If you are a homeschooler, trying to decide what math curriculum to use, I can sure relate to that. I have only one child (6th grade) homeschooling right now, but trying to decide what math curriculum to use has been a time-consuming challenge. Over the years, through various mutations of homeschooling, I've tried quite a variety of math curriculums with various success. These are some of the different ones we tried:
Saxon: My children have used this both at home and at school of and on for the past 9 years. It is a popular, solid program. Saxon uses a spiral approach, which teaches a concept on day and moves on to a different concept the next day. My son had been using Saxon at school for 4 years when I decided to pull him out. At that point he was a year behind and getting an F in math. Working with him at home, I could see that he has a lot of gaps, for example, time. My other kids (younger) are the same way. I don't think they are getting the concepts jumping from one to another, even though what they have learned previously is constantly reinforced in the lesson. Basically, I've gone back to square one with this child, and am trying to reinforce one concept at a time. I much preferred the lower levels with the consumable workbook and 25 or 100 fact sheets to the textbooks.
Math-U-See: We used this program for one year with all the children. It seems like a good program, but there seemed to be an overkill of repetitious problems in the exercises each day. It was too much, especially for my younger ones. I didn't like the Alpha, Beta, Gamma leveling-just tell me what the grade level is supposed to be!
Singapore: I loved the books and the low cost of this program. What I didn't like was having a text with the explanation and some exercises, and a separate workbook with additional problems. So, 4 small paperback books for each grade (3A Test and Workbook, 3B Test and Workbook) I prefer everything in one place. Also, the text and workbook are not made to be written in--you have to write the problems all out on separate paper. The program is cute, but moved to fast for my kids. They (particularly my 6th grader) need more explanation and review than this program. I wanted to love it, but it didn't work for me. Later on, I would be willing to look at this program again.
Miquon: I really adore this program. I just love its quirkiness and all the different exercises that you won't find in ANY other math program. This comes in 6 workbooks, (Red, Orange, Blue, Green, Yellow and Purple), with roughly 2 books for grades 1, 2, and 3. Each book teaches a variety of concepts, including starting multiplication and division in Level 1. There is a chart at the back of each book showing what concepts are taught in each book, assigned by letter. For example, addition is A, and Red may have A-1 through A-23, while Orange has A-24 through A-39, and Purple has no A section. This program uses cuisinaire rods. Even in 6th grade, these are challenging for my son.
Kumon: I got these workbooks at Target, although they do have Kumon math tutoring centers around. I liked them, but only as a supplement. A high proportion of the answer boxes have the answer shaded in, leaving too little of the remaining problems for the kids to figure out on their own.
Math Mammoth: I've only been doing this program for about 3 weeks or a little more, but there are so many things I like about it. First, they have a placement test online. That was very helpful. Second, there are such a variety of materials available. Light Blue series is a full curriculum from 1st to 5th. The Blue series are workbook of individual concepts, such as Addition, Clocks, Measuring, Money, Geometry. Some of these Blue series workbooks cover a range of levels, like from 1-3 or 4-6. After doing the diagnostic, my 6th son didn't pass the 3rd test! Rather than going clear back through the whole 3rd level, though, I was able to see where his weaknesses were, and just buy the concept workbooks for those, to fill the gaps, then we will more into the 4th Light Blue Text. There are two more series of workbooks, Gold and Green, which are supplement worksheets either by grade level or by concept. Just a very thorough program. One of my favorite things about this program is that there is so much emphasis on mental math. I'm so tired of seeing my children slug through all the borrowing and regrouping on their Saxon problems, when I can easily see the answer through simple mental math.
Can't wait to see it if really works.
Professor B: Just bought this one, it had great reviews. It is a VERY different approach, but I'm willing to try anything to help math click for my 6th grader. This would just be a supplement to MM
Life of Fred: I'm undecided on whether these books actually teach math, I just don't have enough experience with them to say. My 11th grader did LOF Algebra I, and was able to move into Geometry at school and do fine. My 3rd grader loves to just read them, but he doesn't do the "let's play" problems. There are only about 3-4 "problems" at the end of each chapter. I do like the way he presents the math concepts in a story. The things I love about it are the way he discusses so many other subjects, from history to art to economics in the story line along with the math. I also love that my kids will just read this on their own. My son has read the first 4 in the series at least 4 times each. This and Professor B might make a good solid math curriculum. The books are nice hard back, and about $16.00 each. The whole series for lower grades is about 14 books, so $240 or so for all. The next level books are more expensive.
