6 answers

New to Homeschooling: Seeking Opinions on Math Curriculum

Hello, all. I'm brand new to homeschooling (well, in an official capacity anyways, as every day presents learning/teaching moments for my children and me.... :). I will be homeschooling my 5 year old daughter beginning in the fall. I will apologize in advance for the e-mails that I'm sure I will be sending with tons of questions. Currently, I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with curriculum choices.

Today, I'm focusing on Math. :) We will be participating in a program called Classical Conversations in the fall, and it seems that virtually everyone in that group uses Saxon Math, so I was leaning towards Saxon Math. Then just recently a couple of people of different people mentioned Singapore Math. I have done research online about both programs, and what I've gathered from what I've read is that it seems that Saxon Math is very drill and repetitive skills oriented whereas Singapore Math is more conceptual and fosters more problem solving skills??? I also came across a lot of information about Math-U-See and Horizons Math. Does anyone have any experience with any of these types of programs (or any others that I may not have mentioned or even know of) that you could share, either positive or negative, what's worked well, what you've likes, what you haven't liked, etc.?

I do have a couple of questions about specific programs, too.
Saxon Math: Those of you who do use Saxon Math, have you found that the Saxon Math Manipulatives Kit is really necessary, or would any manipulative kit work? Also, I had heard that most of those in kindergarten should really start with Saxon Math 1. I did the placement test with my daughter, and it seems that is Level 1 would be what she would use. Has that been your experience as well?
Singapore Math: I was a bit confused about the editions that are out there: Earlybird Standards Editions, US Editions, etc. What level would be appropriate for a kindergartner? And, what materials are really needed as I've seen Activity Books, Textbooks, and Teacher Guides?

Thanks in advance to you awesome Mamas for any insight you can provide! :)

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I can't help you with anything but Saxon because we never really considered anything else (DD attends Coram Deo so don't have a choice), but we used Saxon K for PreK and really enjoyed it. It is my understanding that most people work ahead one grade level in Saxon. We will be using Saxon 1 next year for K. We did purchase the manipulatives and have lots of fun playing with them during Math time and sometimes just for fun. I don't know that you need the entire set. I think we would have been ok with counting bears and pattern blocks for PreK.

I highly recommend the message boards at welltrainedmind.com. The ladies on the curriculum board could probably help you with your questions. I also like homeschoolreviews.com to read reviews of different curriculum options.

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We used Saxon 2 this past year, and I really liked it. However i picked up Saxon 3 teacher manual last night and have looked through and decided to return it. I am not sure what we'll do instead - Singapore is an option or Making Math Meaningful. I do have Saxon 1 for my 6 year old and I'm thinking we'll go ahead with that but switch for my 3rd grader. Just TOO repetitive when we are working one on one it isn't so necessary (I can see it being good in a classroom setting though).

I used Horizon K for my 6 yo this past year and I did. not. like. it. I can't really place why I think it was just the difference from Saxon that might have thrown me off.

The year before I used MCP math with my (now 8 yo).

I sure skip around a lot! Nice to be able to tailor it to each individual child though.

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I can't answer your questions on Math, but if you and other homeschoolers need a "field trip" I'd love to have you out - www.AdventureDayCamps.com

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The only one of the Math curriculums you mentioned that I am very familiar with is the Math-U-See. I used to work at a private school and the students had mastery difficulties with the Math-U-See. Another suggestion is do NOT switch Math curriculum, find one and stick with it! When curriculum is not consistent the students will likely miss vital concepts.

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This year is my 17th year homeschooling. I have eight children. Four have graduated. We began with Saxon, because frankly it was all there was at the time. I made the kids do all of the problems, which meant that math took forever each day and they hated it. Then I switched to selecting which problems they did. That helped, but I still didn't like that they hated it so much. I want my kids to love learning. I didn't know about Singapore.
I found Miquon and loved it! But it only goes to 3rd grade.
I did not use Singapore for anyone below third grade, but picked that up for 3rd - 6th grade. After 6th grade, my kids used Math-U-See.
That was the plan we used that stuck with us.
You can get Saxon and Singapore at The Center for Home Education in Watauga. I think you can order it directly from their website and have it sent to you, but I would recommend going in and talking to them.
If you're interested, check out the website I have that corresponds with the book I wrote and the talks I used to give around the country about helping your children develop a love for learning.
http://www.ignitethefire.com

Enjoy the journey!
T. "Ta-Dah Mom" Camp
http://www.tadahmom.com
http://www.terricamp.com

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I'm not a set curriculum homeschooler, but I've used Saxon workbooks for both math & reading. Love 'em! Ofcourse, I got mine second hand; if I had to buy them full price, I'd probably find something else.

We're on a pretty tight budget & I've found some awesome & inexpensive resources at Half Price Books. Infact, our math manipulatives set came from there for five or ten dollars.

Good luck & have fun! :)

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