Hi everyone! Welcome to another homeschool curriculum forum post. Today we’re talking all about math!
As most of you know I have previously tried both Abeka and Saxon math. Abeka was okay for the younger years, but flashcards just weren’t doing it for us. We needed something more hands on as well as something that better explained the various skills we were learning.
We switched to Math U See. While this curriculum was working well for us, I ventured over to Saxon for a bit just to see how it worked. After finding myself explaining Saxon lessons using our Math U See blocks and examples, we switched back to Math U See and haven’t looked back since.
One thing to know about MUS is that they do teach to mastery, and that means your student might not learn a certain skill right off the bat. They build on concepts so that the math skills actually make sense for your student.
Students also use the MUS visual manipulatives to help further understand whatever skill they are working at the time. However to my surprise the students do not become depending on the manipulatives to solve problems. They’re simply hands on training tools to use until a concept is mastered.
Pros:
- Hands on learning.
- Teaches to mastery.
- Visual aids to help explain various skills.
Cons:
- Skills are taught in a non-traditional order.
- Manipulatives can be pricey unless purchased used.
So, now comes the fun part!
What are your favorite Math curriculum, resources, websites, etc? Leave a comment below discussing your choices for this year and why.
Feel free to ask questions or reply to each other too!
It’s my way of doing a forum without actually doing a forum haha!
And hopefully this will help us all as we start the process of researching curriculum, and trying to decide what will be the best fit for our homeschool.
Note: Please keep today’s conversations geared towards MATH, I will be posting one for each subject separately so we can keep our comments organized.
Click here if you missed my previous Homeschool Curriculum Forum posts!
Disclosure: This was not a sponsored post, I may however be affiliated with one or more products mentioned. The opinions expressed in this post were not influenced by the company. They are products I have used and felt like sharing, cuz’ it’s my blog and I can if I want to.
Hello, has anyone used Shiller math? It is a Montessori based program and I am looking at it for kindergarten and 2nd grades for this year. We used MUS last year, but it was really boring. Variety is what motivates my 2nd grader and math is my weakest teaching subject, so I need something to keep us both interested!
I’m somewhat concerned that Math U See is touting Common Core alignment in new versions:
http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/math-u-see-touts-common-core-alignment/
We are on our 3rd year of RightStart and love it! I feel like it is more work for me but so much fun for them!
We use Reasoning Mind and love it. It’s all online and lets students work at their own pace. It’s similar to Singapore Math – apparently based on Russian and Singapore math curriculum (you know, countries that are not 21st in math worldwide). It provides incentives and is engaging. I also really like that Reasoning Mind is a nonprofit unlike most of the companies out there selling us math curriculums.One thing though, you need to work in the order that they give you in the curriculum, which is fine for us, but if you want to jump around and fill in gaps in knowledge you can’t do that although the program supposedly will diagnose gaps in knowledge and then teach those concepts.
I have used Math Mammoth since the beginning with my kids and am thinking about trying Saxon next year.I tried MUS and thought it was too basic and didn’t go through enough subject matter and left important imformation out.
U See is touting Common Core alignment in new version,
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http://www.ipracticemath.com/math-practice
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How long have you used MM? I always wonder how curriculum does in the long run. We are just starting out in MM. Wanting to know if it is worth sticking with it.
We have been using Math Mammoth and love it. I do add math readers and games to make it a little more fun. MM is challenging. The word problems aren’t the usual formulated kind. Each problem really makes you think. I do wish there was a teacher’s manual.
I’ve been using Life of Fred for my 3rd grade son this year, and I finally feel like we may have found the right curriculum! It is way outside the box of regular curriculums, but my son loves it. He is advanced in math and does one lesson a day and laughs out loud most days while reading the lesson. My daughter wasn’t as thrilled with it (maybe more of the “boy” sense of humor?), but I’m hoping to try it with my youngest son as soon as he can write!
We use beestar math. The math worksheet is FREE all year long. All real life word problems, challenging stuff to help kids thinking.
Lisa
We have MUS and I’m wondering how will it change in their new additions since they’ve aligned with Common Core Stndards? I know that they’ve stated on their site that they will change their workbooks in the 2013 editions. I’m just wondering if we need to switch. Thanks.
Hi Elizabeth,
I have one of the newer versions and can’t really notice much of a difference from before, so maybe the changes for math weren’t that huge?
If you like MUS you should check out Shiller Math, a montessori based math curriculum. If you look under competitive analysis on the website they list MUS along with other Math curriculum and compare the curriculum to theirs.
Abeka and Saxton are both on the list.
http://www.shillermath.com/h2/competition.php