I have a list of things I am interested in. The Arlington Homeschool book fair is in May so I will see things more then. Basically, right now, I am interested in BJU, Teaching Textbooks(older child, he would do 4th grade level), MUS, Miquon, Singapore Math, CLE. Thing about Singapore Math is it is a great program, but my daughter says she hates math. She LOVED Singapore Math the first few years. But by around level 5, things started to fall apart. I could certainly do this program to start with but be ready to switch if need be later. Miquon always intrigued me. I am considering it for my younger child as it is 1-3 and really needs to be done all levels. BJU...I have always liked BJU. I don't like the fact that it uses calculators early on. I have BJU math 2 and it already had calculator use then so I am unsure when it starts. I think I can probably rip out those sections though as the pages are perferated. Teaching Textbooks...this would be for my older child and the younger one would use his handmedowns when the time comes. I worry though that while it is fun to begin with, it could get old quick. MUS...looks good, gets mostly good reviews. Unsure if the lack of color will irritate my children. CLE..heard good things, will look at it closer at the curriculum fair in May. Any other suggestions or feedback on any of these? I think I will add ALEKS math to this list. I has gotten good reviews.
We use and love MUS here. If the lack of color is your only concern, rest assured that the blocks are an integral and essential part of the program, and they are fully colored and colorful. At the early levels, they're encouraged to set the blocks right down on the workbook page itself, even. MUS is a mastery based program; I'm unsure of some of the rest of those, like BJU. MUS has been compared to Singapore Maths as similar, but MUS uses manipulatives whereas Singapore does not particularly prescribe them. (Some people use their own manipulatives with Singapore, and in my understanding this creates an almost identical program except that Singapore has a lot more practice as required. With MUS there are 3 lesson pages and 3 review pages, and if more practice is needed you can print from their website.) I've also heard good things about Miquon, one being that it encourages the playing of math games frequently and as part of the curriculum itself. I've not ever really looked into it, just gathered some info from chatting with other moms. Like I said, we use and love MUS here. My kids *ask* to do math, and it's one of those curricula I just don't ever plan on changing.
Thanks! I think I am switching my high schoolers over to MUS, so it may make sense to just do MUS from the beginning.
I cannot say enough good things about Teaching Textbooks. 3 is supposed to come out soon...of course, they keep putting it off. I'm tempted to get my son memorizing his times tables and getting him straight to TT 4
I wish I saw more input here from the other homeschoolers because I was going to ask a very similar question. I realized that the curriculum I am currently using will not teach DD all "she needs to know" for her grade level in math. I was looking up a bunch of other math curriculum's and I am still stumped. DD & DS are in 3rd & 1st grade and for next year I want them to be smarter than everybody else said with complete sarcasm(who doesn't?) Singapore Math looked good but I am going to have to look into MUS. I don't even know what that stands for!
MUS - Math U See - www.mathusee.com - they'll send an introductory DVD and it shows you how it works. They are mastery based approach and there are things that they don't touch on at all until you hit that level (well....minimally...for example they have a whole book dedicated to fractions). HTH.
I LOVE Teaching Textbooks!!! It was one of the few subjects I didn't have trouble getting Garrett to do. (sigh, I wish they had every subject set up like TT maybe we could have made it work)
Miquon wasn't a big hit with us. I discovered the Critical Thinking Company's Mathematical Reasoning series and it has been a great fit. It is a full color workbook that focuses a lot on the practical use of math. Drill work is at a minimum. You can see a sample day here.
