Math Choices

[Mogster]

I am curious as to what math program you used for grades 1-7? Did you try anything that you felt was lacking? Did you absolutely love any particular curriculum? If you had to do it over again what would you choose?

[Barb F. PA in AZ]

I am curious as to what math program you used for grades 1-7? Did you try anything that you felt was lacking? Did you absolutely love any particular curriculum? If you had to do it over again what would you choose?

We were very happy with Singapore Math. We used the main curriculum and the topical problems. Singapore Math is one of the few items we've used repeatedly every year with every child. Ordinarily I'm a card-carrying curriculum hopper and proud of it.

Barb

[kRenee]

I chose Horizons and Singapore. I liked them both and would choose them again.

[Rachel]

I really liked Horizons too.......

We also used R&S successfully for a few years as well

[Lucy in Australia]

We used A Beka up to grade 4 then switched to Saxon. It has worked very well for both boys (one Maths-minded, the other not). I had a minor Maths crisis this year (oldest is grade 7) wondering if Saxon was going to get him through the "hard" math in the last years of high school, but all my research and talking to informed people confirms we have made the right choice.

[LisaNY]

For my older dd., I chose R&S math, beginning in 6th gr. She did not do well w/other programs, but R&S made all the difference for her. R&S is a solid, thorough program, and I feel it prepared my dd well for upper level math. She has done really well in her ps math classes, pulling in the high 90's.

My younger dd., did NOT like R&S, so we switched to MUS for a time, and then went with Singapore, beginning with 3B. It was an excellent fit for her. I really love this program for the way it gets kids to really *think* about what they are doing. The word problems are like no other I've seen.

[Veronica in VA]

For elementary years we started with MUS and then went into Singapore for 3rd or 4th grade (I can't remember which). Then we did Lial's BCM in 7th and 8th grade. She went right through Algebra I with no real problems using Math Relief, and now we are almost done with Algebra 2. Next year I think we will use Jacob's Geometry. When she was struggling with math in her younger years, I never thought she would do precalc, but now I am pretty confident she can handle it in 12th grade.

Up until 9th she was been my struggling math student but now loves math. I'm not sure why the change exactly, but she just seems to get it. I have to say I have liked all the math programs we used (except for the short time we used Saxon with my son). MUS laid a great foundation, especially with place value. Singapore made her really understand math, and the emphasis on mental math was invaluable for her (and for me).

Hope that helps,

Veronica

[langfam]

Horizons and Singapore.

[Lori D.]

So we tend to use a "spine" math and a supplement. Also, one son really struggled with math, so finding a math program to fit his learning style (i.e., help him most easily in-take information, and then process it) was critical. So learning about HOW a math program presents information can be very important for you to understand when you're researching which program to get.

Below is what we used and when, and then my "thumbnail" reviews of each, for what it's worth. Best of luck in making your math decisions! Warmest regards, Lori D.


For older math-minded son:
gr. 2-3 = Singapore, supplemented with Miquon
gr. 4-7 = Singapore, supplemented with various manipulatives & booklets, and a little Saxon
gr. 8 = Jacobs Algebra
gr. 9 = Jacobs Geometry

For younger math-struggler son:
gr. 1-4 = just tried to find something he would connect with out of: traditional workbook, Miquon, Singapore, Saxon; Miquon connected best of anything, but frankly, he just struggled through this season until his brain matured into connecting with math
gr. 5 = Math-U-See old Intermediate (covered gr. 4,5,6 material)
gr. 6 = Math-U-See new levels
- Delta (9 week review of all)
- Epsilon (18 week review of all)
- Zeta 9 weeks, did first 10 lessons)
gr. 7 = MUS Zeta as spine; Singapore 4A/B, 5A as supplement
gr. 8 = MUS Pre-Algebra as spine; Singapore 5B, 6A/B, and Keys to Decimals and Percents as supplement
next year's plan: gr. 9 = MUS Algebra as spine; supplement with Jacobs Algebra



Miquon
- discovery-approach -- "big-picture" -- helps students make math connections
- can be used as a spine or a supplement
- very hands-on and very visual, using rods as the main manipulative
- very flexible -- can work through the workbooks in order, or can follow a topic from workbook to workbook and then come back to the early workbook and start a new math topic, etc.

