countrymum Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) My 11 yr old ds is having trouble with math. I have copies of forester algebra and Jacobs geometry that I am planning to use eventually. We had been using Rightstart and my ds got through F. G was not good for him at all. The drawing was really bogging him down so we switched. We switched into math mammoth. The plenty of practice is good for him and even he appreciates it He seems to get fractions well but is struggling with the abstractness of some problems in math mammoth and also with ratios. He also doesn't get bar models. I explained decimal division to him again last night (another sticky point)and I think he understands that now. He is one that really needs the why before the how. Like he needs to understand the why inside out. Rightstart explained decimal division a year ago or so, but did not practice much with it so I guess he forgot it or never really got it? Any thoughts here? I thought about MUS but am not sure it's good for a yr or 2. He tests into zeta. I think the pushy abstractness of math mammoth is what is hard for him. He doesn't seem to be ready yet for it. Equations with letters in them really confuse him. He never had these troubles in Rightstart. Edited January 21, 2023 by countrymum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) I don’t think you can go wrong with MUS. I’ll eventually use it for one of mine that needs it. For math mammoth- I like the MM spiral review pages sprinkled in. We supplement when needed with zearn- it currently goes to grade 7 and will likely release 8 this year. We simply do the online portion. The teachers are wonderful. It’s free, but I would subscribe if I had to 😂. The scope and sequence, and the methods are very similar to MM. HTTPS://www.zearn.org Edited January 21, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) . Edited January 21, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Tang Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 MM has a good reputation, but I personally do not see how the layout wouldn’t drive someone crazy. Anyway, I switched mine to CLE for a while. There are lots of problems and review, but the layout is clean. It might have the topics yours needs help with? The only concern I have is algebra isn’t until 9th grade, and pre-A is in 7th and 8th grade, mixed with consumer math. Have you looked at Hands on Equations for the algebra part? Right now my son is learning equations must balance— with no variables—in CLE. I assume that’s prep before they introduce variables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 I've also looked at BJU....or staying with math mammoth.... I'd always planned to do algebra in 8 and BJU does it in 9th. Maybe he needs it though. We could press on through 6th then try BJU 7th....I am just not sure. Like I said he has to understand something fully inside and out to do it so I don't think CLE would be best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 My goal is algebra in 8 as well for both boys. Zearn is mastery and you can assign missions, like skipping to the unit of ratios. I’m actually thinking I’ll try that so they only do the missions they need help with, since our main thing is MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 I will look at it but we don't really have a full computer here. Just a tablet and my husband's work computer. I have an old laptop to practice typing on but that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 I have seriously considered the sprial review for math mammoth also. Math just takes so long already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) Pming you. Edited January 21, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 9 minutes ago, countrymum said: I have seriously considered the sprial review for math mammoth also. Math just takes so long already. Math Mammoth is mastery based, not spiral. MUS elementary courses are also very mastery based. Horizons and Abeka are both spiral. Saxon is spiral and incremental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) MUS was amazing for my math struggler. I don't know how we'd have gotten him through high school without it. We started it at the algebra level and it was quite noticeably less rigorous than more traditional curricula. If the lower levels are the same it may not adequately prepare for Foerster alg 1 without having done MUS alg 1 first. Based on your posts here I'd suggest at least adding Hands on Equations no matter which course you choose. It's a supplement that is fabulous at getting kids comfortable working with equations and letters in their math, in a very concrete manner. 🙂 MM didn't work well in my house, beyond the occasional topical book as needed. We liked Singapore (mastery) and Horizons (spiral) for elementary. Horizons prealg is a different animal. My mathy kid felt the {Horizons prealg} instructions weren't super clear and asked me to explain a why fairly often. It's a good book but needs a teacher who can do that on the fly. Edited January 21, 2023 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alysee Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) Okay, sorry to highjack but would MUS be good for a 7th grader who is fine with Math but she's incredibly slow in working out problems? Edited January 31, 2023 by alysee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, alysee said: Okay, sorry to highjack but would MUS be good for a 7th grader who is fine with Math but she's incredibly slow in working out problems? Yes! It’s not as many problems, clean pages, and maybe the method would click. I plan to switch DS9 over to MUS PreAlgebra after MM5 because he processes slowly. Edited February 1, 2023 by Lovinglife123 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 1 hour ago, Lovinglife123 said: Yes! It’s not as many problems, clean pages, and maybe the method would click. I plan to switch DS9 over to MUS PreAlgebra after MM5 because he processes slowly. I have never used any level of MUS other than alg/geo, but IIRC, I think MUS's pre-alg is not standard pre-alg bc of how the elementary sequence is presented. It is something worth researching before making the switch to make sure it will be a good match. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) @8filltheheart it is very easy and basic. The odd sequence ends at PreA- you can switch into PreA easily after most 5th/6th grade curriculum, but not earlier. I think the only thing that would be new after 5th grade MM are negative numbers. Edited February 1, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 MUS's Fractions & Decimals years are two of their best. FWIW, I had good look with teaching decimal division by Gattegno's method of turning them into fractions first. He also pushed use of a multiplication chart that had kids write in a number and then multiply it by 10 going up, dividing by 10 going down, to 4-5 place values on either side of 1. Having kids multiply two numbers by 10 and then do the division (like 20 / 5 becoming 200 / 50 or 2000 / 500) helps them to see that the ratio is still the same. Also, I made a set of strips for the Right Start abacus that made each strand a different place value: 10000 to 1 on one side, .1-.00001 on the other, with fractional value on the bottom strip to show the relationship between decimal and fraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malam Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) I think MM has some work texts with decimal division practice: https://www.mathmammoth.com/decimals_2 (here is the sample page on decimal division) https://www.mathmammoth.com/fractions_decimals_3 (here is the sample page on decimal division) Edited February 1, 2023 by Malam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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