Has anyone used math from The Good and the Beautiful?

[monalua]

I was an accountant and my husband is an engineer  - we are "mathy" people and want our kids to have solid foundations in math. I've been using CLE math from the beginning with my oldest. He does very well with it and gets math concepts super quickly. My middle child is completing 1st grade and is also doing CLE. She does ok with it, but it definitely does not come as naturally to her as it does with my son.

I was looking at math from TGATB and it really looks like something she would ilke - beautiful, colorful, with stories and hands-on activities/games. I was impressed watching the videos on their website. Just that gave me some ideas on different ways to incorporate some of the things she needs more work on with CLE. I'm wondering if I might want to switch to TGATB math for her. I'm hesistant to leave CLE though, as I feel it's a very solid program. I know I could add in games, etc. to CLE, but the thought of planning it out on my own doesn't excite me haha. Would love to hear if anyone has tried TGATB math and how you feel it ranks in terms of rigor, scope and sequence, etc. (particularly level 1, 2, 3).

[Creekside5]

I used tgtb this year with my bright 1st graders (twins). I had planned on using Singapore, but it was way too easy. I wanted a curriculum I could move through fast, but was concerned about holes. I found tgtb to be just what we needed. We did 1A 1b and 2A this year. I printed off the pages we needed. They are pretty fun pages and full color. It had just the right amount of mastery and review for my kids.  I also supplemented with beast academy 2A. That has been amazing to solidify their understanding of place value and their mental math skills. Beast 2b looks too challenging right now.  I plan on doing tgtb 2b, 3a and 3b next year for 2nd grade. We will add beast as they are able. I think tgtb is a solid program very comparable to Singapore or math mammoth. We will see how the older levels shake out.  I love the price point and how quickly we can move through concepts. My kids get the review they need with time, money, measurement, and geometry without it being a slog. 

[8filltheheart]

47 minutes ago, SRoss5 said:

I used tgtb this year with my bright 1st graders (twins). I had planned on using Singapore, but it was way too easy. I wanted a curriculum I could move through fast, but was concerned about holes. I found tgtb to be just what we needed. We did 1A 1b and 2A this year. I printed off the pages we needed. They are pretty fun pages and full color. It had just the right amount of mastery and review for my kids.  I also supplemented with beast academy 2A. That has been amazing to solidify their understanding of place value and their mental math skills. Beast 2b looks too challenging right now.  I plan on doing tgtb 2b, 3a and 3b next year for 2nd grade. We will add beast as they are able. I think tgtb is a solid program very comparable to Singapore or math mammoth. We will see how the older levels shake out.  I love the price point and how quickly we can move through concepts. My kids get the review they need with time, money, measurement, and geometry without it being a slog. 

I know absolutely nothing about TGTB math program, but if your only experience with SM is their primary grade levels, then stating it is on par with MM or SM is probably not an accurate assessment.  SM's lower levels are incredibly simplified, but by grade 3 the content is more complex than many math programs. (I have never seen MM's lower levels, so I can't assess their level of simplicity.  But, yeah, SM's low levels are definitely easy.)

[Creekside5]

4 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

but if your only experience with SM is their primary grade levels, then stating it is on par with MM or SM is probably not an accurate assessment.

This is not my only experience with math curriculum. I have taught for over 20 years in private classical schools. They have mostly used Singapore and Saxon. I also dabbled in Right Start and despised how slow it went.  A lot of lower levels of math instruction are very basic at the younger grades- I would include Saxon in this.  Is TGTB as rigorous as I would like- No.   Neither is Saxon or Singapore Math.  Is it a solid program similar to Math Mammoth and Singapore in that they don't spiral and cover all the 1st/2nd grade basics- yes! I am especially impressed with the mixed review and some higher level thinking skills sprinkled throughout. Like I said above- I very much adore Beast Academy for brightish kids, but 2B is a bit much for my young 7 year olds. However 2A was perfect.   If you want to see TGTB feel free to download their pages.  If you don't fine. Where you should place your individual kiddo is up to you. Look at the pages and make a good decision for your family. 

 

[8filltheheart]

49 minutes ago, SRoss5 said:

This is not my only experience with math curriculum. I have taught for over 20 years in private classical schools. They have mostly used Singapore and Saxon. I also dabbled in Right Start and despised how slow it went.  A lot of lower levels of math instruction are very basic at the younger grades- I would include Saxon in this.  Is TGTB as rigorous as I would like- No.   Neither is Saxon or Singapore Math.  Is it a solid program similar to Math Mammoth and Singapore in that they don't spiral and cover all the 1st/2nd grade basics- yes! I am especially impressed with the mixed review and some higher level thinking skills sprinkled throughout. Like I said above- I very much adore Beast Academy for brightish kids, but 2B is a bit much for my young 7 year olds. However 2A was perfect.   If you want to see TGTB feel free to download their pages.  If you don't fine. Where you should place your individual kiddo is up to you. Look at the pages and make a good decision for your family. 