Saxon
- spiral approach (keeps coming back to math topics throughout the year, and from year to year)
- a spine program; with some effort, can be used as a supplement, skimming through the text to get snippets of teaching information from the various lessons on a specific topic
- very gentle incremental steps helpful for math-fearful students -- but can be too broken up and spread out for math-minded students
- early elementary years of Saxon have lots of manipulatives and esp. Saxon 3 really "covers" ALL the bases -- time, money, calendar, temperature, in addition to math facts and basic math operations
- becomes increasingly abstract/logical and more about "formula memorization" rather than mathematical thinking, esp. in the late elementary/middle school years
- workbooks up through Saxon 3 -- a lot of problems, and a lot of variety of problems on a page may overwhelm some students; students must copy problems out of textbook after Saxon 3.

Singapore
- mastery approach (sticks with one subject until covered, then moves the next)
- can be used as a spine or a supplement
- Asian math approach difficult for some parents to grasp and/or teach
- helps students think mathematically
- great story problems -- variety, and students must think them through rather than rely on formula memorization
- moves too fast for some students
- not much in the way of manipulatives for hands-on learners

Math-U-See
- mastery approach, with built in review in the workbook pages
- can be used as a spine or a supplement
- very hands-on, through use of rod manipulatives
- very visual through rods and the video teaching component for each lesson
- show the "why" behind the math concepts
- very gentle incremental steps helpful for the math-fearful or math-struggling -- but can be too slow and not rigorous enough for the math-minded student
- all levels come with a consumable workbook; student not overwhelmed with too many problems on a page

[Lori D.]

- We were very happy with Miquon, Singappore, and Math-U-See.
- Yes, if we were to do it over again, I would go with those.
:001_smile:

[siloam]

I am curious as to what math program you used for grades 1-7? Did you try anything that you felt was lacking? Did you absolutely love any particular curriculum? If you had to do it over again what would you choose?

Singapore is our base, but we hs year around, and I have kinesthetic learners, so Right Start fills in our extra time, gives us fun games to play, and gives us hands on.

LOVE Singapore: the base 10, the reasoning skills, the algebra by bars.

Right Start...well...I do love the games, but I couldn't use it as my only program. At times it seems to overreach in what it tries to teach (usually geometry related), I think the teacher manual needs to have more pictures (for a program that is very interactive the TM is one dimensional), I don't care for the base 5 approach (so I teach base 10-no biggie), and the jury is still out on the right to left method instead of left to right. I just can't see how it would work if you adding more than 2 numbers. Once you get 4 or 5 different numbers you just couldn't keep track of the borrowing. Though RS might address this later on and I haven't gotten there yet (thus the jury is out).

Heather

[Laura K (NC)]

for several years and I do regret using them. A Beka was a solid choice through 3rd grade, with supplemental Singapore. If I had to do it over I would have gone from A Beka to (gulp) Saxon in 4th grade until algebra. Drill, drill, drill, basic math facts, few whistles and bells. SRA covers too much too shallowly. I think that program would work with a math-gifted child who needs a little extra, but I don't think it is a good program overall, despite mathematicallycorrect.com's positive review.

[AngieW in Texas]

My two older girls did very well with Miquon for 1st-3rd and Singapore Primary Math starting with level 3A for 3rd-6th.

My youngest couldn't handle Miquon. Singapore worked well for her up until 3A and then we left it for a full year and tried Professor B, Moving with Math, and MathSteps. Two weeks ago we started Singapore again with level 4A.

[Chris in CA]

We've used Rod & Staff for 1st through 6th, currently using 7th. I strayed earlier this year : ) but am happily back with R&S and will use it through 8th.
hth