Changing from MUS to Horizons?

Me. I made that mistake. I switched from MUS to R&S Aritmetic in an effort to teach in a way that was more familiar to me, to add more variety to content, to give a more spiral review, to give her cute pictures on the pages and lovely bible verses on the pages. (exhale) I had to back her up quite a bit because MUS is more mastery based and there were many little side concepts she had not seen yet. It was a different way of looking at division and that was a whole different mess to sort out. I should have just haulted, taken time to review a bit more. My daughter was in tears because it was too hard and she needed to slow. right. down. So, not realizing it then, I flip flopped a few more math curriculum (which, most are flashy spiral programs that give only partial focus on concepts and push forward) and I all but ruined math for her. Then I read Richele’s Mathmatics book (a very helpful book no matter what curriculum you use) and PM’d her some questions. She suggested Ray’s Arithmetic for us to address the concept we needed to focus on and work our way along the scope and sequence in the book. It was what we really needed to do. To stop, address, and carefully move forward. That is my little story. My encouragement to you is: to not be wooed, pause, assess, and address the root. Does she actually need more time mastering multiplication first? Does she need to work slower through division? Does she need smaller increments of work? Do you really need to change course? Math is very different from all the other subjects taught. And I really wish I had not monkeyed with it so much.

I hesitated to answer here, as I did not fit your question exactly, but we switched from MUS, to this, to that.  Okay, you name it we tried it. (R&S, Mastering Math, Miquon, MCP, Singapore)

Ok, as you see, I switched a whole lot.  I seriously agree with the previous posters.   Most often our math problems are not to do with the curriculum we’re using but the issue/stage the child is at.

Around this “big bump” stage I also read about the different stages children learn math through.  Ruth Beechick also explains it. Sorry I cannot remember what they are, but the point is you cannot rush one stage, and go to the next, if the child is not there yet.  And the stages are NOT age/grade related.  We’re all different.

It helped a lot when a teacher cousin of mine explained that my son was just not in the (can’t recall which one) stage and all I had to was keep exposing him to math, but not put pressure on.

Later I learned to hold back and be patient when we hit a bump, to not switch curriculum.  During the waiting time (which was hard for me)  i tried to incorporate more games and fun things, and work on “basic things” like math facts, or times tables, depending on their age.  And sometimes I even introduced a different concept of math to help them regain confidence.  Like if it was algebra they were stuck on, we’d switch to the geometry section of the book, or money math.

I think it is important for us to not be slaves to the math curriculum we use.  To leave out pages, to wait, to stop and take a break are all ok.

I wish I could say that we never have problems now.  But I do.  With all three children we have math bumps, still.  I now feel it is more normal and that no math curriculum is perfect.  Yes, some curriculua will suit a child better than others but beware before changing.

Lastly, switching too often results in even more “gaps” in those basic stage steps.  The child may repeat things they really know because it is covered in the new curriculum, and have to wait for ages to address the real problem of their math.  But math should be line upon line, precept upon precept.

Interestingly, I have found Maria from Math Mammoth to be very helpful in offering personal information at no charge if you email her.  I only have one child using Math mammoth.  All three are on something different! Keeps me on my toes 😉

Perhaps if you give more details about what he is struggling with long division someone can help here.  There are different ways to teach it.  Some curricula teach all the ways, some just the one. Perhaps you need a breather.  Have some math fun games, computer games even.

Hope that helps,

Lindy

Great advice here. I confess that we have switched from MUS to a lot of different curricula.  I still don’t feel that my dd is further behind because she was not developmentally ready for some of the concepts I was trying to teach before she was ready anyway.

For us,  we landed on Right Start math which is not only a good fit for my girls,  but I am finally learning how to teach math.  I didn’t do well without scripted lessons, when I tried to teach living math on my own.

I pray that you find the best path for your daughter soon.