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Math on the Level
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Has anyone had experience using the Math on the Level curriculum? I saw that they will be at a convention I am attending so I checked them out and it looks really awesome. I have been struggling with choosing a math program that will be the right amount of teaching without being workbookish and will fit with my children’s abilities. This does all that and more. It is listed and reviews by others as being CM friendly. It is a curriculum that you use from K-pre algebra so you can do math as a family instead of individually.
Here’s the link. I’d love to hear if someone has experience with it.
https://www.mathonthelevel.com/
Thanks,
Keri
This looks good!! I hope someone has some experience using this and can give us their opinions.
Shelly
I’ve seen this curriculum advertised as CM-friendly and I’m curious what the thinking is behind that. Have you seen any explanations of what makes it “CM friendly”? Thanks!
Well, I do not have a thorough knowledge of Charlotte’s methods for math (or of this particular curriculum either). From what I can see on the website they incorporate short lessons, learning at the child’s own pace, uses real life situations to teach. I don’t know if this program uses manipulatives or not. Here is a long but well written review of it:
http://eclectichomeschool.org/reviews/individual_review2.asp?revid=2586
I hope this helps. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, Sonya.
There are so many math programs available now that, rather than give an opinion on each specific curriculum, Karen and I got together and brainstormed a list of what we think makes a good math curriculum. We hope this information will be helpful to everybody in evaluating all the possibilities. 🙂
- Things before symbols — The children need to see the concepts in action before putting them on paper with mathematical formulas and equations.
- Curriculum writer or teacher/parent with a strong grasp of math — Math, of all subjects, is heavily dependent on the teacher. Referring to mathematics, Charlotte said, “There is no one subject in which good teaching effects more, as there is none in which slovenly teaching has more mischievous results” (Vol. 1, p. 254).
- Able to use in short lessons — It might be written specifically that way or can be easily modified that way.
- Ability to move at each child’s pace — Not holding a child back or pushing a child ahead before he’s ready.
- Emphasizes mastery of a concept — Math must be learned well at each stage or the child will be lost in the next stage.
- Lots of practice problems for new concepts — so the student finds the function becoming second nature.
- Sufficient review — This can be just enough problems to keep the skills fresh or to alert you that the child didn’t really learn it the first time through and needs a refresher before moving on to the next concept.
- A comprehensive, accurate answer key.
We’ve just started with Math on the Level this last year. There is a yahoo group that you may join to have your questions answered. The authors (John and Carlita) are very open to questions and from my experience have great customer service. You can read their bios on their web site. I’m only a happy customer from taking a deep breath & purchasing MOTL.
Going from Sonya’s checklist:
* Things before symbols- As I’m on the yahoo group & I’m learning the “MOTL” way, this is emphasized. Life experiences is something important with MOTL. Going to the grocery store, playing games and so on.
*Curriculum writer or teacher/parent with a strong grasp of Math – Well, I’m not strong in Math, but as I teach with MOTL I’m learning too. For me, MOTL is well laid out and through the yahoo group (and otherwise) I have access to the author if I have trouble.
*Able to use in short lessons – Absolutely! I love short lessons. Although, I must admit that our lessons can get long when we play games, bake and so on. This curriculum has been highly adaptable for us.
*Emphasizes master of a concept – Once a child learns a concept, you put it on their “5-A-Days”. That is, a learned concept is put into a system of review that graduates from daily to weekly to monthly & so on. If you need to revisit a problem type later, no problem. The child does 5 Math problems per day. MOTL has tracking systems in place & they continue to improve their product as they listen to their customers.
Carlita has a big emphasis on a child’s maturation level for concepts, thus the name “Math on the Level”. If a child is not ready for certain concepts, then hold off & try later. (The flip side would be true too). Basically, you know your child & so teach them when ready.
*Lots of practice problems for new concepts – that’s addressed some in the point above.
*Sufficient review – also addressed above.
*A comprehensive, accurate answer key – They have problems listed in back of their books for 5-A-Days. They also are working on a computer program that would generate Math problems. At this point, I don’t know when the computer program will be available. Guess a person can ask them!
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Like I mentioned above — If interested, I believe you can go to MOTL website & then join their yahoo group from there.
Some people use MOTL by itself, some supplement. Some people seem to use MUS manipulatives well with MOTL. (I don’t know MUS, but I understand it’s based alot on manipulatives.)
MOTL gives me all the concepts I need from Pre-K to Pre-Algebra with a tracking system, example problems and a way for me to supplement with workbook Math. (My dd loves workbooks.)
Hope this helps.
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