Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Tagged: Christian Light, CLE, CLE math, math

This topic has 16 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 10 months ago by jenni33.

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June 2, 2013 at 10:35 pm
amwg2694
Participant
For those of you that have used or are using CLE for math, tell me what you consider to be the pros and cons. I’m seriously considering switching to it for next year. We will be using 1st & 4th grades. I only previewed it online and it looked really good. However, I’m curious as to what others think of it. TIA
June 3, 2013 at 5:52 am
momma_pajama
Participant
We really love CLE Math at our house! We have completed 1st and are halfway through 2nd. I know it is not at the top of most CM lists but it has really been a perfect fit for us.
We began math with McRuffy, then moved to MUS, and now have settled into a happy place with CLE. I am putting in my order next week for more Math 1 LightUnits to use with my new-to-be 1st grader. I always think that if you are willing to use a curriculum with a second child then it is officially a success! 🙂
Even though it it a lot of pages for each lesson it really did not overwhelm my son – which was great cause he would cry when he saw just 1 MUS page. And in the 1st grade book it has so many review questions I was able to cross some out each day, which he really loved cause it felt like it was special.
I also love how it gives little chunks of so many activities each day. That way if it is hard he doesn’t freak out cause he knows he only has 3 of that certain type of problem. I know spiral stuff bothers some people but my son needs lots of review so it is perfect for him.
We don’t really have any cons – but I can see if you have a child that picks up math really easily perhaps it could be a bit much – kind of a “are we doing this again?” situation. I often think the word problems are a bit weak, but that is easy to remedy, so it doesn’t bother me too much. It is extremely incremental, so sometimes I want to make it more difficult but then I remember I just need to trust the journey they are taking me on!
Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer!

June 3, 2013 at 7:06 am
HiddenJewel
Participant
Simple but comprehensive. Love how the lessons are laid out. Spiral format which may be a plus or minus depending on the student. Definitely is one I go back to when considering math even though we are not using it right now.
June 3, 2013 at 12:02 pm
jeaninpa
Participant
Exactly what HiddenJewel said. I like the built-in review of math facts in the early elementary years also.
June 3, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Britney
Member
Both of my kids love it! I have one getting ready to start Level 2 and one finishing up level 4. In the older levels it can seem like a lot of pages, however, because it is spiral you can skip problems they don’t need review on. Sometimes I mark half of the problems off.
The biggest pro for me is that for my oldest it is pretty much independent, which she LOVES. She opens the book, reads the lesson and does the lesson work all on her own. I am always available for questions which she sometimes has but mainly she is doing her math all on her own. My youngest who just finished up Level 1 going into 2, needs me for the first portion of a new lesson and then he is on his own also. It’s not really CM but any time I discuss possibly changing it to a more CM program, they both protest! They like it so it works for us!
June 4, 2013 at 12:36 am
pecangrove
Participant
We left it for 2 years in search of something ‘better.’ We are going back to it this year for 6th. The review is perfect, the spiral approach works great for us, the lightunits are nice bc it shows what they are accomplishing as they work through them. There are 2 quizzes and 1 test for for each LU.
We love it and I see no reason for us to change again. I actually regret ever leaving it. It is thorough and rigorous, but teaches it clearly. Can’t say enough about it.
June 4, 2013 at 3:18 am
jeaninpa
Participant
I tend to not use Teacher’s Guides and because I never do I never find out if they would actually be helpful or not!! I can barely keep up as it is, adding in five TG would push me over the edge I think. :> I don’t even use the answer keys until about 5th grade or so.
June 4, 2013 at 4:44 am
momma_pajama
Participant
I would suggest getting the teacher’s guide for 1st grade, but in the second grade almost all of the teaching is in the student workbook, so you could probably get away with not buying it. Having said that, I really like having the TG!
June 4, 2013 at 7:02 am
Corie
Participant
We LOVE CLE math! I question everything we are doing from year to year, EXCEPT CLE math! We tried Math Mammoth and Math-u-See before finding CLE, and we will not be going back! Because it is spiraling, my children tend to get a little frustrated at times, but it is that same repetition that has made them so confident in their abilities. When the drill starts to get a bit tedious, and I KNOW they know the material well, I will reward them by only assigning half of the problems or even letting them test out and move on. Very thorough and affordable. Love it!
June 18, 2013 at 3:30 am
Karen
Participant
We’ve always used CLE math and love it — using grade 1 and grade 4 this year. I would advise getting the Teacher’s guides — but then I’m non-math. I needed the TG to help me explain place values!! I just couldn’t figure it out on my own.

And now, I have two daughters using grade 1 (one at lesson 5, one at lesson 98) and one daughter using grade 4, I need the TG so I don’t have the think at all to grade the lessons or tests or quizzes.

I LOVE The spiral approach. It woks so well for my girls. And yes, I cross things out. As long as their quizzes and tests are 90 or higher, I just select problems based on their individual trouble spots.
It’s also VERY affordable.
June 18, 2013 at 5:56 pm
Jenni
Participant
These are wonderful tips and reviews, ladies. Thank you all for sharing.
Can anyone tell me where they purchase CLE math? My go-to site, Rainbow Resource, doesn’t seem to have it.
Also, is the curriculum couched in a Christian worldview?
Thanks!
Jenni
June 18, 2013 at 5:59 pm
HiddenJewel
Participant
CLE from an Mennonite company, so definitely a Christian worldview.

You can only purchase it at http://www.clp.org or maybe from Milestone Ministries.
June 18, 2013 at 6:06 pm
Jenni
Participant
Great – I am ordering right now. It’s summer math for both my dds. Review (much needed) for the 4th grader and new for the 1st grader.
Thank you again, gals!
June 18, 2013 at 6:11 pm
Karen
Participant
Yup, definitely Christian….conservative Mennonite. Any pictures of ladies have the ladies in dresses and head coverings. The stories sprinkled throughout (beginning of each light unit and story problems) are family-oriented, with some being family-farm-oriented.

I like all that, just because we are conservative Christian (not Mennonite, though) and we live on a farm.
As for purchasing it, if you’re at a convention/curriculum fair and CLE is there, you can order it and they’ll ship it free!
As a side note, I also switched one daughter to CLE Language Arts. I’m not super-duper happy with it (like I am the math) but she needed the work-book style teaching. She just wasn’t understanding the punctuation, the diagramming, and all that with Rod and Staff. Since R&S is mastery-based, I thought a switch to CLE might work…and so far, she loves it. We skip some of the spelling things and the handwriting things (because I use other stuff for that), but she enjoys accomplishing each lesson.
June 18, 2013 at 9:23 pm
April
Participant
Not to steal the thread, but I am curious if you all have ideas of how to make the number of pages not overwhelming for my ds going into 2nd??
Do any of you break up the lessons throughout the day?
I really like CLE for the reasons stated above and have considered trying something else but keep coming back to it. Just hoping this year we can keep happy attitudes ok maybe not happy just not crying ;). He is capable of the work and when he doesn’t focus his attention on complaining he can get it done in no time.
TIA!
Blessings,
April