Ray's, MEP

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  • January 3, 2011 at 10:31 am
    dmccall3
    Participant

    Have any of you used Ray’s Arithmetic or MEP for math? How does it compare to what is recommended on SCM (the name of it has slipped my mind)? Do any of you start with something different in the young years then switch when they get older?

    Thanks!

    Dana

    January 3, 2011 at 1:48 pm
    Sue
    Participant

    This thread discusses experiences with MEP:  http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/mep-math.  A couple of posts into it is a link to a blog that is very helpful with additional links to info about MEP.

    This thread focuses (mostly) on Ray’s Arithmetic: http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/rays-arithmetic-or-saxon#post-7516.

    We are just starting to use MEP this month.

    HTH,

    Sue

    January 3, 2011 at 2:01 pm
    ruth
    Participant

    Thanks!! I’m looking into Rays myself.  It sounds like it was everything I hope it is.

    Ruth

     

    January 3, 2011 at 3:27 pm
    suzukimom
    Participant

    I love MEP math….

    Here is an article I wrote on how it lines up with CM principles…

    http://maplehillacademy.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-mep-math-cm-also-kindergarten-math.html

    There is a Yahoo group for MEP homeschoolers, and lots of other helpfun links…. on my blog or on previous posts here.

    January 3, 2011 at 4:15 pm
    kainklan
    Member

    Don’t overlook the Life Of Fred series. they begin with fractions and go all the way through high school math. I have used many math curr. over the years and they all seem to have one thing likable or unique about them but in the end math is not just doing computations. it is reading math and knowing what operation to do from that reading .. therefore the need for this series… You must already have had the  math operations down in order to start with this series.. The comprehension the child will gain will be remarkable… and I think Charlotte would approve of the conciseness and brevity of these lessons.

    HTH

    KK

    January 3, 2011 at 4:24 pm
    Cindie2dds
    Member

    Another vote for MEP math here as well. We’ve really enjoyed it.

    January 3, 2011 at 9:04 pm
    MamaSnow
    Participant

    We are using MEP Reception (Kindergarten) Level right now, about halfway through it.  It has been a good fit for us right now since I didn’t want to use a Kindergarten math program that involved sitting DD down with a workbook.  Much of the kindergarten level is more about mathematical thinking and developing number concepts rather than a lot of drill and written work, which I really like for this level.  We do also do a calendar and some simple number/counting activities for whatever the “number of the day” is as well.  We split a lesson (each has 2-3 different activities) into 2 or 3 days, so it is done very quickly – never more than 5-10 minutes.   And DD5 loves doing her “math pictures”.   That all said however…I’m not sure we will continue with year 1.  I’m leaning towards something that takes a little more of a traditional approach.  But we’ll see.  I do like that MEP is free….

    Jen

    January 4, 2011 at 1:41 am
    Laura.bora
    Participant

    Here’s a vote for Ray’s Math!  We love it! 

    January 4, 2011 at 2:03 am
    MamaSnow
    Participant

    Those of you who use and love Ray’s – can you tell me what you love about it?  How user friendly is it?  (As in, can I just sit down with the book and a box of manipulatives and go for it, or is there a lot of prep time beyond initially familiarizing myself with how the program is set up?)  Does it include things like time, measurement, and money, or would I have to do a lot of supplementing in that area?  I am fairly comfortable with math and teaching math, but don’t want something that I have to do a lot of tweaking with.

    Just curious.  I hadn’t looked into that one before and I still haven’t settled on something that I really like to use when we finish what we’re doing for K.

    Thanks,

    Jen

    January 4, 2011 at 2:24 am
    Laura.bora
    Participant

    Much like other CM books, I love that there are no time restraints around it.  You keep working the same lesson until it is mastered and then you move on.  I also love the focus on word problems and real world math.  My kids like it for the history aspect – “Can you believe that candy was only a penny a piece!?”

     

    I can’t say for some of the books later in the series (we are in Primary Math right now), but I do next to no prep work for math.  I take a chunk of time as needed to write down problems in their math notebook on whatever we are studying.  (I like to use http://www.themathworksheetsite.com and copy the problems into their notebook.)  My younger daughter uses manipulatives (she’s 5) but my son (8) no longer uses manipulatives.  We usually review the lesson outloud, have them do a few problems in their notebook and call it a day.  Sometimes we’ll play a computer game or something to reinforce the math in a more fun way.

