Please tell me about your experience with Rod and Staff Math

[dorothy]

What is it like? Who is it for? We have used Singapore, but need more direction/instructions. We have also tried MUS but find it tedious.

Thanks.

[Beth in Central TX]

It is a no frills, solid math program from grade 1 to grade 8. The teacher manual has each lesson set up for you. You begin with mental math drill, teach the current concept, and then review previous material. They also have timed math drills available. I've used grades 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Rod and Staff is a Mennonite publisher. Some of their unique lifestyle comes out in the program; especially in the word problems, but not as much as in their grammar program. I really like their curriculum, and I believe I'm building a strong math foundation for all of my boys. You can call them at 606-522-4348 for a curriculum sample by grade and a scope and sequence booklet.

[BizyPenguin]

My ds used it for 1st and 2nd grades. Blah! The repitition was overkill and it was way to boring for us. We love CLE math though and it reminds me of a cross btwn R&S and Evan-Moor.

[Cami in UT]

We really like. It is really easy to teach with the TM. I have found that it is also easy to race ahead. My ds9 is very super smart in math so we have gone double speed this year doing two lessons a day. They teach the concepts in very small bits so it is easy to understand both lessons. My ds7 just does one lesson a day and does really well. Since he is just learning multiplication all the practice has been great. We do half the problems (every other one) everyday in each section that is taught. Another pro to me is how cost effective it is. HTH.

[Angela in TN]

I liked it but my ds didn't, he loves math and was crying about doing it. We switched back to Saxon 3 and all is well. I really think it just depends on the child. We are using Rod & Staff spelling and we've had no problems. :)

[chiguirre]

Like Beth said, R&S is very solid, lots of drill, lots of review. It is a mastery program so you stay with a concept for a while, then it enters the rotation of review problems. For 1st grade, the front of the worksheet covers the new concept and the back has review problems.

CLE is also mennonite and has a good reputation, but it's a spiral program which was a deal breaker for us.

R&S works well with a variety of ability levels because you can adjust how much practice you assign to your dc. It has enough for slow math learners, but you could do it much quicker if you want to. It is important to do the oral exercises in the TM, not just the student text.

There is very little use of manipulatives in R&S 1. We use counting frogs during oral exercises sometimes and that's it.

R&S moves slower than Singapore Earlybird which we used last year. It doesn't make any conceptual leaps. It includes a lot more practice than Singapore as well. One of R&S's main emphases is memorizing math facts, so you don't have to find a different resource for this.

[MIch elle]

which I think is a good program but for my next ds switched to CLE math because I think CLE math will prepare ds for higher math better than R&S math does.
Join CLE yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christianlightfamilies/)to see samples in the photos of the group.

[Sparrows-Song]

***I*** love Rod & Staff math. Math is NOT my strong suit so I have worried about teaching it well. R & S makes it very easy to teach.

My older child despised R & S, even though (or maybe because) we stuck with it for so long even though he disliked it. We finally ended up switching programs for him.

My younger son is good at math and likes R & S. We will stay with it for him until 6th grade, when he will switch to what his older brother is doing.

[Josie]

I love R & S math. It works for us. (YMMV, of course.) It gives a solid foundation. It is easy to teach.

Did you know that you can get free samples from Rod & Staff? Just call them and they send them right out. The sample will be for all of the subjects, and gives you the table of contents for each subject and a couple of lesson samples.

[qfbrenda]

I loved the teacher's manual and think it's a solid program, but my son hated it. There was too dry, and introduced concepts too slowly for him. It reduced my math loving son to tears daily, so we needed to switch.

[Plaid Dad]

It's a solid, no-frills, traditional program that emphasizes memorizing math facts. It moves quite slowly, at least in the early grades. There is tons of review built in. I found it very easy to teach, as the TM lays out lesson plans (classroom-oriented but adaptable) in great detail, right down to hand gestures.

That said, my dd rebelled against it pretty quickly. She found it too dry and got overwhelmed looking at a huge page of equations to solve. She much prefers conceptual programs like Singapore. I have supplemented with MCP to reinforce math facts, but Singapore is our main program now, and dd is much happier.

[Jill, OK]

...used it with older kids for 3-7, then jumped into Algebra (Foerster's) no problem.

I went ahead and got gr. 8 to use as a supplement, for the next few years, while doing alg. and geo., just to keep basic math skills fresh.

Great program.

[Daisy]

We love Rod and Staff and feel that it is a very academic, very solid program. My children do better with the master approach and the simplicity of the layout. That said, every now and then we need a BREAK so I buy just a fun workbook that gives us something fun and colorful to do. Usually this is for the month of December or January's winter doldrums. I've also supplimented with Sinapore's Intensive practice which my DD enjoyed. We just use whatever to mix it up a bit every now and then. Oddly, enough both of my children do very well in math and that is WHY I'm using R&S. The only time we really need to spend on math is cementing math facts. Both children have a very good understanding of mental math from just our play.

[Rebecca in GA]

We like it very much. We tweak it to suit our needs (slow down as we master multiplication/division facts, speed up as we practice triplets or borrowing). We plan to use it through fifth grade only, though. After that, we like A Beka or Teaching Textbooks.

We used a variety of math programs for our eldest, who is now almost 12. He did not master his math facts until we used R&S 4 and 5, and now math is easier for him.