You can see I'm a curriculum junky, especially when it comes to math, but I'm hoping I've found what I need in MM, LOF and Pro B. For now.
Saxon: My children have used this both at home and at school of and on for the past 9 years. It is a popular, solid program. Saxon uses a spiral approach, which teaches a concept on day and moves on to a different concept the next day. My son had been using Saxon at school for 4 years when I decided to pull him out. At that point he was a year behind and getting an F in math. Working with him at home, I could see that he has a lot of gaps, for example, time. My other kids (younger) are the same way. I don't think they are getting the concepts jumping from one to another, even though what they have learned previously is constantly reinforced in the lesson. Basically, I've gone back to square one with this child, and am trying to reinforce one concept at a time. I much preferred the lower levels with the consumable workbook and 25 or 100 fact sheets to the textbooks.
Math-U-See: We used this program for one year with all the children. It seems like a good program, but there seemed to be an overkill of repetitious problems in the exercises each day. It was too much, especially for my younger ones. I didn't like the Alpha, Beta, Gamma leveling-just tell me what the grade level is supposed to be!
Singapore: I loved the books and the low cost of this program. What I didn't like was having a text with the explanation and some exercises, and a separate workbook with additional problems. So, 4 small paperback books for each grade (3A Test and Workbook, 3B Test and Workbook) I prefer everything in one place. Also, the text and workbook are not made to be written in--you have to write the problems all out on separate paper. The program is cute, but moved to fast for my kids. They (particularly my 6th grader) need more explanation and review than this program. I wanted to love it, but it didn't work for me. Later on, I would be willing to look at this program again.
Miquon: I really adore this program. I just love its quirkiness and all the different exercises that you won't find in ANY other math program. This comes in 6 workbooks, (Red, Orange, Blue, Green, Yellow and Purple), with roughly 2 books for grades 1, 2, and 3. Each book teaches a variety of concepts, including starting multiplication and division in Level 1. There is a chart at the back of each book showing what concepts are taught in each book, assigned by letter. For example, addition is A, and Red may have A-1 through A-23, while Orange has A-24 through A-39, and Purple has no A section. This program uses cuisinaire rods. Even in 6th grade, these are challenging for my son.
Kumon: I got these workbooks at Target, although they do have Kumon math tutoring centers around. I liked them, but only as a supplement. A high proportion of the answer boxes have the answer shaded in, leaving too little of the remaining problems for the kids to figure out on their own.
Math Mammoth: I've only been doing this program for about 3 weeks or a little more, but there are so many things I like about it. First, they have a placement test online. That was very helpful. Second, there are such a variety of materials available. Light Blue series is a full curriculum from 1st to 5th. The Blue series are workbook of individual concepts, such as Addition, Clocks, Measuring, Money, Geometry. Some of these Blue series workbooks cover a range of levels, like from 1-3 or 4-6. After doing the diagnostic, my 6th son didn't pass the 3rd test! Rather than going clear back through the whole 3rd level, though, I was able to see where his weaknesses were, and just buy the concept workbooks for those, to fill the gaps, then we will more into the 4th Light Blue Text. There are two more series of workbooks, Gold and Green, which are supplement worksheets either by grade level or by concept. Just a very thorough program. One of my favorite things about this program is that there is so much emphasis on mental math. I'm so tired of seeing my children slug through all the borrowing and regrouping on their Saxon problems, when I can easily see the answer through simple mental math.
Can't wait to see it if really works.
Professor B: Just bought this one, it had great reviews. It is a VERY different approach, but I'm willing to try anything to help math click for my 6th grader. This would just be a supplement to MM
Life of Fred: I'm undecided on whether these books actually teach math, I just don't have enough experience with them to say. My 11th grader did LOF Algebra I, and was able to move into Geometry at school and do fine. My 3rd grader loves to just read them, but he doesn't do the "let's play" problems. There are only about 3-4 "problems" at the end of each chapter. I do like the way he presents the math concepts in a story. The things I love about it are the way he discusses so many other subjects, from history to art to economics in the story line along with the math. I also love that my kids will just read this on their own. My son has read the first 4 in the series at least 4 times each. This and Professor B might make a good solid math curriculum. The books are nice hard back, and about $16.00 each. The whole series for lower grades is about 14 books, so $240 or so for all. The next level books are more expensive.
You can see I'm a curriculum junky, especially when it comes to math, but I'm hoping I've found what I need in MM, LOF and Pro B. For now.
