Help! How do I know which one is best for our kids? I also need to know what would be a good choice for summertime work?!
Thank you for sharing your math curriculum advice!
- Click here to see all my homeschooling posts in one spot.
- Also see this post from Avivah on teaching math in a way that is fun and easy.
Kimberly says
Right Start Math K- about 8th grade and then Video Text Algebra for high school levels. We LOVE these curriculum. Check them out.
Debra says
We do what Robinson Curr. advises. Flashcards until they know them then jump into Saxon 54
Shelby says
I didn’t know if you had decided on a math cirriculum yet. I’m new to your blog but not to homeschooling. My 4 girls are using MEP (Mathematics Enhancement Programme). They will be in grades 6, 5, 4, and 2. I have two more that are not school-age yet.
Best parts IMO:
1. it’s FREE!! and all resources are online!
2. it’s a spiral approach
3. it seems to be rather advanced in the concepts they teach and when (the idea of substituting a number for a shape or letter is addressed in first grade)
It sometimes requires a little extra explaining on my end, but there are plenty of online resources, lesson plans, and yahoo groups to answer questions. I can’t complain, especially since we probably could not afford anything else.
Kelley Palomino says
lol- just saw your comment on TT.
You can EASILY do 2 lessons a day. Depending on how your child does in school and math….My kids really love playing the math games on there so IF you have time to allow your kids to be on the computer for learning games, give them some time to “play” if they complete 2 lessons. I have to arm wrestle for my computer now so thinking of getting another.
Kelley Palomino says
Invest in teaching textbooks!! My kids did SOS our first year but I was pushing for too many subjects that year and it was a drudgery. A few subject is better to begin again so you dont bite off more than you can chew. I would do less and build from there. Math- teaching textbooks is a no fuss easy on MOM well put together video. We also do Daily grammar. If we are having a busy week…the 2 kids that do TT can make up 5-6 math lessons each in even one day. Roll with it and dont stress. It all works out in the end. Good choice!!
3kidswild says
We do 1 lesson of TT a day. They have 2 tries to get it right and can request help any time while trying to answer the daily questions. I check his scores daily, and if he didn’t do well, I erase the answers and we go back over the lesson to make sure he understood the concepts.
Colette says
My oldest going into 5th next year hates math, which stinks cuz its one of my favorite subjects. We would go round and round about math. Well, she was doing terrible. Midway through the year, I had it with arguing with her and this math (we were doing Saxon btw). We switched to TT after two of my good friends raved about it. Well she got pretty much all A’s and some B’s and now it’s one of her favorite subjects. I just wish TT had programs for K- 2. I LOVE IT. For my younger ones I use MCP now. Saxon is great but very repetitive.
Just saw ur post. 1 lesson a day is plenty.
See how many days u r planning to school when u plan the scho year snd then see how many lessons and quizzes u need to complete. Then do ur math 🙂 u may only have to do math 3 or 4 days a week depending on ur schedule.
Kimberly says
I absolutely love Right Start Math. It’s a different way of learning math — a way that makes much more sense. You would need the “Transition Lessons” to get started with the program. For your 8th grader, after Right Start Math, the company refers its customers to Video Text Algebra – another wonderful math program. They are both pricey, but definitely worth it.
KitchenKop says
I’ve looked at each of the ones recommended here (thank you all so much!!!), and we still feel like TT is the best fit for us. It could very well be that their website was just done the best, but this is where we’ll begin anyway – it feels good to have the 1st big decision made. (And we’d better love it at $424 total for the 3 kids – ZOWIE!!!)
Some specific TT questions now, if you all don’t mind helping me AGAIN…
1. Our youngest needed 2nd grade math, but TT only starts at 3rd, so we had him do the assessment and he passed, so that’s what we ordered. I figured if it was difficult, we could go back to do some 2nd grade stuff and use this for next year. What do you think?
2. Do you think we should do one or two lessons each day? How long do the lessons take??
Thanks again for your help!
Kelly
Peggy says
We use Rod and Staff through third grade, then switch to Saxon until 6th grade. At 6th we switch over to Teaching Textbooks which are EXCELLENT all the way through high school.
Lydia says
Math-U-See! That is how I learned math:) From seeing my friends doing Saxon, it is too much work. they have a lot (over a hundred I think) of math problems for what you just learned, then more for review. Math-U-See has 6 worksheets, but if you get the subject right away you can do one on the lesson and then the 3 review worksheets (which also include the lesson concept).
Kathy T says
We’ve used Math-U-See from Primer to Algebra 2 Honors. One of my husband’s degrees is in math and he felt this was the best program for our kids’ learning styles. (auditory and visual)
Meg Logan says
I’ve looked at alot of math programs in the last 6 years, as I have a highly gifted math student….
