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Cheryl
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 2:33pm | IP Logged
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I'm using Saxon Math 1 with my ds 7 and he doesn't seem to like it much. He complains that he already knows things when they come up again and again. I've been skipping the meeting book stuff and I actually feel goofy reading many of the lessons. I'm thinking about what to do for next year. I'm looking at getting chc lesson plans, mainly for religion. They use MCP for second grade. Has anyone used this? What do you think of it? I've also been looking at Horizons and Singapore. Something about Math-U-See doesn't attract me to it.
I also have a ds 5 that I'm thinking of starting math with. I didn't use a math curriculum for kindergarten with my first born, but this child seems ready. He's been asking to do school. He seems to know most of what you would learn with kindergarten curriculums. I'm not sure if I should try the Saxon 1 with him or get something different. I'm rambling... I'm nursing my newborn and looking at catalogs, but I'm tired and probably not thinking/writing very clearly. I'd love some feedback on your K-2 math experience.
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Cheryl
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Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 2:47pm | IP Logged
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I really like Miquon Math for that age. The kids all loved it, too.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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alicegunther
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 2:57pm | IP Logged
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We are big Math U See fans here.
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Love, Alice
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Rebecca
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 4:16pm | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
| We are big Math U See fans here. |
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Ditto! We have used Primer, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Math-u-see turned my math hater into a math lover!
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Rachel May
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 5:02pm | IP Logged
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I have to add my voice to the Math U See lovers. At this point there is little to no prep, the video makes it really easy, and the kids love it. Everytime I announce a math test there are CHEERS! For that reason, my husband loves it too.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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guitarnan
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 5:41pm | IP Logged
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We like Math-U-See, but it's spiral, just as Saxon is. This might not be a good switch for you at this stage. We did use MCP and my daughter really disliked it (too much of one type of problem on each page); this might appeal to your son. (We went through this with my son in grade 5. He really, really, really dislikes the spiral approach.) Now we're using Math-U-See for one child and Key to Algebra for the other. Two different kids; two different curricula.
Perhaps you could try printing out one-topic practice sheets (or making your own, since he's young) and try that for a couple of weeks, to see if his outlook improves.
MCP isn't bad; at your son's age, he'd have a consumable workbook with lots and lots and lots of adding and subtracting. Since he doesn't like constant review, MCP might be a good option.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Cheryl
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 5:53pm | IP Logged
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Wow. Maybe I'll have to check out Math U See. I started watching the demo DVD last year with my dh and I don't think we got through the whole thing. At that time I was talking about Saxon Math with a friend of mine. She was so pleased with it that I decided to give it a try.
Right now the "little prep" sounds good. How long do you spend on Math U See each day? Why do you think your kids love it?
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Cheryl
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MichelleW
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| Posted: March 25 2006 at 8:01pm | IP Logged
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So far no one has mentioned the one we use, Singapore Math. We've been using it for three years now and we like it. I haven't tried the others suggested so I can't compare.
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ALmom
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| Posted: March 26 2006 at 10:34am | IP Logged
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We have now used all of the programs mentioned above. Many of them have been revised (for the better, imho)since we started. IMO, they all have their advantages and weaknesses - so it depends on what you are looking for and what works with your dc.
To be honest, I have started all my littlers on Singapore Math and really like it - but with my 6 yo who is not really ready for very formal schooling, we pull out MCP from time to time when he asks and haven't done much yet with Singapore. At 1A, Singapore has them recognizing number names as well as the number (which I like - but which my son is not yet ready for) so we are doing CHC stuff hit and miss (I pull it out when he asks which is no where near even once per week) But when he asks, he likes any of those. The MCP stuff drones on and on with pages and pages of material - it is very thick even in K. Nothing is all that difficult, but its all the kind of stuff you learn by setting the table, counting objects, etc. I'd just as soon do the CHC Little Numbers for Little folks and play with other stuff to get the same ideas across. He can do a page here and there in MCP when he asks for it. He likes it and it is basically a spot check that he has a concept down.
When we become more consistent, it will be with Singapore Math for him.
