Math suggestions?
 

Dd needs a new math program. She needs something very hands on. She's about a year behind.

I looked at Math-U-See but I don't like to use media for the core of our schooling, and I know there is an instructional DVD. However, if it's a small part of the program, it would be okay.

I've looked at Schiller and RightStart. They are expensive, too. I don't know anyone who uses them, though.

Ideas?

Re: Math suggestions?
 

We use Horizons math. The lessons are straight forward and easy to understand and the amount of work isn't overwhelming (each lesson is one page, front and back, no matter what). They're not super expensive, compared to many others. I think I paid less than $50 for the two workbooks. There is a teacher's manual, but it's not 100% necessary in the lower grades because it's easy enough to check for yourself and you can figure out the new skills to teach without a lot of guidance. (I have it, but really don't use it.)

Re: Math suggestions?
 

Miquon Math is an option. I haven't used it, personally.

I know many people who love Math U See. It's very popular so there's a good chance you might be able to pick up a second-hand package. I don't think the videos are a predominant part but hopefully some people will chime in who use it.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

I use miquion and mammoth both might be options. They are very different. Miquion is a discovery cuisnare rod based.

Mammoth is much more 'normal' and workbooie. But does a wonderful job of introducing almost everything graphicly and then introducing the numbers and forms.

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Re: Math suggestions?
 

Math U See is supposed to be you (parent) watch the video, then use the instruction manual to teach the lesson. It is about one five minute video for every six days of math. The video is just a teacher standing in front of a classroom- no fast action or cartoony stuff. I let my kids watch the videos. It is very hands on and all my kids do well with it.

The Good and the Beautiful has extremely hands-on screen-free math, but it only goes up to first grade- they will release others over time.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

I started with RightStart. It's an awesome program, in theory. But it was too much on me, the teacher, especially in the throes of PPD and toddlers/babies. I needed something open and go and Horizons has been a much better fit. But RightStart is very hands on and manipulatives driven, so if that's what your daughter needs then it sounds like a great fit.

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Re: Math suggestions?
 

I've used Miquon, Math-U-See, Singapore, and Beast Academy.

Beast Academy is for seriously math-y kids. It's awesome! But I wouldn't use it unless she really likes math. It goes into much more depth than any other elementary program. Except there's no graphing.

Singapore is okay. Too many books for me, though (Text book, workbook for student, Teacher guide. Plus the answer key is sold separately). It's a bit of a funky mix of spiral program vs mastery program. My dd who uses it hates the textbook. We have issues with her "losing" it regularly. :sigh The wording can sometimes be a problem in that word problems are often not phrased the way we speak in the US. I've had to work problems backwards a few times - find the solution in the manual first - to figure out how to explain just what they're asking in the workbook. Maybe it's just me, though.

Miquon is discovery-based math. The worksheets don't necessarily have to be done in order. You give the student Cuisenaire rods to play around with andto figure out the concepts, find patterns, that sort of thing. It's great for kids who are more intuitive and need hands-on learning or like the challenge of figuring things out themselves and really seeing the concepts take shape. The worksheets tend to be hand-drawn, mimeographed pages, very low-tech graphics.

Math-U-See is probably my favorite. Like Aerynne said, the video is about 5 minutes per day and is supposed to be for the parent. I let my kids watch the video, mostly because I've got four of them at different levels all clamoring for my attention. I'm there to explain anything that doesn't sink in. I don't use the Teacher's manual all that much, at least for the younger levels. (I had to keep it handy for Algebra this year though. He explains things a little differently than I learned them.)

I have friends who LOVE Saxon. It's pretty traditional. The one thing is that they say is that there are many, many more problems for each lesson than most kids need. One friend who used it with her four said that it was designed for classroom use; the first page for each lesson was to be done in class and the second done at home as homework. She just used the one page with her kids and found it to be sufficient; they were more than prepared for upper level math.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

Ds1 was a mathy kid, and so we used two complementary curricula a year, so I have experience with Miquon, Singapore, Saxon (ugh!), Horizons, Life of Fred, and various public school textbooks.