Here is what I discovered:
Saxon: redunant, excellent if you have a student who needs to memorize the facts, and repeat them ad nauseum to get it to stick (I would have been a good candidate in school!).
Teaches in a SPIRAL METHOD, meaning that each day of the week your student will work on a different area of math, maybe decimals one day, area the next, then money, then fractions, then back to decimals etc… each time it comes back around to a section of math you learn a tid bit more information. This is very good if you have a student who needs to work by memorization, who does not truly grasp the underlying concepts. By always putting it before the student, the student doesn’t get much time to forget things… however it also breaks topics up into tiny increments, so that a student who enjoys math, and likes to ponder the underlying concepts gets bored, because they never get to the meaty issues.
Teaching Textbooks, very similar to Saxon a little less redundant. Also teaches in a SPIRAL METHOD. I don’t have alot of experience with TT.
Math-U-See, a hands on approach. Excellent for children who have a hard time grasping the abstract concepts underlying mathematical computation etc. I really enjoyed the video I saw on Algebra! Very cool program.
Here are a couple programs you probably haven’t heard of but that I looked into in my search for a suitable one for my son.
University of Chicago’s Math Project https://ucsmp.uchicago.edu/
Has an excellent teacher’s manual (loads of details on how to teach the lesson, ways to adapt the curriculum for remedial students or gifted students, tips hints tricks etc. ) The children’s books are more colorful, and I think that holds younger children’s attention longer, and it’s more pleasant to look at in general. Tells you how to minimize the workload (so you don’t do EVERY problem, where in Saxon the author really believes you MUST do every problem.) I haven’t used the program but I am very impressed with it from the research I have done. It teaches in the MASTERY STYLE with some Spiraling for review. Which means it handles each topic in depth before moving on.
Art of Problem Solving (middle school through high school)
This program is written especially for the gifted math student. The student who wants to know more than the basics, and who wants to play around with the concepts, it goes into extensive detail. It teaches in the MASTERY METHOD, and has problems to solve from relatively easy to challenging. It is a self teaching curriculum (so long as your student doesn’t cheat). We switched to this program in the PRe-Algebra book. So far I love it. The teaching in the book is more detailed, and has many more explanations about why something works. My gifted student enjoys the book, even if he finds some of the puzzles and problems too hard. I still grade his answers and check them myself (my son is only 9… so I’m not ready to leave it entirely up to him.) I think a student who was good at math and interested in it, even if they were not working grade levels above, would still do well in this program.
Hope that helps.
Oh yeah and then there is RAYS ARITHMETIC, an old fashioned education! 1st-8th, you can buy the books on Amazon. It teaches in word problems primarily. Something kids in our children’s generation seem to struggle with. Mostly a self paced and self taught curriculum. Simple, no bells n whistles, old timey word problems.
Amanda says
As a homeschooled student I did NOT take to Saxon Math at all. It was confusing and frustrating. Even my father (and engineer!) couldn’t make heads or tales of it!
I loved it when my mom got us the Key To Math series. It is set out in a clear and understandable fashion, and for the first time in my life I was able to both comprehend and ENJOY math! They were a miracle for me. You can find the series here:
https://www.keycurriculum.com/products/key-to
Have fun!
Rose Bohmann says
I don’t know about the programs other people here have mentioned, but I would urge some sort of program that uses manipulatives and other concrete methods to teach concepts. (Maybe Math-U-See is like that?) I’m a Montessori teacher, and our math materials are quite concrete, and varied. One set, the golden beads, teaches the decimal system by using single beads for units, bars of ten beads for tens, squares of ten ten bars wired together (or a wood square with the beads painted on) for hundreds, and cubes of ten hundred squares wired together (or, again, wood cubes with the beads painted on) for thousands. Using these materials we have 4- and 5-year-olds adding, multiplying, dividing and subtracting four-digit numbers, sometimes even with changing (carrying or borrowing). Another set uses a different color for each number from one to ten, also in beads and bead bars: one is red, two is two green beads together, three is pink, four yellow, five light blue, six lavender, seven white, eight brown, nine dark blue and ten gold (to coordinate with the golden beads). These are used for addition and multiplication, and for understanding the squares and cubes of the first ten numbers.
The Montessori materials can be fairly expensive, even from discount companies, but the same concepts can be taught with other more affordable materials–the main point is to have concrete things the children can hold, touch, move and count, visibly seeing the difference between, say, 2 and 2,000, and even feeling the difference by holding two unit beads, then two thousand cubes. The more you can involve all the senses, the better–especially if your kids have had trouble with the conventional teaching methods.
I wish you well!
