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Eleanor
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| Posted: Aug 11 2008 at 2:34pm | IP Logged
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Is anyone familiar with this program? Based on the videos and demos I saw, it looks great.
Professor B Math
(We're currently using a combination of Montessori and Right Start -- which we like fine -- but there's always room around here for another cool math curriculum.   )
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Eleanor
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| Posted: Aug 11 2008 at 3:53pm | IP Logged
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A few more links:
Prof. B's videos on YouTube
Reviews of the curriculum from homeschoolers
More reviews from homeschoolers
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Eleanor
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| Posted: Sept 13 2008 at 2:44pm | IP Logged
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Okay, I decided to go ahead and order some of the Professor B materials. I've been looking through them in the last week or so, and they're very impressive. As with Montessori, the lessons are presented in a very clear and logical way -- making it "child's play" to grasp the concepts -- but the curriculum looks to be MUCH easier to implement than M. Math.
The biggest difference is that Prof. B. uses very few manipulatives (just your fingers, really), and moves to paper and pencil work very early on. Because of this, we'll be sticking with Montessori for our preschoolers, who IMO have more of a need for the concrete materials. For older children, though, Prof. B. seems like an excellent choice.
For now, I'm enjoying his "crystal clear verbalizations," and will be integrating some of them into our M. lessons. 
We're putting Right Start back in its box, as it's our least favorite of the three curricula. It might be possible to combine all three, but I'm not quite crazy enough to try. (There was much that we liked about RS, but I have to admit that DH is relieved that he can keep calling 15 "fifteen" instead of "ten-five," and I'm glad not to have to hear that "Yellow is the Sun" song any more. Especially since my 3 year old insists on singing, "Salty is the sea, six is five and three..."  )
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Syncletica
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| Posted: Oct 23 2008 at 10:34pm | IP Logged
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How is your family enjoying Professor B, Eleanor? Do you recommend it?
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: May 22 2009 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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Bumping this. I'm curious!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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Eleanor
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| Posted: June 05 2009 at 4:18pm | IP Logged
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Hi! First of all, some sad news... "Professor B" himself (Everard Barrett) passed away last October at age 70.
http://mommynotes.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/professor-b/
His widow, Veda, is carrying on the business. She's made the program available in a web-based format, with a $10 monthly charge. The books and CDs are still for sale, but there was some talk of discontinuing them. I'm not sure if this is still the plan, but you might want to check into it, if you think you might want these materials in the future.
As for my own family, the Professor B oral lessons were going fine, but the workbook was a bit too bare-bones and print-oriented for my daughter, who wasn't even 5 when we started. We ended up switching to Singapore Early Bird, which has been fun for her from a "cute" and "crafty" angle, though the actual math content seems rather slow-moving. (In hindsight, we should probably have started with book B, or just gone straight to 1st grade.)
Now, my almost 4 year old son would also like to start learning math, but he isn't really writing at all yet. I've decided that it would make the most sense to go back to square one and teach both children together, using a manipulative-based method. We have a lot going on right now (new baby due any day!  ), so I'm just going to keep it very simple and do Right Start B, straight out of the box.
If the RS format is still driving me nuts, I'll be happy to switch to Professor B, but I'll have to come up with some practice exercises that are more suited to little ones.
All of these math programs are excellent, but of course none of them are absolutely perfect for every possible situation. If I only had one of them, I'm sure I'd find a way to make it work very well for our family... but as it is, I'm constantly finding myself trying to improve on things. The term "embarrassment of riches" comes to mind. 
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Professor B Math
