Help me to choose a math curriculum

[Quietspirit]

My son is 4th grade currently but his skills in math are more like 3rd grade. He is very hands-on and is easily overwhelmed by large amounts of "work" (as in worksheets). He needs to review and solidify his skills in division and multipication (1 digit to 2-3 digits), fractions (addition/subtraction), and word problems/real life math.

Any ideas?

I've looked at MUS (too confusing to me)
I've looked at Abeka (lots of problems/worksheets on a page)
I've looked at Making Math Meaningful (looks okay)

HELP! :) I'm such a newbie. ;)

[Miss Priss]

We personally love Math U See.
I didn't find it confusing at all... as a matter of fact, as my older dd was learning, I re-learned things in a way I could understand. I could never recall my +9 facts without my fingers until teaching my dd with Math U See. It is very hands on as well.

[kris10s]

From my experience teaching, once you start MUS, it's not that hard.

[Booklover]

I've heard Mastering Mathematics is good. Not overwhelming. And you can order the levels you need. I'm considering it myself...

http://www.masterypublications.com/Math.htm

[hearttender4]

I would get a used Saxon 54 off of ebay (for $5 to $10). The nice thing about textbooks vs. workbooks for my family is that it can be reused for each child. A child can work independently with about a 4th grade reading level and each new lesson is explained by both words and examples. I never have my kids do every problem in a lesson; I just circle the ones they I feel they need practice on. I really like that there is frequent review of previous skills learned.

[lenswyf]

If he's really hands-on, I'd suggest you look at MUS again. I know a lot of kids that hated math and did very poorly with it until they had MUS. Then it clicked.

[erinee]

I don't know all that much about the math programs either, and since I"m new to HSing I haven't actually tried any yet. But for next year we'll be using Miquon. It's very inexpensive and looks easy to use. It uses Cuisenaire rods, so it's fairly hands-on.

I've looked at the MUS website and like what I've seen, but I"ve been hesitant to invest so much into something I'm not competely sure we'll like. Miquon is such a small investment, if it's not working out, I won't sweat it. If we end up not liking Miquon, we'll probably give MUS a try.

[This Busy Mom]

The ones mentioned are good programs.

Mastering Mathematics
Math u see

Here's another one that's pricier, i think, but very hands on....

www.alabacus.com (RightStart math).

[arymanth]

I've looked at the MUS website and like what I've seen, but I"ve been hesitant to invest so much into something I'm not competely sure we'll like. Miquon is such a small investment, if it's not working out, I won't sweat it. If we end up not liking Miquon, we'll probably give MUS a try.

Just FYI..... I got all of my MUS stuff on Ebay at a VERY reasonable price, less than half of what they cost at the official website!!! (I don't remember what I paid, but I think it was less than $30.00 for each level... video and teacher's guide only. Workbooks are available, too, but we didn't want them. :))

Hope that helps!

Stephanie

[erinee]

Just FYI..... I got all of my MUS stuff on Ebay at a VERY reasonable price, less than half of what they cost at the official website!!! (I don't remember what I paid, but I think it was less than $30.00 for each level... video and teacher's guide only. Workbooks are available, too, but we didn't want them. :))

Hope that helps!


Yes, I've been keeping my eye on ebay. So far what i've seen is pretty close (once you include shipping) to what I would pay for it new. But I'll keep watching!

[Quietspirit]

I think what confuses me about MUS is how to figure out what level he should be at? Otherwise, I like the idea of MUS. But I don't know where to start him. He is "public school level" grade 3-4 in Math. But how does that correspond to MUS?

Has anyone tried Making Math Meaningful?

[Booklover]

I think MUS has a placement test on their website.

[Mama Bird]

We tried MUS and didn't like it. There were too many gimmicks, IMO, and it really confused my daughter.

We're using Modern Curriculum Press math now. Like it because there is a short, two-sided worksheet for each day, but you start out the lesson with "mental math" which reviews previously learned things quickly. We use manipulatives daily, so it is a mix.

We also tried Saxon for 1st grade...and didn't like it at all...but I've heard that Saxon is better in the upper grades.

[kris10s]

Saxon gets better starting with the 54 level.

[hearttender4]

Saxon gets better starting with the 54 level.


I second that. I'm always telling people that Saxon K-3 is like a different program. We don't use Saxon until the 54 level and that was my dd's 3rd grade book. I'm just really stuck on Saxon now because it's easy for kids to work independently and they learn quickly, but keep review on the skills they learn. It's also nice that you can re-use everything with the next child or sell it when you're done.

[Singingmom]

I'm late coming in, but I have to say I love Mastering Mathematics! My third grader was struggling so much with math. We were using Abeka and he was just not getting it. For one thing, the wkbk jumps from skill to skill on one page - you're practicing adding, then you go to time, money, temp, subtraction... (Fine for some learners, but he needed to focus on one skill longer.) He is also very distracted by all of the neat illustrations. Saxon probably would have been fine too, because you stick with one skill more instead of the spiraling review Abeka does. Anyway, I actually quit math in March last year and began to pray about what to do. MM has the print on one side so the left page is always blank. No colors, no pictures -- excellent for the distractible child. It also focuses on one skill (+ - x or div) in each wkbk for the most part. They also provide games for that skill and suggest doing that a few times a week, which my kids love. When I ordered, you had to buy all 6 wkbks, but a friend told me that's not so now. Good luck to you! :)

[Mamaka]

Here's a link http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/mb/index.php?topic=5794.0 where we've been talking about Making Math Meaningful curriculum... we're trying to decide between MMM and MUS. :)

As far as Saxon goes, the middle grades (math 54-87) are the best imo (from my and dh's experience teaching Saxon in public schools). Once you hit high school math, it's not as good. The algebra is ok (pre-alg is not, Math 87 is better for pre-alg skills), but after that :td

[Piper2]

I think MUS has a placement test on their website.

Yes, there are also sample pages, and you can order a free demonstration video. Or, if you have a homeschool conference you can go to anytime soon, there might be someone there either doing a workshop on it or maybe an exhibit at a curriculum fair with the curriculum you can actually look at (and they should have the free videos there, too).

[Quietspirit]

Thank you so much! We're going to try MUS~ :)