Hillary says
We love Math-U-See! I was considering switching to Saxon because some people have told me that Math-U-See was more of a remedial program, and of course I want only the best for my kids. But when I took them in for their state-required assessment, the PhD. that was evaluating them said that test scores for kids with Math-U-See are coming in higher than those who use Saxon. She said the reason for this was that instead of introducing a new idea every lesson like Saxon, Math-U-See works towards mastery. So if you child “gets it” for that lesson you move on to the next. If not, you’ve got 5 more worksheets to work with until you gain mastery. Then you move on to the next skill. We will be staying with Math-U-See!
Jodi says
We use Teaching Textbooks for my 6th grader and Video Text online for my 8th grader. We really like both programs. My oldest (8th grader) used TT last year, but we found Video Text and you can get 2 math credits for one year of work (one year of algebra covers a typical public school Algebra I and II). With my 6th grader Teaching Textbooks was a God-sent. She was struggling with every other math program we tried and her lessons would take her hours to complete, usually ending in tears (for me and her both). She loves TT and is doing well with it.
There is a lot out there, just remember…if it isn’t working, change it. You can sell that curriculum and move on. There is a gospel song with the lines…”I wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now…” and that is so true with homeschooling.
I know God will bless your efforts.
Our Small Hours says
Workbooks and math-drills.com for all of our worksheets. Love that site!
Colleen says
I highly recommend Math U See. My daughter is thirteen and has several learning disorders. We have had great success with this program. I was homeschooled myself and wish my mom had known about it when I was struggling through math. PS- we own Homeschool Potpourri, a used curriculum store in Kirkland, WA. We sell consignment educational books. Check us out at http://www.hspbooks.com
Kira says
We love, love, love Math-U-See. I avoided it for a long time because of the name. Seriously. We were using Saxon, which was okay for my eldest, who is a very linear thinker. But then my second son (who has yet to meet a straight line in his life – ever), got overwhelmed AND bored by it, so we gave Math-U-See a try. Lifesaver. Not only is it good for the kids, I am understanding math concepts that have never made sense. Even *gasp* ALGEBRA!
For the most part, I would encourage you to not stress about getting everything perfect. It’s like a conversion to Real Food – take baby steps, accept that there will be mistakes along the way, and take hope in the fact that you’re doing better all the time. Good luck!
3kidswild says
I used teaching textbooks for my son this year. he excelled with it. In public school, he got F’s in Math in 6th & 7th grade. We went back to 7th grade math to repeat and he had a solid B all year long. This was one of my big successes this year. It also keeps track of all the assignments & quizzes so you just have to click a couple buttons to see their grades. Big time saver for me! They’re a bit expensive, but you can resell easily. Go to their website & have the kids take the assessment tests to make sure you order the right grade level.
Jill says
Teaching Textbooks were a lifesaver for us, especially since math is a very weak area for me. It is pretty expensive, but it’s like having a math tutor always available to walk your student through each and every problem in the book! We did Saxon when the kids were younger, which was fine (I did find though, that once the curriculum transitioned from workbooks (1st through 3rd grade I believe) to textbooks, there were tons of problems to do that took us way too long, so I would just have them do evens or odds in the book to save time. Saxon became a nightmare for us though, once my daughter began Algebra–it was definitely written with the idea that a MATH TEACHER would be teaching, not a mom who’d forgotten everything, and not a student self-teaching. Some of the lessons were like reading Chinese for both myself and my daughter. That’s when we learned about Teaching Textbooks, which were a Godsend. It also let me off the hook of trying to help her! Hopefully it’s not a cop out, but I just didn’t “get” it! If you go to the Teaching Textbooks website, you can try sample interactive lessons and get an idea for how it works. I call it “math for dummies” not because it’s of a lower level, but because it’s all explained in easy to understand plain English and “holds your hand” as much as you need.
Meridith says
I’ve used Singapore math with my kids, but worksheets and workbooks get old pretty fast. My kids do Khan and love it. I love that it makes sure they aren’t missing any concepts and that it makes them review frequently. However, it’s just like doing a workbook online. There are quite a few iPad apps that I LOVE for math (and other subjects). You’re welcome to email me if you want to know what ones we use; Buehner6atgmaildotcom. They also really enjoy mangahigh.com, it has a bunch of really great math games that are actually fun. My kid learning times tables is using Timez Attack, which is free and comprehensive. Good luck.
Amanda says
We’ve used Math Mammoth (that’s what 2 of my kids use) and we like it very much. It’s a mastery type program (learn something really well then move on) which suits us. There is enough explaination and more than enough practice (so we don’t do every problem on the page).
We tried Saxon but that drove us nuts! It’s a spiral type program (introduces something new a little bit, but then the majority of the problems are reviewing things introduced previously -it spirals around and around).
My oldest uses Life of Fred math and very much likes that series.
As far as summertime work, why not just start whatever your chosen curriculum is?
Eileen says
I like Math U See because the lessons are all on video and they plenty of practice on new concepts, while still reviewing old ones. Because we do math all summer, we don’t have to play “catch up” in the fall.