Susie in MS Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 can you tell me ~~what grades you used and ~~what you liked or disliked about it? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amber in GA Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 When we first started homeschooling, we were using Covenant Home Curriculum and this was what came with the kit. It worked very well with my elementary age daughter and so we continued to use it with her through the 6th grade. What can I say about the curriculum? It is basically a mastery-type workbook. Covers one subject for several weeks, gives a test, moves on. For some kids, this works well. If you have a kid that loves workbooks then you will run the risk of letting them just do the work each day without much hands-on learning or deeper thinking skills. In hindsight, I probably would not use this again because it made it to easy for me to be hands-off. But this is my fault, not the texts! Probably if I had used the TM a little more, it would have been more beneficial. It is a basic math program, with no holes that I could see. The biggest drawback is that it does not challenge a child to think, like some other programs, by mixing up the way that problems are presented, etc. hope that helps a little! amber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I used this for K and liked it a lot. The TM had lots of suggestions to help introduce the lessons. I really, really liked that it did not require a manipulative kit. If we needed counters we got out a bag of Skittles. After we finished MCP we moved to R&S 1. I thought I would love it, but it just has way to much cutesy stuff. I'm going back to MCP for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've used fourth and fifth. It gets one thumb up from me. "Eh. It was sufficient." :) Liked: -simple, easy to understand format -we could flip to the chapter or type of math we wanted, it wasn't embedded in a lesson with little bits of five other concepts (My oldest in particular really dislikes math approaches like Saxon or Abeka.) -plenty of practice of new concepts, for my kid anyway -had enough review if you hopped around like we did. If you're the sort to start at page one and work straight through it there may not be. -cheaper than the average math program Didn't like: -it was obviously written to a child sitting in a classroom -the "calculator math" sections (easy to skip) -it ran a little behind the other hs math curriculums we'd used, but not enough to cause problems I'm going with R&S for my older two this time instead of MCP. R&S gets good reviews, we love other subjects of theirs, it's cheaper and the consumable parts are reloadable at a very small cost for younger sibs. I may grab just the student MCP for my first grader (no TE), undecided there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranberry Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've used MCP math K and we're doing A (first grade level) now. We use the older editions of the book. Very cheap from Seton. with Math K we basically went straight though. Not too many different concepts to review at that stage. But for A we are skipping around a bit. There are a lot of problems on each page for my guy, but he's Kinder age, even though he knows the concepts, it's a lot at one time for him. So we might to 5 problems from one page, 5 from another. I'm backing off the addition for a bit because he's growing weary of it, so we're going to skip to the time section, then do money for a while before going back to addition. I like that it's not cutesy, it's easy to follow, at least at this level. I haven't ever used the teacher's manual, so I can't comment. But it seemed overpriced IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann@thebeach Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I used it for my son for 1st grade and it was a good basic math program. I tried Horizons and R&S in 2nd grade because others said they were "better" (I know, the grass is always greener.... ;) ). My son did not like those nearly as well and neither did I. We switched back to MCP for 3rd and currently doing 4th grade. We plan to use thru 6th grade for him. My DD started w/ MCP this year for 1st and she's doing very well with it. I'm sure we'll stick with it for her. I like that the lessons are a mix of story problems and computations. My son (and I) likes that the pages are uncluttered and simple. The teacher's manual is helpful and has extra practice for certain areas. (Look for it used, much cheaper!) Overall, it's a solid program that is affordable and not bogged down with extra manipulatives or extras that my kids don't need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) I can't find any sample pages of the TM. Does it have shrunken student pages with overlay answers? Thanks for all the answers so far on both sides. You all have given me much to consider! Also, if I were to try to find one second hand, how would I know if it is a current editon? What are the differences? Are the new ones in color? Edited March 12, 2009 by Susie in MS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I can't find any sample pages of the TM. Does it have shrunken student pages with overlay answers? Thanks for all the answers so far on both sides. You all have given me much to consider! Also, if I were to try to find one second hand, how would I know if it is a current editon? What are the differences? Are the new ones in color? Answers to your questions: yes, the TM has shrunken student pages, with answers inserted. Also suggestions for mental math, review, problems kids might have with the concept. It's certainly not crucial to have, although if you find it cheap enough used, it might be useful. Current edition is from 2005. Older editions are sometime in the 90's, with solid color covers with a mandala-type design. Very little difference in content that I can see (I've used both editions). Old and new editions are in black/white/red, no other color. As for my review, I think MCP is a good, solid, workbook math program. Not flashy, not exciting. There is not enough review, at least not for my DS. The best thing about it is consumable workbooks all the way through. That's a huge plus for a DS with dyscalculia and fine motor issues like mine. Sometimes there are too many problems on a page, I just cross some out. It's quite cheap, you can find it on Amazon.com. Rainbow Resource, all sorts of places. If you want a basic, solid math program that requires no prep on your part and is very straightforward, MCP is a good one. If you want something with built-in review, interest/color, or that goes deeper into concepts, not so good. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann@thebeach Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've heard others comment about about MCP not having enough review. This is all based on individual kids, of course. I like that it doesn't have tons of review because my son gets bored with that. I can add it in if needed w/ math shark, worksheets, or games but not worry about the book taking too much time with it in areas we don't need it. After using it for almost 3 yrs I think it covers all the concepts quite well. My son picks up math pretty easily though so maybe this is why I haven't had any issues. Of course, pre-algebra might be a different ball game ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 I wonder why, 4 years after the new printing, most places are selling the older version?? Thanks to everyone!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I used this for K and first grade. I have switched to BJU Math. What I liked: 1) Mastery style presentation (chapter on each topic) 2) Workbook, no need to print anything out or copy anything off 3) The K level had a bit of hands on. 4) Simple and easy to understand. What I didn't like: 1) Not much hands on was included in the 1st grade level. 2) Not very colorful (I used the older edition.) 3) It seemed like the concepts weren't understood by ds, not like they are with BJU. 4) I wanted review pages from which to choose when I needed them (BJU has these available). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I used it for my oldest for grades K - 3. Level K was fun for a little one who wants a workbook to do 'school' like an older sibling. It's mainly counting and circling the number. My oldest liked this book. However, her enjoyment of math quickly went downhill and culminated with 3rd grade. It was just the same problem over and over and over!!! I even made her do only the odds or evens, but it was still torturous. Also, my dd needed more frequent review. At the end of each chapter, there's a test on that chapter, and then a review page on the backside of the test. My dd often had trouble with this review page and we would have to go over previous concepts. I switched her to Saxon 54 the next year. I'm using Saxon for the early grades for my 2nd dd, and it's going so much better. She really enjoys using manipulatives everyday, and she enjoys doing something different everyday. I love the way they teach the math facts, as opposed to MCP. Saxon (and I've heard other programs) teach them in groups such as, adding zero, adding 2s (after practicing odd and even skip counting for a while) doubles, doubles + 1, etc. MCP just teaches them as +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, etc., etc. and they teach a new group everyday. Saxon spreads them out through the course, practicing them briefly everyday for a week or 2 before adding a new group. My 2nd dd has had a MUCH easier time learning her math facts with Saxon than my 1st dd had with MCP. Anyway, that our experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 And it was a flop. Both times My son hated the repetitive lessons But he had a good attitude However he could not learn properly with the mastery based lessons- it seemed like it was a whirlwind and then a test. I used thTM properly and did extra review and added fun hands on stuff and he was still getting Ds on the test. Switched to horsizons in K and ds did grea Switched to abeka in first grade and ds is getting all 100s and we are almost done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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