    Time is not included it Primary – not sure about higher up….but I simply waited until my son showed an interest in learning how to tell time, then we would spend 5 minutes a day learning to tell time on a clock.  I printed up worksheets from http://www.themathworksheetsite.com, and started with the o’clocks and worked our way forward to telling time to the minute.  After a few months, he had it down.  Measurement is covered in the end of primary math – after addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are mastered.  But again, when my son showed an interest in ;earning measurements, we grabbed a tape measure and we measured everything!  Money is also covered later in the book, but we also cover it as they are interested so they have a background in money before it is covered formally.  And that reminds me – I love this BECAUSE I can do a lot of tweeking as it suits our needs, or leave it as is when it suits our needs! 

    January 8, 2011 at 12:12 am
    MamaSnow
    Participant

    Thanks Laura.bora, that helps. I’ve had a terrible time settling on what math to use when we start Grade 1 and the more I look into it the more I think that perhaps Ray’s might be a good fit for us.

    Is there anyone out there who has tried Ray’s and DIDN’T really like it?  So far I’ve seen GOOD things from people who have used it, but the only drawbacks I’ve seen/heard are that perhaps some of the examples and such are a little old-fashioned and perhaps not totally applicable today.  (Which I don’t see as a huge problem, since it seems to me it would be easy enough to update those kinds of things on the fly if necessary.)  Just wondering if there is anything else negative I should be aware of??

    Thanks,

    Jen

    January 8, 2011 at 2:08 am
    Rachel White
    Participant

    If you don’t use Ruth Beechick’s guide with the Ray’s (which I recommend you do), you may find their Arithmetic workbooks handy in implementing Ray’s. They go through grade 4. I can’t give a recommendation as for the older grades.

    We use it as a supplemental mental math; for oral drills and such. When our public schools used Ray’s, children were far more capable of doing complex mathematical equations in their minds, without the use of calculators and such, than they are now. Think about it, our great bridges, many buildings and tunnels were calculated mathematically without computer technology in the 19th Cen.

    Rachel

    January 8, 2011 at 2:38 am
    dmccall3
    Participant

    Rachel, what curriculum do you supplement Ray’s with? Is it not enough on it’s own?

    Thanks!

    Dana

    January 8, 2011 at 3:06 am
    missceegee
    Participant

    We love Ray’s, too! It is definitely enough and doesn’t need supplementing beyond the things mentioned above (time, measurement, etc.). The Beechick guides are great, but for this stage in my life, we are using the workbooks for ds in 1st grade. It’s just easier and we skip a bit b/c he’s a whiz at math so far. For time & money, etc. I used a simple workbook called, The Complete Book of Time and Money and we did NOT do all of the pages, just enough to help cement real life math.

    There is 0 prep work, which is a must for me right now.

    We use Ray’s with Rapid Recall (math fact practice) for ds  in 1st and

    Teaching Textbooks with Rapid Recall for dd in 4th (though I should have kept at it with Ray’s instead of swapping her around so much). She’s fine with math, but feels like she isn’t b/c of the changes we tried. TT is really working for her right now.

    HTH,

    Christie

    January 8, 2011 at 1:16 pm
    Rachel White
    Participant

    Dana,

    I do think that if Ray’s is done as RB’s guide tells you to, then it is complete, except for the clocks/measurments/money, etc., which I would recommend Math Mammoth to deal with these individual subjects. I just didn’t get into the swing of it according to how RB recommends, for whatever reason, though I think it helped establish a solid oral math thinking ability, so I’m glad I started with it. Doing math orally is much harder than on paper and that has extended to the current time.

    I’m 4 yrs. into this, so I really can’t remember why I decided to use Developmental Mathematics back then after researching, using Math MAmmoth to supplement for measurements (he learned time w/o a supplement), but I did (which my son uses and will until the last level before Alg.). I think I wanted a completely independant learning based curriculum (math isn’t my strong point). My dd did 5 levels before she hit a block and I switched her to TT 3 due to her thinking/learning style and with Ray’s as the supplemental oral drill (I think TT needs more drill).

    I don’t know that I helped you in your decision!

    Rachel

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