't use Right Start anymore but we did like the set up of review/new/review.  We still do similar at home: lesson + board game, or lesson + Prodigy time.

How much do I want? Well, he needs daily review or at least weekly, not just once per chapter like what MM does. I am seriously looking at MUS Epsilon because I love their mastery-with-lots-of-review method. Can I assume that even though the table of contents only lists fraction topics, there is also plenty of review of other concepts, like long division and other non-fraction things?

6 hours ago, Coco_Clark said:

I have one of those (also 11).  Our perfect mix has been Math Mammoth for mastery and Teaching Textbooks for review.  At first we did both every day, as a TT lesson only took about 15 min.  But then TT started getting harder so we are now doing MM on M/W/F, and TT on T/The.  TT does run about a grade below MM, it's worth noting.  That works great for us as it's solid REVIEW, but if you want the same topics Id suggest going a grade up in TT.

I've tried to use Math Mammoth alone, using pages from different sections to self spiral.  It was a total fail, somehow not enough mastery OR review.  🙄.  

I was thinking of doing the opposite: TT every day and then adding in pages of MM where he needs more practice problems on a topic. And yes, I agree with your assessment comparing the two. I was looking at fraction topics the other day and the same things are taught in TT 5 and MM 4. I did use MM exclusively with this kid in Grades 1 and 2 and by the end of Grade 2, it was not working anymore. It moved too fast and he also needed the review.

4 hours ago, emba56 said:

Have you looked at Rod and Staff? The chapters focus on one topic (mastery) and each lesson includes significant practice on the new material of the day, but then the rest of the lesson is review of previous topics. 

I have not considered this but I do own the R&S math 5 book, so I should dig it out and look at this. Thanks!

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

[HomeAgain]

1 hour ago, hollyhock2 said:

How much do I want? Well, he needs daily review or at least weekly, not just once per chapter like what MM does. I am seriously looking at MUS Epsilon because I love their mastery-with-lots-of-review method. Can I assume that even though the table of contents only lists fraction topics, there is also plenty of review of other concepts, like long division and other non-fraction things?

Yes, it'll only list the topics covered in that program, but the review pages will usually review work from previous ones.  You can see it in the sample chapter they have for Epsilon that you can download.  And if you find you need more, you can go into the parent resources and print out pages of practice that are randomly generated.