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Can't decide on Math. Please help!
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So this will be our 3rd year hs’ing, 1st year trying out CM methods. My oldest will be in 3rd grade and youngest pre-k/K level. We used McRuffy for math 1st grade year and then used MM last year. My ds8 really doesn’t like math although he does well when he applies himself. He just moans and groans when he sees the dreaded worksheets! I really am not sure what to do because I don’t want to switch around a lot but I also want him to not dread math so much. We didn’t get through all of the 2nd grade worksheets because I felt like when he was getting frustrated it wasn’t doing him any good so I would stop for the day. I really would just like some insight. I would ideally like all of my kids to follow the same curriculum to save me money and to save me from having to keep figuring out new systems. I also don’t want to spend a fortune.
So basically, I want something different but don’t know what! Crazy huh?! Can anyone help me sort this out?
I would ideally like all of my kids to follow the same curriculum to save me money and to save me from having to keep figuring out new systems.
This quote made me think you might want to look into Math on the Level. While it isn’t cheap (around $300 new), it is for preschool through Pre-Algebra, which for our oldest is turning out to be 8th grade. For some children, that might be 6th grade or somewhere in-between. Point is you can use it to teach all of your children all the way up to or through middle school years. So when you figure it out pricewise that way, it is very reasonable. You don’t need anything else with it, because it is very thorough.
NO worksheets and not pages of endless problems. You can add in extra review if you need to at times, but each day you use a paper called a “5-a-day” with five problems. You can gage your child’s abilities with this paper, and you can see their mastery (or not) by giving them problems of your choosing, which may have more than one skill in them. Once mastery is achieved, you don’t put those types of problems on anymore unless you want to.
They have 4 books divided by these major math sub-topics: Operations, Fractions, Money & Decimals and Geometry. With the complete set, you also get a Math Adventures book and Math Resources book as well as acess to a free on-line excel worksheet for keeping records on each of your students.
They have a yahoo group that you can join whether you own the products or not. It might be of interest to you.
And finally, they have a 30-day trial, where you can try before you buy. The family who developed the program have two DC graduated from homeschooling and 1 still in high school I believe.
I have no affiliation with them, just finally found a program that works. It isn’t magic and my DC who struggle in math still struggle sometimes, but they don’t end up in tears and they are learning new concepts all the time.
Here is the general website: https://www.mathonthelevel.com/
And a link to the yahoo group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mathonthelevel/
BTW, I have 5 children ages 6-13 in the program, grades 1-8 officially and I fully expect to use it with DD, age 2, and with all of them through mastery of Pre-Algebraic concepts.
HTH
We use and love CLE Sunrise math here. My dd used MM for a couple of years, and it just wasn’t a fit for us. My ds started with MUS, and it also was not a fit. They are two very different types of learners, but both do well with CLE. It is not CM-ish, but it works very well for us, and it is very inexpensive. We are going to be adding in the LOF series beginning this fall just to liven things up a bit. 🙂
I haven’t looked at CLE Sunrise before but have looked at MOTL. I really like the idea behind it. I’m a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to be organized enough with it. I have a 16 mo running around too so I would want to make sure I have enough time to plan for my other two. Even though in the long run it would be a good investment, it’s still a lot of money right now. It is actually what I’m leaning towards though. I just want to be sure. I’m not very good at math so I was wondering how easy it would be for me to teach later on? Are the teacher/student explanations easy to follow?
Thanks for the help and suggestions.
My kids are using CLE Sunrise. We started it when my oldest was finishing 6th. She didn’t like what we used before, so in my research I found a lot of positive reviews of CLE. After her using the 7th curriculum, I switched to it for all my kids. They work independently because it is designed for them to not need help. They just ask me questions when they need too. I could teach math myself because I have a bachelor’s degree in Math and taught junior high and high school math before I started homeschooling; however, I like that they don’t really need me. It gives me the freedom to work with each of them as needed but also gives flexibility. Both of my boys have learning disabilities, so I never thought they could be independent but so far so good. 🙂
I also like that it doesn’t require a bunch of papers lying around and it’s very affordable.
HTH,
Tamra
After I mentioned CLE, it occurred to me to add that each year is split up into 10 “light units”. You can purchase them seperately or all together, making it very easy to get your hands and them and preview them for very little cost. Not trying to sway you, but I know cost is a factor, and sometimes it helps just to get your hands on something and have a good look at it!
momof3, I have an English degree! Suffice it to say math is NOT my thing LOL!
I have 6 DC, one being 29-month-old DD up to 13YO DS with 12YO DS, 10YO DS, 7YO DS and 6YO DD in-between. Yes, it takes time but I put a lot in on the front end to planning. I shared on another thread some resources I’ve made after using MOTL a couple of years that have made my life easier!
MOTL also offers some free computer resources for Excel that many Moms rave about. I don’t like Excel, so I dont’ use them, but they are for record-keeping.
The instructions are very explanatory and I will often have my oldest son read out of the texts on his own. Each concept also works through several example problems within the teaching lesson too. They also give you many problems to give your children on their 5-A-Days. I have never found that I needed more than what is offered in the 5-A-Day review sections.
HTH
Thank again everyone. LDIMom, MOTL really does seem like a good fit just from what I’ve read. I’m still debating though mostly because of up-front cost. I also looked at CLE Sunrise but can’t really tell if it would be much different from what we’ve been doing. All I know is that we are supposed to start school soon and I’m still undecided!
I can’t speak to McRuffy, but I can tell you that CLE is different from MM. We made the switch to CLE from MM, because it was not working for my dd. I would call MM more mastery based, and CLE uses lots of review. Not sure whether you might call that “spiraling”? I’ve never gotten a complete handle on all of those terms! 🙂 Anyway, we got to the end of 2nd grade in MM and dd sat in tears, because she couldn’t remember a thing. We did 2nd grade over again with CLE and are finishing up 3rd, and she has been sailing. She loves it. My ds7, who is the complete opposite of his sister when it comes to learning styles, also loves it. I had started him with MUS, and the manipulatives were a huge distraction for him. Anyway, not trying to sell you on CLE, but I thought I would mention that we find it to be quite different from MM.
For those of you using CLE- how many lessons are in each light unit? I’m trying to figure it out because in looking at the samples I am thinking I may need to go back and do at least 1/2 of 2nd grade with my ds. I’m wondering how long it will take because i know it will bother my son to be working in a 2nd grade book. That is one reason I really like MOTL but I just don’t know how I can swing it financially right now. Thanks again.
My oldest dd 9 grumbles about math a lot but it’s only because she doesn’t like learning a new concept. Once she’s learned the concept, she’ll say “I like math!” lol She does just fine when she tries. We use Math U See. If he gets the concept, he doesn’t have to do all the worksheets provided (according to MUS). We do them all because my dd would get frustrated from not getting plenty of practice and confidence before moving on.
Considering the fact that I’ve used about 25 different math programs over the last 30 years I’m quite surprised to say that I haven’t tried any of the ones mentioned so far in this discussion. What we are using now is ALEK’s. ALEK’s is an online Math program that tests your child to see what he knows and then moves on from there. It begins for third graders. Christy began using it last year for 11th grade and I wish we had begun it much earlier.
The other programs that we have used and liked quite well were MathUSee which is a manipulative based program so it is very Charlotte Mason friendly and we have liked Horizons Math. The big draw for Horizons is the page is in full color and there is lots of variety on the page.
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