BJU math question for consistent users: how have the test scores been? (If I may ask)

[HappyGrace]

I'm researched a lot and I'm thisclose to getting BJU math for the long haul, and just wondered if anyone would like to share if their dc have done well in testing with BJU. Not that testing is the be all-end all sign of success, but I'm just curious. I know their website says their students do well on math testing, but that's hardly objective! Thank you for sharing, if you can.

[OhElizabeth]

Have you seen the independent study results? www.hightestscores.com That would give you a sense about how BJU math students as a whole compare to those using other curricula. Test scores were one of the things that swayed my thinking toward BJU as I was comparing the options out there. You'll get all kinds of kids with all kinds of scores with any curriculum, but at least the study results showed me that BJU is extremely solid and will cover the bases.

[Bee]

Dd is one of those people who "hates" math.She did ok with the textbooks until grade 5 where it seemed to me that she really wasn't grasping concepts well enough in the space they allotted to each math subject/chapter.The review that was provided for grade 5 just didn't seem to work for her either.She took her standardized test at the end of grade 5 and scored a 50% on the math portion.Great,I guess,for a child who still sometimes cries during math lessons.It did reaffirm my conviction that we needed to change curriculums.I knew partway through the 5th grade textbook that it wasn't working but I insisted dd finish the year with it...big mistake on my part.Overall,I like the curriculum for grades k-4.And I expected dd to score poorly on the math part of her standardized testing.I would have loved a higher score but 50% was acceptable to me since I saw how dd struggled with math.
Although you only asked about math,I'll add that we used BJU for English and grammar for grades 3-5 and dd scored very high on that part of the test.

[Pongo]

All of my children use BJU. My oldest did BJU/Singapore and is now doing Lials BCM my ds has done BJU/MUS and my little one did BJU K/Singapore EB. They took the IOWAS ITBS last week, I should get results in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how they do:001_smile:

[OhElizabeth]

Bee, that complaint about not enough review is pretty common. Do you know BJU has *4* supplemental workbooks that schools use when teaching it?

Reviews--this has fact drill on one side, spiral review on the other, a page for each lesson
Spread Your Wings--remedial workbook
Spring Into Action--one page per lesson providing more practice in the topic of the day. My 4th grade school teacher friend assigns this as homework.
Stretch Your Mind--challenging application problems

So if you do the student workbook but skip say Spring and doing the oral review in the tm or else Reviews daily, you're literally only doing HALF the work they would be doing in school. I don't understand WHY bju does not package this or explain this more clearly, because it's a pervasive comment with people, that there wasn't enough review. Then when you start talking with them, you find out they didn't know about the extra workbooks and weren't using them. :(

[Shari]

To answer the OP: I've used every of BJU Math level from K5-4, and just started 5th. (My comments are all based on the 2nd editions; I've not used the new ones for K-2 that have been released over the last couple of years.) Early BJU was definitely in the 'slow and steady wins the race' category. There was a lot of emphasis on drill and repetition, not so much on pushing the little ones ahead as fast as possible. IMHO, this was a good thing as my oldest ds is not Math inclined. He enjoyed the puppets and manipulatives and stories that went along with the lessons. However, this slower intro to some topics could put a BJU Math student "behind" other kids in testing. My oldest consistently tested about half-a-year behind in computation on the Iowa's until 4th grade, when the pace and expectations of BJU ramp up sharply. So, I guess what I'm saying is: if you have a Math whiz, you could probably move ahead faster, if that's your goal. As far as scope & sequence goes, every major math program I've looked at (Abeka, BJU, Horizons, Saxon) ends up in pretty much the same place by the end of 6th grade.

Oh Elizabeth is right concerning the comments about "there's not enough review!", something I too have heard over and over about BJU and is just not true. :glare: There is review in the Teacher's Manual (I'm speaking of the 2nd editions here) you are to do orally and on the whiteboard with the student, each and every day. If you aren't good at being consistent with this, the supplemental Reviews workbook is the Review portion right out of the TM, with concept practice on one side of the page and fact drill on the other. My students get a review page every night for homework. From what I've heard, the other three workbooks are useful too, with extra work for advanced / average / struggling students, but we have our Math fill with just the lessons and review. So many people just order the student book without checking into the supplemental materials, then complain about the program ... it's kind of a pet peeve with me.

I strongly believe that the key to a successful math program is finding something that works for your student and sticking with it. "The grass is greener" syndrome tends to plague Math programs in particular, so try to avoid that trap! Best wishes :lurk5:

[Pongo]

Got the IOWA results back today!

To answer the BJU math question:
K'er (5yod) - 1.7 grade equivalent, 95th percentile
2nd(8yod)- 4.8 grade equivalent, 98th percentile
4th(9yod)- 6.4 grade equivalent, 84th percentile (she took the 5th grade IOWAS and had done BJU till 5th and is now doing Lial's BCM)

Woooohhhooo:hurray:o!!!

[HappyGrace]

thanks for sharing! Do you teach from the TM, any of the extra workbooks, or what? How independent is your 4th grader able to be? Can you describe how you're using the program? Thanks!

[Pongo]

thanks for sharing! Do you teach from the TM, any of the extra workbooks, or what? How independent is your 4th grader able to be? Can you describe how you're using the program? Thanks!


I do teach from the TM, no extra work books. They do drill daily, a combination of flash master, calculadders and wrap-up's. After we did BJU 5th, my 4th grader has been amazingly independent moving through Lials BCM. Pretty much doing it on her own.
But, while she was still in BJU, I did teach from the TM. I think the reason I have been so faithful sticking to the TM is because my SIL, whom I think is brilliant looked over several math programs and said she felt BJU was a wonderful program but, she actually warned me not to skip the teaching in the TM because she felt the dialog and the concept introduction is one of the strongest components of the program. She said " Please don't hand them the workbook, use the TM and you will have great results". It was more time consuming but I am ecstatic with the results.

[kangato3]

We haven't used for many years, but have seen improvements in test scores since using it. This years ITBS scores:

6th grade (used BJUP 5th-6th): 99 percentile
4th grade (1st year with BJUP, prev. used RightStart): 88 percentile (came up from 80 percentile prior year)
1st grade (1st year with BJUP) 99 percentile

[SnowWhite]

We haven't used for many years, but have seen improvements in test scores since using it. This years ITBS scores:

6th grade (used BJUP 5th-6th): 99 percentile
4th grade (1st year with BJUP, prev. used RightStart): 88 percentile (came up from 80 percentile prior year)
1st grade (1st year with BJUP) 99 percentile

I am so excited to hear this about BJUP math. I have switched to that publisher for math, hopefully for the long haul.

[gardenschooler]

I just looked over all of my girls' Stanford scores since they've been using BJU Math (about 6 years), and they've consistently stayed in the high 80s or
low 90s (percentile scores).

HTH!

[Bee]

of the subject.I think that ultimately why it didn't work for oldest dd is that it is spiral and not mastery.She is doing the Key to Math series this year and doing so much better at understanding the concepts.We did use the review workbooks but the concepts of fractions and decimals in the fifth grade math book just weren't sticking for her.It has made me think that maybe there are just certain mathematical concepts that should be focused on in certain years rather than trying to cover a multitude of concepts yearly.

[HappyGrace]

nt

[SnowWhite]

Most people would call BJU a mastery style program. Unlike Saxon, CLE, Horizons and Abeka, it has you concentrate on one concept for a whole chapter/unit before moving on. BJU and Singapore are alike in this style of presentation.

I do realize that Key to and probably MUS spend longer on one operation.