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What math curriculum do you use or have used?


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I would love to hear what everyone has used for their math-minded kids? 

Struggling with what to use. This is for my youngest, who is 8. 

We stick with Right Start (K-2) and Singapore through book 6B and then jump everywhere from Derek Owens to AoPS and even Dolciani and Singapore New Elementary mathematics

What math curriculum do you use for your mathy kids? My 8 year old loves math and I'm stuck with what to do. He finished Intensive Practice 3B and I'm starting Intensive Practice 4A. We also work though problems in the Challenge Word Problems. We mostly do that and he just involves math in his daily play and activities. He really loves it. I just don't want to burn him out and has worked through IP pretty easily. He surprised me because he finished IP 3B in 2 months. He started with IP 1A and has worked through the books. They seem to be getting easier - and I'm sure because a lot of the application methods are about the same, so he knows what to expect. I don't want to go too fast, and he enjoys it. Do I just continue with IP and CWP? 

Edited by bfw0729
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We did a LOT of math.

MUS - used this for 2 lessons before my kid ran screaming from it.

MEP - lovely.  He was very satisfied with the amount of work and puzzles.  He burned through levels quickly, though.

Right Start - We used 3 levels in less than 2 years.  It was expensive and quite a lot of rote work, but not a good fit for motor skills or lesson length.

Gattegno Mathematics- fabulous.  It was non-traditional, could be done orally, visually, or with as much/little written work as we wanted.  He used centimeter graph paper books to keep his written work straight.

Supplements:

Beast Academy - he was on the tail end of this when it came out, so we mostly bought the books for fun.  He's still using Alcumus, though.

Life of Fred - very little teaching involved, but he liked the stories.

Arithmetiquities - I think I spelled that right.  Free pre-algebra "quests"

......With Pizzazz series (Pre-Algebra, Middle School, Algebra...there's quite a few) - self-correcting papers to work on written practice.

Calculus for Young People - lovely little book/workbook set

Patty Paper Geometry- easy enough for most ages, with different styles of lessons (inquisitive vs. direct teaching) for each new concept

 

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Both kids loved Miquon to start.

DD16 used all six Miquon books from age 4 to age 7. Then we used Singapore Standards Ed for a few years, until I discovered Beast Academy through these forums. She ended to switching to BA and going on with AOPS textbooks. It has been a perfect fit for her. We have not tried their online stuff.

DS12 is precisely 4 years younger, so he saw her using Beast Academy. He wrestled his way through 4 Miquon books and then insisted on getting into BA. The time worked out for him to start their 2nd grade stuff. He has also moved into AOPS and is doing well with it. 

Both my kids cried when they ran out of Beast. I can't recommend it enough, if your kid likes interesting math. It's very challenging, but we like that here.

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Thank you so much for this feedback. I have old beast academy books from years ago and pulled out 3C (I only have 3a-3c), and he loved it. He read through and worked on the problems in 3c and did some practice problems. He went through two sections last night and woke up early to work on another section this morning. 

I thought I had 3d, but I cannot find it. I will order that with the practice book along with 4a. He seemed to understand the problems well. He worked through them with me at first and understood how to do them and then did them on his own. 

I really appreciate it. 

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I would also encourage you to stretch him sideways - using math in different ways - and not just accelerate.

baking

magnatiles

board games

card games

chess

games that involve trading

wagering (my mathy kid loves black Jack and wagering on the game of war, but I understand if that’s not something you want to start)

ways to explore economics - selling something, tour the bank or a mint

read about mathematicians

read about math concepts - symmetry, infinity, etc (Kurt Cyrus has a few math picture books that I love)

A lot of making involves math: woodworking, knitting, following craft directions from a book

Do things that require spatial understanding: following plans, Lego, building 3D stuff, lawn garden stuff like making a garden bed or putting in pavers

logic puzzles

sudoku (they make smaller sudoku for beginner kids)

tinkering… things like marble runs or inventors boxes teach kids to iterate and test, not just answer correctly

My vote is to teach a kid to be flexible and a problem solver… not just good at computing, memorizing or following a lesson.

 

 

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My son would have done BA if it had been out in time.  We streamlined Singapore IP's through level 5 and then at age 8 moved on to AOPS Pre-Algebra. That took a full calendar year.

He also read tons of books on the side - Life of Fred, Murderous Maths, The Code Book, Computational Fairytales (there are multiple in that series), Perplexors (logic puzzles) - anything math or puzzle related he loved. 

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My 2E DS11 completed RightStart A-C, Miquon Orange, Singapore IP 2-3, & Living Math Ancients in the PK/K years, then Beast Academy 3-5 & now AOPS PreAlgebra. We’ve also enjoyed a number of mathy novels, games, & supplements along the way. 

BA / AOPS have been a great fit for him. He isn’t particularly fast, so we use the books at home. He appreciates the discovery method & has developed an excellent frustration tolerance. He’s definitely well-suited to fewer, more rigorous problems. I don’t know that he’ll ever move quickly enough for AOPS’ text-based classes, but after the Intro series of texts I plan to have him take the ones offered here on WTMA.  

Edited by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax
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