Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: elementary math

This topic has 19 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 11 months ago by Kelley.

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June 30, 2016 at 3:28 pm
Jen
Participant
Okay so I’m looking for a math workbook option for my younger kids. Grades k-3rd. I need something that I can tear out the pages and put them on their morning clipboard for independent work. Something that’s easy to follow and NOT teacher intensive.
In the past we have tried Saxon, Math U See, Teaching Textbooks,Abeka, Math for a Living Education and Life of Fred. None of these will work for my current season of life.
So does anyone have any suggestions?
June 30, 2016 at 3:44 pm
Alicia Hart
Participant
We use math u see for most of our kids. Have you looked at Kahn math? I don’t know a lot about it but have heard it is pretty user friendly
June 30, 2016 at 4:01 pm
Lindy Waskosky
Participant
Christian Light. Affordable, easy to use, lots of review, tests and quizzes if you want them. My kids love finishing one light unit and moving on to “new things”. My boys need very little assistance. (Grade 1 and 3). I do help introduce new topics and go over their work to make sure they are understanding, but it takes very little time. I sometimes add in more manipulative too, but it is not “necessary”.We have loved it and my older son scored very well on standardized tests in math, but best of all they enjoy it.
June 30, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Jen
Participant
I will look at Christian Light. That’s one I haven’t checked out before. Lindykay99, thanks for the suggestion! 🙂
June 30, 2016 at 4:18 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Another suggestion for CLE.
June 30, 2016 at 4:21 pm
Jamie
Participant
I hear what you are saying about needing less teacher intensive curriculum, but I would have thought ABeka and Math U See would have worked well this way.

Abeka – Just tear out daily page, and all new directions are at the top.
Math U See – Watch video on Monday, and tear sheets out for daily clipboard.
Of course Teaching Textbooks is great for this, but starts around a 2nd – 3rd grade level.
We have tried all these as well and just my 2 cents, but I think you can make those work for your season.

June 30, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Jen
Participant
Jamie,
Yes I’m sure for some moms those programs would work. Here are the reasons they didn’t for us.
Please keep in mind I have 9 kids, 8 are at home and 5 of them are under 6 yrs old.
Math U See was very teacher intensive for me. I needed to set up and rotate several kids through the the DVD each day, with only one DVD/TV in the house that was really a chore. I also found that even after they watched the videos I needed to explain to them the materials. Maybe it’s just my kids but they don’t seem to learn well from videos. My kids need to one on one with me. Oh and then there were the manipulative! Keeping those in one place and being able to find them when the time came was another challenge. Usually it would take us about an hour and a half to get through math u see. I like to keep lessons short so that was just way to much. My last reason that MUS didn’t work for us was the lack of review. One of my daughters used 3 levels of the program and seemed to do very well but by the time she did her yearly test she had not retained much! She was crushed because after all her hard work she had forgotten it all!
Abeka was very attractive but moved way too fast. Not giving my kids enough time for the concepts to sink in. Also the pages were just loaded with problems to work and very overwelming for my kids.
I believe math should be enjoyable or at least tolerable for both mom and kids.
June 30, 2016 at 6:22 pm
Kelley
Participant
For younger ages, I found CLE to be very teacher-dependent. We’ve been using Math Mammoth this summer and it’s great!
June 30, 2016 at 6:50 pm
Jen
Participant
I have looked at Math Mammoth a couple time but the website seems confusing to me. Are there accually work books that go along with it?
Does anyone have experience with MCP math or Horizons?
July 1, 2016 at 9:20 am
Rachel White
Participant
After level 1 or 2, CLE is written directly to the child; it is semi-spiral, so it has a lot of review, which is what my dd needed; also, it was old-fashioned math teaching; it avoids the stuff that has been in modern maths that was confusing
Also, it’s not colorful-just basic, which works better for her, too
The speed drills can be done by you just setting a timer for one minte and leaving; also we wait until the bokk is completed to do the speed drills as it seemed an interuption to do it any other time
Math Mammoth is a mastery; it has worked well for many and is inexensive, too; it confsed my dd, but looking back, mastery was not a good option for her due to lack of review (also, the same nonsense that was confsing in MS, I think is in MM-of course yo can skip it, but that requires you)
I think you can by a small sampling inexpensively for MM to test it out
Horizon is spiral; other than, that, I don’t know about it
July 1, 2016 at 9:35 am
Rebekah
Participant
How about study time arithmetic? Grades 1&2 are called conventional arithmetic with spunky the donkey, 3& up are called study time. You could easily start the grade 1 book in kindergarten, because it is really easy stuff, addition facts to ten, and just work through at a slower pace. There is a lot of review. Grades 1&2 actually have three sides of a page a day, so you could easily spread those out over k-2. 3& up have two sides of a page.
July 1, 2016 at 10:05 am
Rachel White
Participant
I just noticed you said Abeka moved too quickly, you may have similar trouble with Horizon, being it’s spiral, too. Just a thought.
You can order samples from MM and CLE, I’m pretty sure.
Unless you have a child who handles math easily, early on, then all younger ages will be more hands on. There question is one of realistic manageability for you. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how u look at it), some of hours may respond to CLE, and others a MM.
I suggest sampling them all, though your under sixes, just keep it simple and, unless gifted, they only need number magnets, blocks, etc. They don’t need a curriculum, so only focus on ages 6/7 +.
And of those, not all will be ready to begin so soon.
July 1, 2016 at 10:40 am
Jen
Participant
Rachel, you are so right! I definitely need to focus on my kids who are 6/7+. Although my 5 yr old wants to do school too and so I need something available for him.
It’s hard to know what’s the right fit and I’m so tired of wasting money on curriculum that only gets used partially…but that’s probably just a personal hang up!
Rebekah, I will look at Study Time Math. I have never heard of that one, so thank you for the suggestion.
I just read an older post that was talking about using Miquon Math with Christian Light. So combining a spiral with a mastery. I think that’s a very interesting idea. I used Miquon 9 years ago with my older kids and for the life of me can’t remember why we stopped. I think I will look at that one again. I just don’t want to bite off more then I can chew! Someone on here commented recently that the best curriculum is the one that gets done…so true!
July 1, 2016 at 10:48 am
Kelley
Participant
Math Mammoth is actually a work text. Instruction is included in the workbook. It’s really affordable, no teacher’s manual, no separate purchase. Plus the lady who put it together has a lot of helpful videos, and the kids get a good amount of practice.
July 1, 2016 at 10:52 am
Kelley
Participant
Also with Math Mammoth, you can get the whole curriculum per grade, or you can get worktexts by topic. You can buy the physical copies or you can buy the downloads. So if your child is needing extra help with weights and measurements, for example, you can buy the download for a couple of dollars and work through it and get the extra practice.