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Lisa R
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| Posted: Feb 11 2010 at 6:52pm | IP Logged
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Has anyone used MCP math that CHC recommends? Did you like it? Would you use it again?
Thanks!
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Lisa, married to my best friend, Ray and loving my blessings Joshua (17)and Jacob(15), Hannah(7) and Rachel (5)!Holy Family Academy
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Christine
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My children who used it did not like it once they reached 3rd or 4th grade because there was a lot of work. However, they definitely learned their facts. I am shocked by the Math facts that my current fourth grader doesn't know and I think that it is because he did not use MCP.
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roseberyem
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| Posted: Feb 11 2010 at 8:44pm | IP Logged
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All of my dc have used MCP Math, up to level D and then we switch to Saxon.
By that stage they need a little bit of variety in their maths lesson.
I actually started out with MCP Math for my eldest, switched programs a couple of times, came full circle and ended up with MCP again. 
Have then used if for all of my following dc.
Emily.
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Martha
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I have used MCP for 9 years and 6 kids. Every time I use something else, I regret it and go back.
My 7th dc is VERY different from the others. I'm looking at other options, but I really dread not using MCP.
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D. Marie
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I used MCP for years. Then Seton came out with their own Seton Math. It is in a similar format, but gives more instruction all in the same book instead of having a teacher's manual, there is constant review, and Catholic pictures. Although, the one thing that struck me as a concern is the level of math that they are teaching. For example, my current 3rd grader is covering math that is at the 4th grade level. Bottom line, MCP is a good program that will give your child a foundation in math.
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Red Cardigan
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| Posted: Feb 12 2010 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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Christine wrote:
| My children who used it did not like it once they reached 3rd or 4th grade because there was a lot of work. However, they definitely learned their facts. I am shocked by the Math facts that my current fourth grader doesn't know and I think that it is because he did not use MCP. |
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Christine, this was a concern of mine, too. I switched our oldest out of it, and then back in b/c nothing else was as good (at the time--a lot of programs available now weren't back then, so I can't say that there aren't better choices now). We struggled for a while with the long homework pages and finally it dawned on me that I.am.the.teacher! So with our youngest (who is on her last year of MCP and ready for Saxon next year) I always tell her how many of the problems on the second page she has to do each day--and I just choose a representative sample, not the whole page (b/c often there are fifty or sixty problems, and we don't have all day for math, KWIM?) 
Full disclosure: my oldest still struggles with math and we're switching her out of Saxon's Algebra for a different program that I hope will make more sense to her. She's the one who ended up skipping two years of MCP Math for different books, though. My other two do well in math--better than Mom ever did. 
The bottom line is that MCP up through sixth grade worked well for us, and I felt as though my girls were getting a solid grounding in the facts. If I had it to do over again our oldest would have used a program with more hands-on, manipulatives, etc.--but like I said, when we started her in kindergarten those were still hard to find.
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Ramie
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Is this too late to reply?
I've used MCP for K and 1st grade, and while at the time I used it I didn't recognize any deficiencies, I also didn't feel like I had found the perfect program, and after hearing about all the great reviews of Singapore, switched and never looked back.
What I liked about MCP: I liked that it was basic, and easy to handle. I also liked the "Mental Math" feature of the teacher's manual quite a bit.
What I didn't like: The workbook format was dry - didn't have much variety (not that big of a deal to me, but a small negative nonetheless). I found that there were several times in the workbook (even in 1st grade) where what was written/demonstrated as explanation of a concept, wasn't nearly enough information for my ds to understand the idea. I would have a hard time explaining it, because I grew up learning the concepts differently, and there wasn't really any guidance for me on how to present them. Perhaps the teacher's manual would've been helpful, but since it is set up for classroom use, it wasn't easy to find those explanations within all the rest of the activities.
My ds got to really dislike Math in 1st grade (there were many tears), because it took so much time, and was so frustrating. With Singapore (which answered the problems I had with MCP by providing a good home instruction guide, a lot more time spent on explaining the concepts, more variety in activity, and more pleasant in appearance), he has gotten much more tolerant of Math. My current 1st grader loves Math - whether it's because I've switched programs, or because she is just better in math (or a combination) I'm not sure.
I bought, but never used, the 2nd grade book, and it looked very similar to the 1st grade one. Other than that, I haven't seen higher levels, so I can't speak to that.
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: MCP math
