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.
We are definitely in the minority here, but Saxon has been a great program for us. My 9-year-old is a math natural, and I love how the instructions are very understandable. Most of the time she can read and do her math by herself. Occasionally, she needs some help understanding a concept, but with all of the repetition, everything else just falls into place. I also like how each problem has a note that shows which lesson it was taught in so she can go back and review the lesson. Her independent learning skills have improved greatly this year, and she feels challenged because she can move at her own pace.
We are also using Saxon and Life of Fred (mostly for enjoyment). We love it and I feel like my kids have a very strong foundation in math. We are finishing up Saxon 2 so I am still very involved in ‘teaching’ it to them. At what level did you find your 9 year old working more independently? That is very encouraging to hear.
I already posted above, but nice to see some people who use and enjoy Saxon – we do too. Sometimes I get nervous when I/we like something so much, but nobody else seems to. Sticking with what works though 🙂
I love Saxon. I taught Saxon 3 to my 2nd graders at a hm co-op for the last 3 years and every student excelled. The repetition and morning meetings are great and we use lots of manipulatives. My 5 year old does great with it.
I feel like even more of a minority than those who are using Saxon. We use Math Mammoth. We have only been using it for the past year but it seems to be pretty good for us. I looked at Teaching Textbooks and Singapore but decided on MM. What works for us is the lack of repetitive review. The lesson focuses only on what is learned and isn’t full of review stuff. There is a review over previous chapters at the end of each chapter.
I’m glad to see your review of MM! I just purchased it to use for my girls next year. I have one that loves math and one that does not. We have been using Abeka. I’m hoping the mastery approach will be a better fit for us.
I am also glad for this Math mammoth review. I plan on buying Math Mammoth for next year!
I agree. I have a quick thinker over here that dislikes repetitive review, and Math Mammoth has been great!
We are using Rod and Staff with both my girls and it is working so well. We tried Horizons and I was really not impressed. Just sort of blah. So for my second daughter we switched to Saxon. It was ok, but again just not great. Neither was challenging enough in my opinion. I had already made the switch to Rod and Staff for language arts and so we made the switch for math as well. I LOVE that it really is a mastery approach. It is of course very traditional in style, but my girls needed that. There is a reason those traditional methods worked so well. I guess you could argue that it is dry, but we do other activities to have fun with math. Rod and Staff does a great job with math and my girls are doing quite well. I made the decision that for language arts and math we really did not need an exciting curriculum full of colored pictures, etc we just needed solid teaching methods. That is what you get with Rod and Staff.
It sounds like your girls are like mine…. In need of challenge . We also do many fun activities and just want straight toward school subjects. I’m delighted to read you post. I noticed there teaching directions that include the wall chart. Did you use the chart? Or supplement the chart topics?
We only have the teachers manual and workbooks and speed drill book. Anything else that they suggested using in the manual I would either do in a slightly different way on my own or just skip. I hope you like it! Rod and Staff has honestly changed the way my girls learn! It just makes sense. It is very logical and age appropriate while still being challenging. I cannot explain it any other way. This year has been such an improvement for us since we made the switch.
Thanks for advice! We are hoping for the same type of turn around 🙂
We too are looking to make the switch. We have used Horizons for K, 1st and 2nd. My girls have a love hate relationship with math but over all it has been working for us. Horizons only goes for a couple more years so we are trying to switch now to what we will use for the upper grades. My sister swears by MUS (she has used Teaching Textbooks and Saxon) but I am not sold yet. I wanted to start at Gamma (multiplication) but after reading some of the reviews and comments I am wondering if it would be too difficult for my girls (3rd grade). In Horizons they are already doing multiplication so I thought it would be a good transition. Now I am not sure…
Gamma will start with simple multiplication that would probably be review for your girls but by the end of the year they will be multiplying numbers like 6473×210 so it will get very in-depth. That’s the way MUS works. The next level will be all about division. They will also review addition & subtraction already taught in Beta so questions like 862+345 and 554-396, area, perimeter, etc… I took the questions directly from a workbook, hopefully that helps you some!
We use Teaching Textbooks and love it!!! My son loves that it is on the computer, that he can view the lesson as often as he wants/needs, and that I am not glowering over his shoulder, I love that it teaches him in a way that he can understand, and the fact that it does all of the grading is a plus as well! Math was my hardest subject to teach, I GET math, it is really easy for me, and I have always had a hard time teaching to those who do not GET it, so this curriculum has really been an amazing thing for us. We have used 3 and 4, and or now just starting 5, and out of all of it there has only been one thing I had to explain to my son, over 200 lessons and there was only one he did not get, for me that says it all!
I tried MUS with my girls and after 2 years (kindergarten and 1st grade) felt very frustrated with how little math they knew. As 2nd graders I started them on the 3rd grade Teaching Textbooks program. 2 years later we still love it and will continue with it next year. They excel in math and love that its something that they do on their own!
After such frustration with MUS I decided to use a different curriculum for my son- in kindergarten he started the Bob Jones 1st grade and followed it this year with 2nd grade. We’ve only used the workbooks because i feel teaching math at the basics level does not require a teacher manual. He has excelled and will move to the 3rd grade Teaching Textbooks next year.
Math is very unique to each person and each family- my kids seem to like the no fuss, basic, informative approach so I’m very thankful we found Teaching Textbooks.
Another vote for RightStart Math here. I have not used any other program, so I cannot compare firsthand experience but from my research I thought it was the best for my son. He just turned 4 in Jan and we are halfway through level A. Loving it and am not planning on changing. It has Montessori leanings with the use of manipulatives, and works on mental math (for example instead of adding 4+6, take 1 from 6 and give it to 4, so now it’s 5+5 which is easier to add).
I did my own math curriculum for Kindergarten. We are planning on RightStart Math for 1st grade. It seems like the best fit for my family.
Under the cons it says that skills are taught in a non-traditional order. Can someone explain a little more about that to me? I am just getting started and looking at MUS for math.
I tired hard to make Math-U-See work for my littles, because so many families seem to love it. While I as mama saw the benefits of the mastery approach, my strong willed oldest daughter hated it. Math became a misery, and many lessons were done at night with her principal daddy overseeing. We switched to Horizons this year, and while there are still occasional math battles, the color and variety of Horizons seems to have helped improve her interest level greatly. I plan on trying TT once we reach third grade.
I thought I’d do the same thing with my son, but when I was testing my older daughter (she was public schooled, but wanted to come home) to see which level she’d fit in with TT, I printed out the grade 3 test after he finished 1st grade just for fun. He passed it without any problem. I was a little worried that he mabe wasn’t really ready, but he completed TT3 a few weeks ago and he did great. After finishing Horizons grade 1 he was ready for TT 3 in 2nd grade, you might want to give it a try!