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Have you used Christian Light Math or Math Mammoth??
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OK…I thought I had settled in my mind what we were going to use next year and now here I go again…
I had planned to start using Ray’s Arithmetic with my dd next year – first grade. I love the idea of it and I love the flexibility it offers to slow down or speed up as needed depending on the child (unlike a workbook-based curriculum). I also love that it is a one-time reusable purchase. However, I am going to be going to school part time next year – as will DH. (One of us will be home with the kids while the other is in school and so on.) So…I’m taking a good hard look at my curriculum plans now to make sure that they are realistic (read: simple enough), and also looking to see if there are things that I could just hand to dh to do with her without much prep work or fuss for him depending on how things go. I’m a little afraid that this might be difficult to do with Ray’s because of the way it is set up – I don’t want to get bogged down needing to find supplementary ideas for topics that need more work, or have it be too complicated for dh to just pick up and see where we are at if there are times that he does portions of her schoolwork with her while I am in class.
So…I’m back looking at workbook type curriculums again. I had looked at both of these before (Christian Light Press and Math Mammoth) and liked the simplicity and low-cost of both of them. DD is fairly natural at math and has done well with the combination of various hands-on things we have done for kindergarten this year. She also has good handwriting skills and seems to like workbooky type stuff, so I don’t think having more written work will be a huge problem for her either. I’m OK with adding in counters and other manipulative things on my own, but don’t want to be having to do lots of prep work or supplementing, which is what I’m a little afraid I may end up doing with Ray’s.
So…all that to say…have you used either of these? What do you think? I’d appreciate feedback on either program. Or if you’ve used Ray’s and want to try to talk me in to using it anyways given our situation next year…that’s OK too. =) I do like the idea of it and would love to make it work…just not quite sure that it will in our situation next year.
(BTW, I know there are a lot of MathUSee and MEP lovers out there…I don’t think either of these will be a good fit for us.)
Thanks
Jen
As much as I love MEP, I agree it won’t work with your situation.
Haven’t used the ones you asked about… but…
The Professor B math that someone else posted about looks great and would probably work well in your situation…
and Khan Academy is free and I know people who use it as their main math curriculum. It is on the computer (which may or may not be something you would like) – there are videos showing how to do things… and then the child gets exercises with random questions…. once they have 10 right in a row, it suggests they are ready for the next lesson. You and your husband can get setup as the childs tutor (or teacher or mentor – some term like that) – and then you can see how they are doing, find out if there may be a problem, etc. Otherwise, it is self-taught.
hope that helps!
I have used Math Mammoth as a supplement to MUS – I like it just fine, and it says on their website that it serves as a stand alone curriculum. You can choose to either do the grade level book or the by topic book. Since I’m using it as a supplement to MUS, I use the by topic workbooks and worksheets and align them with what we are doing in MUS. For example: as we’ve gone through MUS Alpha – I stopped at the end of the addition section and did the Math Mammoth addition book. I thought it was great review and good extra practice for drilling those facts. I also liked that it was presented in a different way from MUS, and when I saw that he could do it, I knew he really “had it down”. My son also likes workbooks and is very natural at math. He was able to go through the book without much assistance. So, all that to say, I’ve been happy with what I’ve used of it – but my disclaimer is that I’ve only used it with my “pretty much teaches himself” child and only the lowest levels. I am also a very “mathy” person, so the absence of a teacher’s manual with a lot of instruction of how to teach the different topics doesn’t bother me – I would think that may be a downside to some. Maybe someone with older children could offer more insight.
We’ve used MM several times and what I love about it is it’s portable and no need for a teacher’s guide. And, you can pick by subject and just work on that until it’s down. Or supplement. We’ve used it when I felt my 5th grader need more instruction in fractions…he had a binder just for that and would take it with him whenever we went about town and needed something to do. He wasn’t lugging along a big math book/worksheets, etc. If she’s fairly natural at math anyway, she’ll probably have no problem with MM. Luckily it’s inexpensive enough that if she ends up not liking it then you aren’t out too much money.
I know there are several threads on the forum about MM, it might be helpful to you to check them out.
We have used and really like Christian Light math. I am not a “mathy” person so one reason I like Christian Light is because it is written to the child. Unlike Saxon’s lower levels or Math U See (we’ve tried both of these) it has the directions for new concepts written in the workbook TO the child. I do not have to teach concepts very often unless my kiddos don’t understand the directions. It is VERY easily done independently.
Just my opinion…
Amanda
I just wanted to add that I only print out a small amount (maybe a weeks worth) at a time so as not to waste ink/paper…then what if the child didn’t really like it:) It can always be saved on your computer for another child or time. HTH
Thanks for the comments all…keep them coming. I’ll hunt for the older threads on Math Mammoth too.
@Amanda – if all the instructions for the student are in the Christian Light workbooks, have you found the teacher’s guides necessary?
I’m fairly comfortable with elementary level math myself…I am a former 6th grade classroom teacher…so don’t feel the need for having scripted lessons or anything either. Just hoping for something that I can just pick up and go with (or hand off to dh as needed..he is also a math person) without lots of tweaking and supplementing which I just don’t think I will have time for next year.
Thanks!
Jen
We have gone through about 8 math programs and finally found the Christian light Math. We love them, and think they are just right. My daughter is 9 and doing 3rd grade, we also don’t use the TG, as I don’t feel it’s necessary. This is a GREAT program and the price is unbeatable. I highly recommend you by one of the books and just see if it works for you. They are only 3 bucks so it’s not going to break the bank if it doesn’t work!
We tried MM and it didn’t work for us. I liked the way the subjects are laid out and you focus on one thing at a time, but some of the explanations were so confusing to me. That was just me.
HTH
Erica
I was going to add too, that the CLP math is a mastery spiral program. I believe that’s what it’s called, anyway.
It has just the right amount of review, and drill if they get their pretest correct they can skip ahead. I find it all uncluttered, simple and straightforward.
I pretty much give my dd the lesson, after introducing the concept in the book to her, and she is able to do it independently. I think you’ll find it easy to trade off teaching using this program.
So far I have not needed the teacher’s manuals, but I do like having the answer key. It helps speed up checking the kids work. We have done levels 2-4.
Amanda
I’m going to second (or third?) Christian Light Math. We found it after crying daily over Singapore and my non-mathy daughter does fine. In your situation, it would probably be great! We don’t use the Teacher’s guide either.
We used CLP this year. I did by the TM’s. I really found them useful-not for teaching the work, but becuase they show how to implement more than just the workbook for learning-especially if you have a visual learner! We switched from Singapore. We are now using Horizon Math.
here’s a MM plug. we love it. i used the blue series for fractions (these are the by topic series) for my older daughter to fill in gaps. I used the full curicculum for 3rd grade (the light blue series) for my son, and it amazes me how much he’s learned…almost without his knowing it, it seems. he’s using all sorts of mental math and real life application techniques, all learned from his MM this year. the CS is great and you can’t beat the price. i really like it.
amy
Thanks all. DH took a look at the samples of both yesterday and he liked the Math Mammoth better so I think we may try that. With all the travelling that we will be doing in the next year the option to print as we go is appealing too (less books to lug around!) As I looked at it more carefully too, I think I could probably still add in some of the stuff from Ray’s on the side too since so much of it is oral story problems that I think will tie in well to reinforce the topics in MM.
And just FYI, upon looking closer on at the Christian Light samples, I do think the TM IS necessary at the first grade level…not all the instructions for each exercise are printed in the workbook – I think on the assumption that the student may not yet be a strong reader. Just in case anyone else was thinking about using these.
Jen
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