Cyndi,
I have not used MOL but am very familiar with RS…I’ve used RS with my last 4 children over the last 7 years.
Dr. Cotter, who developed RS, has a doctorate in mathematics. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her in person and she is a dynamo. One thing that impressed me is her desire and commitment to see children excel in math. She really believes that all children can understand math but many don’t because of the way they are taught.
In RS the children are taught to see quantities rather than rely on counting. I was a finger counter until I taught my children RS….and while I’m thrilled my children are learning I’m amazed that I can teach this old dog new tricks….I never realized how much I didn’t know till I started using RS to teach my children. Hahaha!!!
I did well in school and actually really liked Algebra. I taught my first 5 children using a variety of math curriculum….Saxon, Making Math Meaningful, Professor B, Ray’s, Singapore, Mastering Mathematics, Keys to, a computer program [ALEKS] and a few others I can’t recall the names of. I am not knocking any of these curriculums but stating them so you can see that I have been exposed to many different ways of teaching math.
I transitioned my oldest 3 children, after using all these other programs and getting frustrated, into Level E of RS. It was challenging for them and the biggest complaint I got from them is…..”why do I have to think, why can’t you just tell me what to do?” Until this point I had no idea I was just telling my children what to do. And yet when I look back now after using RS from Level B through The Geometric Approach I can see how most of the other math curriculums really don’t teach our children to think.
My youngest two boys have only used RS. I started them in Level B. One, 7th grader, is now half way through The Geometric Approach and the other, 5th grader, just finished Level E. What’s interesting is that when my boys were getting ready to go into Level E, their sisters who started in Level E would tell them…..”just wait till you get to Level E….it’s hard!!” Let’s just say my daughters were disappointed that their brothers didn’t find Level E hard. lol!!!!
RS is very different in its teaching approach. Seeing quantities rather than count is one of them. Yet after going through all the Levels I can now truly see the benefits of teaching them this way. And a side benefit is I am no longer a finger counter and math makes so much more sense to me. One of the benefits in teaching children to see the quantity of 5 in a number is that it opens up a whole new way of seeing patterns in math.
Many times in math we isolate different concepts, especially in the traditional way of teaching math. The problem is that it’s harder for most children to see the patterns. Math is really all about patterns and it’s quite amazing when you can finally start understanding and seeing them. Sure there are children and adults who just “get it” when it comes to math and it probably doesn’t matter which curriculum you use for them as they see and think mathematically. But there are many children and adults, like myself, who don’t think mathematically. RS is excellent in teaching not only children, but adults to think mathematically.
I have not used MOL but when I was looking at the samples I see that their teaching is the traditional way of doing math….example….in RS the child learns to do ALL double digit addition and subtraction mentally….NEVER on paper….the child is taught strategies [one main one is starting with the tens] and given ample lessons to practice those strategies. In MOL they teach double digit the traditional way of writing it down and starting with the ones. I’ve taught my children both methods and can say the way RS teaches it is the only way I’ll teach it now.
With my youngest boys they have only used the RS curriculum. Rather than supplement with another program in areas I feel they may still be weak in….we play the games. I had seriously looked at supplementing with another program for fractions but in looking at the Math Games book I realized that all the areas of working with fractions is covered in games. So, we are playing fraction games this summer and once again I am impressed with the depth of learning taking place and the amount of thinking on my boy’s part.
Ex: we’ve been playing a fraction game where we can add or subtract basic fractions like 1/4, 2/3, 7/10, 3/9 etc….to equal one or one-half. Today we played the game to equal one-half. So one of our rows looked like this…..2/5 – 3/5 + 1/5 + 5/10 = ½. I LOVED watching my boys get the fraction board and figure out the answers. We didn’t write anything down, we didn’t try to find the common denominator, we just played the cards in our hands and they had to figure it out mentally while looking at the fraction board. I lappreciate that the fraction board is set up so we can see the fractions linearly rather than in a pie shape. Seeing fractions linearly really helps us see how 2/10 = 1/5 and how 3/9 = 1/3…etc. And playing these games gets the boys very familiar and used to figuring out how much of one fraction it takes to make another fraction.
And while I am extolling RS and LOVE the program….know there is no perfect curriculum. One thing I hear a lot of is how RS is teacher intensive. Level A is gentle and you should only spend about 10-15 minutes a day. But when you get to Level B and higher, it does take about 30 minutes to teach a day. When you have multiple children the time can add up. …and for many mom’s that can be a drawback.
Another area is that the way children are taught in this curriculum is much different than the way most of us have learned in school and it can be a bit daunting when we don’t really understand why we are to teach what we are teaching. Or when we teach the lesson and don’t always understand where Dr. Cotter is going with the lesson because it may seem like it jumps around. Yet when you get to that place where it all comes together….it’s almost magical. 🙂
My suggestion is consider the cost….and I don’t just mean the financial cost. I personally have found the money I spent on RS to be some of the best money I’ve spent. What I mean is when looking at a math curriculum the parents need to look at the long term. In America, our children do comparative to the world in math till about the 4th grade and then we start to decline. WHY?? Why do the children in America not do as well as the children in Asian countries?? That is the question Dr. Cotter asked when she was doing her research. One of the goals of RS math is to help children excel in higher math by laying a strong foundation in the basics.
It took me two years after finding RS to actually purchase it and use it. At the time I had 5 children at home needing instruction and our finances were tighter than tight. Yet at one of the homeschool conferences, after two years of trying less expensive curriculum, I listened to a RS workshop on fractions and sat in the chair with my mouth on the floor by what I was learning. I thought how I’ve been to school….enjoyed math….and actually did pretty well. Yet here I was seeing things I had NEVER seen before. And I knew that this is what I wanted my children to learn now…..not when they were my age.
So I had to consider the cost both financially and time commitment. I put some of my children together because that’s what was needed and what worked for us. And when they were ready to be separated ….they were separated. I still have 4 children doing math at 4 different levels. Two are still in RS and two are working through VideoText. There are days where I still spend at least 30 minutes with three of my children [for a total of 11/2 hours]. And there are days some don’t get math done at all….very rare but it does happen. But there is no greater joy in teaching than to see the sparkle in their eyes and the light bulb going off when they “get it”. And I LOVE that they have to think through concepts and it’s not me telling them what to do but rather working alongside helping them discover.
I didn’t write this to tell you what to do but rather hope that in giving my testimony it might help you to decide. I am more than willing to answer any and all questions.
Blessings,
Debbie