I have another child that loves Saxon - it is at his comfort level. The newer version, imo, is better than the older one - more organized, has a key by each problem that tells you where it was first introduced, and the books are now consumable which my son really needed. I find them easy to use, even though they are not always my favorite in terms of concept presentation.
I plan to sneak in some Singapore Math stuff - have him do along with brothers, or just get him involved in real world stuff to supplement. There is lots and lots of review built in so if a dc doesn't like or need that, then you may be better using something else.
I have also used Math-U-See but we found it difficult to run the video and our dc didn't respond well to it - so it became very mom intensive for us. I only have the older version which did not have enough practice problems and I didn't feel like I had the time for a bunch of creating of this for a bunch of children. However, I loved the concept presentations and manipulatives and still use aspects of the program to supplement everything else we do. I found it solid in concept, sometimes weak in math vocabulary and you have to remember to do the real measurement stuff that is in the TM or the dc don't get much of that. It was a great program for our dc to start with who had not done any math to speak of until later in life (though she was a bit put off by all the bitty children on the video doing Algebra). I just couldn't use it consistently enough for it to be my main program.
Since I have them all, I pick one for a child to stick with, but supplement from the other programs whenever we need a different approach or way to present a concept.
Singapore Math seems very solid to me - lots of real math with measurement. They don't try to teach little pieces in truncated ways - but just a few very basic concepts to a very complete level and then build on that and move on to new concepts. You have to be careful not to rush through the workbooks as these are short and unintimidating. There is also quite a bit of mental math and math word problems. We really like it as are main program with the homeschool or TM from 1B on. We use 1A too, just didn't need the TM for that one.
Janet
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kristina
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| Posted: March 26 2006 at 10:46pm | IP Logged
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Cheryl wrote:
Right now the "little prep" sounds good. How long do you spend on Math U See each day? Why do you think your kids love it? |
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Dear Cheryl,
My prep for Math-U-See is zero! Here is how we do it. Our sons pop their dvd in the player. Play their lesson (about 10 minutes?) with me in the room. They take the test. If they get 100%, the next time they do math, they move to the next lesson. When our eldest was doing Beta (2nd grade), he zipped through until he learned to carry (I know, I know it's called regrouping  ). Then he took two weeks to understand that concept utilizing the exercise pages until he had it mastered. I think my kids enjoy math-u-see because they get a sense of accomplishment with each completed lesson and once they are done, they are one step closer to their free time. It's a nice win win situation.
We actually had math-u-see for kindergarten. I never used it with the children. We simply used blocks, beads, m&m's anything to learn adding, subtracting, grouping, etc.. We had the older version of math-u-see with the videos. I used to think that there was something about math-u-see that made me reluctant to use it. I suppose I could say that videos are inconvenient with the rewinding and such. Honestly though, I was just not that into doing a formal math program for kindergarten. I ended up selling it and replacing with Right Start, which is an outstanding program, but way too mom-intensive for me when I had a newborn. For us, the math-u-see dvd's are a wonderful fit! Also, our guys learn really well from Mr. Demme. He presents the material so much more clearly and consisely than I could.
Blessings,
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kristina
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Rachel May
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Cheryl wrote:
| Right now the "little prep" sounds good. How long do you spend on Math U See each day? Why do you think your kids love it? |
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My 6 yos are currently in Alpha. We usually watch the DVD at the beginning of a big concept (Place value, addition, subtraction) but not for the beginning of each lesson so every few weeks. I usually assign 2 pages a day which takes 10 or 15 minutes for my boys. If the practice sheets go easily, we move right to the comprehensive review pages. I try to always have them do all of those since they review all the concepts they've learned. While the boys learn quickly, I have found that they do need the repitition to acquire mastery. It works out that nearly every week we start a new lesson on Monday and take a test on Thurs.
Here are some reasons they like it: they love getting to watch a movie, even for 5 minutes, they love to sing the skip count songs, they love to play with the lego-like blocks, they love the quick pace, they love having a book of tests so they can compare this week's score with last week's score.
