Math on the Level?

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  • January 28, 2010 at 5:34 pm
    heatherc
    Member

    I saw Math on the Level mentioned in a post recently about CM-friendly math (I thought it was on here, but I can’t find the post) and was wondering about everyone’s experiences with it.  Since it’s still a fairly new curriculum, there don’t seem to be a lot of reviews available yet.  My oldest DS will be starting 1st next year, and I’m still undecided on a math curriculum.  What I’ve seen so far of MOTL looks great, but I was hoping to get some input from some more experienced CMers.

    January 28, 2010 at 6:24 pm
    wearejenandkev
    Participant

    I am not an experienced CMer, but I use Math on the Level.  I love it!  It is a little more time consuming on the prep work side, but my son is flying through it!  So, it is worth it!  It takes me about 20 minutes prep work (per child) for the week and then my son does math for about 15-20 minutes daily.  She encourages / gives ideas for ‘Math Adventures”, which is just living math experiences.  She encourages the mom to do Math Adventures twice weekly and 3 mini lessons (15 minutes) a week.  I create my son’s “worksheets” and only include things that we are working on and things he needs.  He does 5 problems a day.  Doing this approach, my son has increased one grade level since September and he is continually reviewing things from the beginning, so he has retained everything I have taught him!  (He is a quick learner, though.  I don’t know that all kids would move this fast.)  The only thing I don’t like is the prep work of making the 5-a-day sheets.  But, the authors are making a 5-a-day generator that will save lots of time.  It is not available yet, though.   There is a yahoo group for MAth on the Level that will give you lots more info.  Let me know if you want the link.  Hope that helps! 

    Jennifer

    January 28, 2010 at 7:35 pm
    heatherc
    Member

    Thanks, wearejenandkev!  I actually just joined the yahoo group last night.  Do you use the 9’s down books/e-books or create your own drills?

    January 29, 2010 at 12:40 am
    wearejenandkev
    Participant

    Yes, I use 9’s down.  We love it, but we do it a little different.  We just start the timer and stop it when he is done.  Then, when I feel like he has an acceptable time, then we move on to the next fact.  It is much more low stress!  He hated it at first because we did it the “traditional”  timed test way.  When he felt like he could slow down and take his time, then he started passing them! 

    Hope this helps!

    Jennifer

    January 29, 2010 at 5:15 am
    Jenna
    Member

    Well, I’m not experienced either, but I am using MOTL this year.  My oldest is in K, and I bought it just to figure it out before I would really hit the ground running with it in 1st.  So far my honest review would second Jennifer’s.  I love the flexibility of what to cover and when.  I love the fact that we are doing “living math” a lot more than if we used something else.  The yahoo group is fantastic for more ideas and support.  Their customer service is phenomenal.  The only thing I don’t like is that little bit of extra time it takes to plan what we are going to cover next, deciding how to teach it, and creating the 5-a-day reviews.  But that has nothing to do with the actual curriculum and much more to do with my own busy life (or lazyness!!).  I would definitely recommend it as a great partner to a CM education.

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