Dd has used Miquon and I think it was mostly a good fit for her, but she doesn't know facts or anything, and that makes me a bit...I don't know...like maybe she should. She hates working math problems but loves logic and manipulatives and puzzles; we tried Mathematical Reasoning this year, and she flew through the shorter pages but really struggled with any sort of longer work. I was considering trying Miquon and Horizons together, but then thought something like Math-U-See might be more all-inclusive.

So maybe I will look into MUS now. Thanks!

Re: Math suggestions?
 

I tried out a couple different curricula last year searching for something my ds would understand and not hate. We tried MEP, Singapore, and Lif of Fred. We finally landed on Rightstart and I love it. I found level C used on ebay and that was a big savings. Also getting just the games kit to play their math games would be a great supplement if you wanted something else for the day-to-day.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

Math-U-See's DVD is designed to be watched at the beginning of a lesson and a lesson takes about a week to complete. So it's not like you are watching the dvd every day. Just once a week. Once a lesson. In the early years, the teaching lasts maybe 5 minutes and increases to 15-20 by high school.

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Re: Math suggestions?
 

My struggling math student had a year of Right Start (level B). While I like it, I struggle to recommend it because of the cost. My cost on the manipulatives was reduced because I already owned about 1/3 of them, and my friend who occasionally works as a RS rep told me which ones I could skip from the rest of the kit. I can'r speak for the other levels, but in A and B there is very little writing and a lot of it is on a whiteboard.

Otherwise he has used Singapore standards edition. It has been slow and steady, but he has progressed. I use the home instructors guide and the workbook for most levels. (answer key is in my guide in the version I use) It uses manipulatives but not as much as RS.

I also used Math Mammoth topical books for multiplication and division with him.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

I love Math U See. We use the video a couple of times a month, usually when I'm struggling to remember some concept. Lol

My kids like to watch it, but it's 2% of the curriculum.

We are doing two levels with my oldest. Division was taking too long, and we both needed to start something new while finishing the other book.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

I use MEP with my older two because it's an excellent program with plenty of solid problem-solving and it's FREE. It's not immediately obvious that it's quite hands-on - you need to use the lesson plans to get that benefit, which takes time to get a flow that works in your home because the plans are designed for classrooms. For me, that had been worth it because I really love FREE :D There's a really supportive FB group ('The MEP Group') and the blog posts linked in their pinned posts are very helpful.

I also have to give a plug for Gattegno.
You don't get any more hands-on than this. But it's quite a learning curve for the parent. Personally, I'm having a ball ;) You can use Task Cards from Play, Discover, Learn to make it more open-and-go, and the blog posts there and at Arithmophobianomore help me to see what I'm supposed to be doing. The Arithmophobianomore lady used to do free online trainings for parents but I'm not sure if she is at the moment. I think if you join their forum you can get access to the recordings.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

I really like Saxon, the repetition and building on concepts was great for my daughter who struggles with math. She was WAY behind, just didn't get it at all, until we started Math 2 halfway through her second year. She finished Math 3 on time. We do a lot of the work, because she really needs to do the same thing three times before she'll admit she doesn't know what to do and then to do it three times to cement it. My son did Saxon also but we used it as a rough guide because he really understands it and just didn't need all the explaining and all the practice.
You need the teachers manual, which provides you with a scripted lesson (we did not do all of the daily meeting every day, just whatever she needed some reminders on) and the student workbooks. You really don't need the meeting book.

Re: Math suggestions?
 

We started with Math Lessons for a Living Education from Masterbooks last year. They have placement tests and sample pages. I found it great except that it seemed a little behind for grade level. We ended up switching to Saxon during the year, but I think it gave great lessons that were engaging, sort of fun, and esthetically great at keeping interest. You can make it very hands on and the work load is light.

This is the one we used to start 3rd grade: https://www.masterbooks.com/catalog/...t/view/id/2734