Math With Confidence

[Green Bean]

Hi all. Kinda new here so I hope it's ok to just jump in with my first question!

I have a 5 yrs 2 months old lefty son who I am looking at math programs for. We have been going in spurts and stops with BJU Math K for 9 weeks. It's ok, but not great for him or me. After peering around, I saw MWC on Well-Trained Mind Press pages. I have read Kate Snow's website extensively and like what I see. Would those who are using this be willing to clue me in a little bit as to its advantages over BJU or other programs? Cost is for sure one!

Thank you.

[amiesmom]

Welcome! I will start and hope that someone else with more information will chime in. I did not use the K or 1 levels of MWC, but I have pilot tested 2 and am currently testing 3 with my daughter. I am a big fan of Kate Snow's work. I first used her preschool curriculum, and later used her Facts That Stick books, which I love! 

From what I have seen of the K curriculum, it is very hands on and fun. She says herself that the MWC curriculum is "middle of the road" as far as difficulty level. From what I have read from those who use the K level, it's pretty gentle, a lot of kids breeze through it. I will say from using grades 2 and 3 that I feel like the curriculum does a very good job of building a solid foundation of number sense and mental math skills. 

I love that it is a 4 day a week curriculum with optional enrichment lessons. I love the picture books incorporated with the lessons. I love that there is constant review so that topics are not forgotten. 

There is a Facebook group called math with confidence community if you want to check it out.

[Green Bean]

Thank you, Amiesmom. I'm not a Facebook user, but appreciate the suggestion.

I took the plunge and ordered MWC K. I think it will serve our needs well. I look forward to seeing how the higher levels develop.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Green Bean

[Momof4sweetkids]

On 11/10/2021 at 5:08 PM, amiesmom said:

Welcome! I will start and hope that someone else with more information will chime in. I did not use the K or 1 levels of MWC, but I have pilot tested 2 and am currently testing 3 with my daughter. I am a big fan of Kate Snow's work. I first used her preschool curriculum, and later used her Facts That Stick books, which I love! 

From what I have seen of the K curriculum, it is very hands on and fun. She says herself that the MWC curriculum is "middle of the road" as far as difficulty level. From what I have read from those who use the K level, it's pretty gentle, a lot of kids breeze through it. I will say from using grades 2 and 3 that I feel like the curriculum does a very good job of building a solid foundation of number sense and mental math skills. 

I love that it is a 4 day a week curriculum with optional enrichment lessons. I love the picture books incorporated with the lessons. I love that there is constant review so that topics are not forgotten. 

There is a Facebook group called math with confidence community if you want to check it out.

Do you feel like grade 2 and 3 are still middle of the road difficulty wise? I read somewhere that she was going to slow down 2nd and on so I thought I'd have to switch at 2nd to keep on a typical track? Are 2nd and 3rd as hands on and teacher intensive?

[amiesmom]

12 minutes ago, Momof3sweetgirls said:

Do you feel like grade 2 and 3 are still middle of the road difficulty wise? I read somewhere that she was going to slow down 2nd and on so I thought I'd have to switch at 2nd to keep on a typical track? Are 2nd and 3rd as hands on and teacher intensive?

I think they are still pretty middle of the road. I can only compare to Singapore or Math Mammoth as I think those are the only other curricula I have taught 2nd and 3rd grade. Singapore is definitely more challenging than MWC and moves at a faster pace. MM seems like it coveres more topics than MWC, which is actually something I like about MWC, I think she hits fewer topics, but covers them in more depth. By the end of 2nd in MWC, we were solid on addition and subtraction, place value to the thousands, mental math for addition and subtraction, time to the minute, counting money. We had an introduction to fractions, arrays, skip counting patterns, geometry and measurement. 3rd grade so far has focused a lot on multiplication, more fraction work, more word problems. I know she is planning on teaching division and going into more depth on the concepts from 2nd.

2nd grade is just as hands on and parent intensive as first. I feel like the lessons are still pretty short though for 2nd, I think we averaged about 20 minutes per lesson. She has made some changes to make 3rd a little bit more independent and have fewer moving parts, but there is definitely still parent teaching time every lesson. We average about 15 minutes of parent directed time and about 15 minutes independent review time.

[Momof4sweetkids]

39 minutes ago, amiesmom said:

I think they are still pretty middle of the road. I can only compare to Singapore or Math Mammoth as I think those are the only other curricula I have taught 2nd and 3rd grade. Singapore is definitely more challenging than MWC and moves at a faster pace. MM seems like it coveres more topics than MWC, which is actually something I like about MWC, I think she hits fewer topics, but covers them in more depth. By the end of 2nd in MWC, we were solid on addition and subtraction, place value to the thousands, mental math for addition and subtraction, time to the minute, counting money. We had an introduction to fractions, arrays, skip counting patterns, geometry and measurement. 3rd grade so far has focused a lot on multiplication, more fraction work, more word problems. I know she is planning on teaching division and going into more depth on the concepts from 2nd.

2nd grade is just as hands on and parent intensive as first. I feel like the lessons are still pretty short though for 2nd, I think we averaged about 20 minutes per lesson. She has made some changes to make 3rd a little bit more independent and have fewer moving parts, but there is definitely still parent teaching time every lesson. We average about 15 minutes of parent directed time and about 15 minutes independent review time.

Thats super helpful, thank you! Sounds like I could stick with MWC. I was a little worried the teaching time would increase with each grade and it'd be too much to juggle once my little ones are doing it as well but 15-20 sounds doable. I am loving MWC K right now but don't have anything to compare it to.

[Green Bean]

Please come back and update as you go through, aimesmom.

[Resilient]

I can't speak to all of this, but I know that MWC is middle-of-the road re; conceptual and procedural math.  

This article was helpful, but after the fact for me https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.watch-huge-drama-at-monza-as-hamilton-and-verstappen-take-each-other-out-of.4XdAAbSMJc5dR5Kh5mEInQ.html

DD was taught using procedural in his school (Saxon) and it was a great program as far as she could get the right answers but she had no clue at all as to what was going on.  When we homeschooled, I switched to a super conceptual program (Singapore) and she took off in math.

But over time, she needed some procedural, so we did a program that combined both on Fridays.  

A LOT OF WORK to do both.

MWC seems to do both at the same time, and that would have saved me a ton of work!!!

One thing that Singapore did that I liked a lot was teaching inverse operations at the same time (so, addition and subtraction at the same time, multiplication and division at the same time). This worked well for my DD.  

MWC teaches addition, then subraction, then multiplication, then division.

The Math Facts That Stick materials are supplements to help shore up skills...they are NOT NOT NOT a curriculum to teach math.  You can use them with any math CURRICULUM you use but not as a substitute.

 

[Green Bean]

Thank you!

[Xahm]

I've been really attracted to MWC, but they don't have a level out that would be perfect for any of my kids and I own too much math stuff to buy it for fun. My K-er right now is really advanced in math and reading and would probably do well with the 2nd grade level if we could get it. I think he'd enjoy the short lessons, the combination of games, working with mom, and independent work at the end. I've been using a combo of Math Facts that Stick (+&-) and typical K&1st fun work books to get in measurements, estimating, etc. He doesn't have the maturity yet for Beast Academy or any other tough program, so this gives us a way to keep learning while letting him grow up a bit.