 

I didn't communicate my thoughts well.  My point was that TGTB may match up well at the primary level (bc as OKBud pointed out, you can pretty much do anything math-wise at that age and not mess up), but my question is whether or not it maintains its "matching" SM/MM at the 3rd grade up level.  I have no idea bc I have never looked at it (and don't care enough to actually look), but I am skeptical of homeschool math programs in general bc so many of them do not match the scope/sequence/depth of traditional math programs. 

[Janeway]

On 5/3/2020 at 3:37 PM, 8FillTheHeart said:

I know absolutely nothing about TGTB math program, but if your only experience with SM is their primary grade levels, then stating it is on par with MM or SM is probably not an accurate assessment.  SM's lower levels are incredibly simplified, but by grade 3 the content is more complex than many math programs. (I have never seen MM's lower levels, so I can't assess their level of simplicity.  But, yeah, SM's low levels are definitely easy.)

I agree with this. I have used SM math a few times through now and never care much for levels 1a-2b. But by 3a, it picks up and that is when they are great.

edited: Change this.....I agree with that it is simplified, but the content of levels 1 and 2 are not slow. In level two, the student is expected to add and subtract multiple digit numbers in their head as well as multiple single digit numbers and figure area and perimeter of a shape.  The problem I have with it is that, for my children anyway, the mental math seems awfully early and is emphasized so much. I am talking mental math of multiple digit numbers. And in level 1, a first grader will spend several weeks on one topic rather than skipping around. I prefer to be able to do something new more often, of review, just changing things up, because small children get bored quickly. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Janeway

[Janeway]

I am considering TGTB for my younger children, but do like SM (Primary, US Edition) for levels 3-5. I am concerned though, because a lot of people comment that the lessons take a long time with tons of games and such. Some games would be nice, but not as much as other people have talked about.

[ktgrok]

I think for a kid that needs or likes hands on math, it's great. But it moved way too slowly for my mathy kid. And he really wanted to be a bit more independent, and TGTB is very mom intense. Which for most kids at that stage is expected, but not what we needed. He's doing Mathematical Reasoning right now, and I honestly am not sure what we will do next year. Beast academy is likely too frustrating for him - he has PANDAS and on brain fog days would be in tears trying to "discover" the right way. CLE is more busy work than he needs. Khan is not enough fact repetition, etc etc. I may either continue with Mathematical Reasoning or see if he tests into TT 3. Or...I don't know what, lol. Maybe Horizons. I'm not sure. I dont' know what level TGTB math is up to, would have to look. 

It is very fun, lots of games, very hands on, the kids are practicing facts in the games rather than drilling with cards, etc. Had it been around when my DD was that age, she'd have LOVED it. 

[ktgrok]

Oh, my other two critiques - the teacher part and the student part are in the same book in a way that was sometimes annoying..I'd be handing the book, taking it back, etc. And that it is GIANT and sprial bound on the left rather than the top. This drove my kid bonkers when he was on the "back" of a page, the binding really got in the way, and with the book being so big it was just awkward. 

For those reasons, I think if we do it for Grade 2 (and we might..I think it just started off way too gentle, and he was advanced..it may catch up to him by then, or we may start with the second part, and add in something else), I'd get the PDF download instead of the physical version. That way I can print off the pages for him as we go, or bind at the top in separate, smaller workbooks, or do a 3 ring binder and take out pages as we go - pretty much ANYTHING else than the way it was made. PLUS then I can read the teacher parts from my laptop/tablet instead of over his shoulder or taking the page back from him at each section. 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, OKBud said:

Are the student pages super covered in color?

Yes, the math is very colorful - it is actually beautiful. We have an Inkvestment computer, so ink isn't too bad for us. But if I didn't have a printer with cheap ink I'd get it printed by say, family nest printing or something. This is a link to a sample of level 2. My son doesnt' quite appreciate all the pretty, but my daughter would. They just don't have it in her level. She's going into 4th and that won't be out until 2021. 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Ktgrok

[Janeway]

Some people say Singapore Math these days and they can mean anything from one of the Singapore Math series that have come out since the original one, or they could mean the original one. It used to be that if someone was using anything other than the original version, they would say so. And these days, people often call Math In Focus Singapore Math. It is actually an American math program based on a Singapore Math series that was put out after the Singapore Math series that used to be the standards. So it really is just an American program.  Here is a comparison. Also, I do not have the other books in hand to compare, but the original series is ahead, in scope and sequence, than most other programs.  (Beast Academy is quite advanced) https://singaporemathsource.com/resources/primary-mathematics-v-math-in-focus/