I have a 4th grader and she was using ACE then we switched to Lifepacs. Every book seems to go from addtion, sub, mul, div, fract etc all in the same books. My main question is when you get to a topic as in lets say adding fractions thats new theres only a couple pages then it moves on..usually to something else she knows how to do, I thought you would spend like a book on learning a new concept and a little work on review of other things in that book. I know I'm rambling but I think I am used to ps because last year she would learn maybe some geometry, rays, line segments, etc. work on it a few days or a week and take a test. Does anyone use the paces or lifepacs and do you just go page by page and keep going or do you get to a new concept and work it in the book and add supplements? My daughter seems to catch on really quick to new things but am I doing right by just going day by day doing about 4-5 pages? Thanks for listening, lol, I think I just need to hear what everyone else thinks and make sure I am doing right with her Math..
We use Lifepac Math....my son has grasped it all extremely quick & so I love it....I'm not sure what you're asking tho....
My main question is she wasn't used to one page addition, next page fractions, next page geometry then there might be something new to learn. As I said in ps she got on one topic worked on it a few days and then test. With these lifepacs it alot of topics and then test. She does very well but I wanted to make sure shes actually getting everything she needs to master the new concepts, or do you take longer on them than whats in the book?
Ok, sorry, I'm having one of those days that I don't "get" anything, lol...massive headache. I see what you mean now...well since he hasn't been in ps, he has nothing to compare to BUT, what I've done is...as long as he gets the concept, we move forward strictly in the workbook, but if there's something I feel he hasn't mastered, I will print free pages online of that topic before moving on to the next subject in the book.
If homeschool curricula work like public schools do... then math concepts tend to spiral. For example, you'll do some addition, then move on to a new topic. A few months down the road, you'll hit addition again with an added concept. Say, the first time was single digits, then the next time you hit it, it will be double digits. This is actually beneficial, because it's like built-in review, so that you hit the concept several times throughout the year, rather than hitting it one time, never to be seen again, lol. I'm so new to homeschooling, and have not looked at ANY curriculum in detail, so I don't know if this is how they tend to work. But I was a ps teacher for 6 years before staying home, and I know that this is how many of those curricula were arranged.
I understand that about ps but thats why i was concerned about these books that shes doing, it takes her about 2 weeks or so for a book and each one has soooo many different topics. I do agree that its good for reviewing, but she seems to get annoyed when we keep going over the "easy" stuff or so she says.
Most Math programs do use the same spiral approach used in ps. However, there are a few that use a mastery approach. The description will generally mention if it's a mastery approach. I personally prefer the mastery approach, but that's just me. Regardless of which approach you use, you should go at her pace. If she gets it, let her move on. If she's struggling with it, take extra time to work on it. There are plenty of sites that have free printable Math worksheets. Print some off for her to use to practice or review any area you think she may need more work.
It is so nice to be able to get all this wonderful input, sometimes I just feel like I am doing the wrong things for school but hearing from yall really makes me feel lots better. thanks so much
We use Math-U-See, which uses the mastery approach and then builds in cumulative reviews for each chapter to keep older concepts fresh. We love it! We have used ACE paces in the past, which is much like Lifepacs, but we didn't use their math. We stuck with MUS and I'm glad we did. Ds did so much better with mastery than spiral.
Yes with LIfe paks it does spiral, if your dd needs more time in one area I would suggest either going to the next section that goes over that or go to the life pak scope and sequence, mark down what pages in what book deals with that topic, then go from book too book assigning work that way. I love that they have such a detailed scope and sequence, when we had problems in one area I was able to use the lists in Teacher books to find the area I needed to work on and the pages were listed there too! Hope that helps!
Lifepacs (and I would imagine ACE) are considered spiral learning. They countinue to wind around topics, adding new info each time it hits them. My oldest worked very well with this method, my middle is not doing as well, and we're finishing up this Lifepac and trying a new approach to prep him for Teaching Textbooks. If you're looking for a "mastery based" math program, Math U See is that way. Mastery before moving to the next topic. There is still review (MINIMAL, and NOT mandatory) built in to each chapter/lesson, but if the child has a full grasp you can skip it.
Yes, that seems to be your concern. There are two approaches to math: spiral, where you hit a concept and move on quickly only to come back to it later for review, and then there's mastery where you spend a whole book mastering every angle of one concept. Math-U-See works this way, as do a few others. Singapore and R&S also work that way, off the top of my head. We use MUS and love it. With MUS the first book, Alpha, is all about single digit addition and subtraction. Beta covers multiple digit addition and subtraction, including regrouping concepts. Gamma is for multiplication, Delta for division, Epsilon for fractions and decimals, and Zeta for ratios, percentages, etc. Each book goes some into geometry or life skills like time and money as it relates to the current concept. For instance, time is covered right after the lesson on counting by 5's. Area and volume are covered in the multiplication book, and your third year student will learn such complicated ideas as finding the area of a trapezoid. It's just multiplication! If you aren't liking the spiral approach, you might enjoy looking into some of these mastery based programs much better. A lot of people recommend and use MUS because of its ability to appeal to any learning style - even the visual and kinesthetic learners.
ACE is a mastery program. We will be using it as soon as we get our tax return and can get the paces ordered. It being mastery is one of the reasons that we are going with it.
Every curriculum is different. BJU stays on a topic for 2 weeks and then switches. MUS stays on for a year, but different stuff within that topic, but it will be fractions all year for example..and fraction related topics. Singapore seems to stay on topic for a few weeks before switching too.
I'm using Mastering Mathematics with ds. Each main skill has its own book - Attacking Addition, Subduing Subtraction, Mastering Multiplication, Defeating Division, Perfecting the Point, and Finishing Fractions. Each book also covers extra topics beyond the title topic (graphing, calendars, time, money, perimeter, etc.) My ds recently finished Attacking Addition. So far, I'm loving this program. The pages that are optional are marked, so it's easy to figure out which ones you can skip without missing new concepts. Since each skill has its own book, it's easy to have them working on just one skill or several (depending on what works best for your child). It also allows you to choose the order in which you learn the skills. Mastering Mathematics only does 1st-6th grade (though reviews have said that more advanced concepts are covered, as well), which is probably why it's less known than some others. Ds will be going on to TT after Mastering Mathematics, so I didn't need one that went higher than 6th.