I like it because the DVD makes it easier for me to teach, the program is orderly and came with practice sheets, tests, and a teacher's manual, it is multisensory, and since the books are not broken by grade level, we can move as slowly or as quickly as we want. Mostly, I love it because it inspires my kids. If it didn't, we would try something else.
The friend who recommended it to me can only get her daughter to do 1/2 page per day. If she were my child we would change.
We also listen to School House Rock, play with tangrams, play with legos, cook, play cards, play dominos, do Marcy Cook Math, and talk about math whenever it comes up which is often. Maybe we are just math nerds.
What really sold me on Math U See was watching him factor polynomials with the blocks. I loved doing that without blocks in HS, and even so, seeing it with the blocks was an "Aha!" moment for me. As I say... 
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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Rachel May
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ALmom wrote:
| I found it solid in concept, sometimes weak in math vocabulary and you have to remember to do the real measurement stuff that is in the TM or the dc don't get much of that. |
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Just wanted to agree with the vocab part, although that might be my lack of teaching. We haven't dealt with measurement yet.
We use the newer version.
Oh, and I like the early into to algebra and story problems too.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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Erin
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I would second and third the Singapore Maths I also have a seventh grader. Who at the moment is powering through her book in a self imposed effort to get to the book 7.
One comment about Math-U-See made to me by a friend, she loved if for the younger ones but found big holes with it in the later years and certainly had ditched it my highschool. Anyhow that was her opinion.
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Erin
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| Posted: March 28 2006 at 2:44am | IP Logged
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Woops Cheryl,
I just realised your ds is 7yrs not grade 7.
Well for what its worth I have a ds7 who loves SM.
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Erin
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Cheryl
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| Posted: March 28 2006 at 7:50am | IP Logged
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I want to read all your posts again when I have time. I did watch the Math U See Demo last night. I can't really imagine my ds 7 getting excited about doing the worksheets. I could imagine my ds 5 liking watching a dvd and filling out sheets. (He likes workbooks more I think.)
I'm going to try to find out today what exactly it is that ds 7 doesn't like about Saxon. I may have more questions for you all later. Thanks for your help so far.
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Cheryl
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Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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teachingmyown
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I am using Singapore for my 8yr old, 6 yr old and 4 yr old. I have tried ABeka, Saxon, MathUSee and Right Start Math!
I really, really like Singapore! I think it is very CM-friendly. We sit on the couch with the "textbook", which is very colorful and interesting and then my 8yr old ds does his workbook. For my two little girls, who can't get enough of school, I bought the Pre-school and Kindergarten workbooks (Early Bird Math) and they are cruising through them very quickly. So if you have a child who isn't ready for 1A, then you could start with Early Bird Math and introduce the concepts that way.
The Early Bird books have you do some hands-on, such as measuring with paper clips, comparing weight on a balance and measuring liquids. Not too much, but fun for the kids.
I am not a hands-on person, especially not these days, and I honestly want as little prep-time as possible.
My 4th grader is still using ABeka and I find the explanations in the book to vague and confusing. I am hoping to move her to Singapore next year.
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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Meredith
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I am so glad to find this discussion right now as I am in the midst of trying to decide what program to use for both my dc. Dd (4th grade) is using Abeka again after doing a year of Miquon and Singapore, and ds (2nd grade) is doing Miquon and drills from Abeka and has finished his Singapore. I think I started them off in the Singapore that was too easy and for my dd, she had already done 2 years of Abeka and really seemed to do well with the Singapore and not so well with the Miquon. I am not thrilled with Abeka, it just doesn't seem "meaty" enough???
Is Math-U-See enough to keep them interested and learn at the same time. She seems to really enjoy the colorful pages and has done great with her concepts, but I have to agree with Molly that Abeka seems too vague in their explanations, although I've never purchased a teachers manual except for the Miquon.
Sigh...what to do. Sorry this is so wordy, both my dc are excellent at math and I don't want to discourage them with switching around too much, I just want them to continue to enjoy math and learn it well, my mantra for all of school I should say!
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Meredith
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: math for next year
