Has anyone changed math curriculum midstream? We currently use Abeka, which is fine, but I’ve been doing some research on other curriculum, particularly Math-U-See because it has dvds and the kids can do it on their own, for the most part. I know Abeka has dvds, but they are very expensive and from what I can tell, you have to use all of their curriculum, not just one subject.
I guess I’m hesitant because I’m not sure how easy it is to switch from one to the other and I don’t want to miss something important because of differences in the curriculum styles.
We are in the same boat We are using Horizons and are happy with the content but overwhelmed with the repetition and the daily workload. We are considering a change perhaps next year or this coming spring. I have looked at numerous programs and am still chewing on the possibilities. I am interested in responses on this topic!! Thanks for posting this question! I wish I had feedback but I’m following this thread!
Wow! Change seems to be in the air - at least as far as math curriculum goes. We are changing as well - one week into school. We are changing from Liberty Press to Rod and Staff. My reasons are thus:
In the Liberty Press Books K, A and B addition and subtraction is good, but the boys aren’t mastering it as well as we want. They even comment about it.
In the Liberty Press Book B multiplication charts are downright confusing to my 3rd grader and he has been trying to make them make sense since mid-second grade.
Rod and Staff is more clear cut with lots of mastery built in.
After 4 days of commentary (griping) last week, I said ENOUGH! Let’s quit struggling and being frustrated. I ordered books on Friday after the boys looked at the previews and said they felt better about using the Rod and Staff series.
We switched from Math U See to Abeka and so far they seem to be pretty much the same as far as when you learn things. Of course we are only into our 4thweek but I have not noticed anything in abeka that we didn’t cover in Math u see.
We switched as well!! We were using Horizons Math - and the kiddos sort of enjoyed it over the summer - because I only had them do a couple sections everyday. But when school started and they tried to do an entire lesson - they were quickly burnt out. Lots and lots of repetition.
Last year in K12 I had lots of tears and fear about Math. My two older students hated it so much. So, when I left the online school I was determined to find a math curriculum that they loved and they learned without the worries. When Horizons started quickly turning into the same thing… I decided I had to act.
So, we did switch after about 2 weeks into our school year. Sigh, another big expense - but we went with Teaching Textbooks. They were pushed so hard through K12 that I felt they really didn’t grasp even the basics… so I just went with their grade level.
What a difference! My kids don’t cry every day when I say it is math time! They go to the computer and sometimes do several lessons a day! So, for us, it was a good thing that we switched.
We were using Singapore math, and my daughter found it boring. I am told it has less repetition than most. So after 6+ months of researching I finally bit the bullet and bought right start math. Best decision for us. My daughter loves it, it is fun, hands on, and she’s no longer bored.
Up date from our math curriculum change: Math is going much better all around. Our youngest is grasping addition families - Rod and Staff has a very good visual representation using bees - the facts - on clover - the answer - that is helping him a lot. It is also helping our older son as a review.
My daughter(4th grade), is using TT 5 and loves it. She does multiple lessons a day some days.
My son(2nd) uses horizons. Every day is a struggle with him when it comes to math. He knows the content and does ok on the first half of the lesson. The second half, however, has too much I think. He literally sees the lesson, puts his head down on the table and won’t even apply himself.
I’ve talked to my husband about it and he just thinks that’s the way it is with math and Matthew will get used to it. We have a couple weeks left of 1st grade and then we’ll start second grade math. So I still have time to sell 2nd grade horizons and find something else. I need my husband to be ok with it though. So please be praying that we’ll know what to do either way!
I hope you like Teaching Textbooks. I just asked my kids yesterday if they still liked them and they both said yes!! At least in our family they really have been a life saver. You’ll have to let me know how you feel about them.
I just wanted to post an update to our situation. We made the jump! We decided to to switch math programs after a ton of research over the past 6 months or so. I wasn’t expecting to switch so soon in this school year but my daughter has expressed so much exasperation with continuing with Horizons that I really knew she needed a change. We decided to transition to Strayer Upton’s Practical Arithmetic, which is not necessarily a mainstream choice, but I had read great things about it from those who had personally used it. It is intended to start in 3rd Grade (which is her grade level this year) and although the beginning of it is a lot of review for her, it progresses quickly and she is absolutely loving it already. She has already learned to do some things in a different way, and for her this has been challenging in a good way. The mental math has already increased which she was wanting to do more of. And for me, the relief of no overwhelmingly colorful workbook pages (we do everything in a composition notebook) and no designated daily lessons (we work through as many pages per day as she and I feel comfortable accomplishing) is very freeing, and I find she wants to work on math longer than she did before. So, so far so good! I got a great deal on Homeschool Classifieds (all 6 years worth for $25 new!) Happy mama Happy daughter! And a good, sound program.
We are using Horizons and are happy with the content but overwhelmed with the repetition and the daily workload. We are considering a change perhaps next year or this coming spring. I have looked at numerous programs and am still chewing on the possibilities. I am interested in responses on this topic!! Thanks for posting this question! I wish I had feedback but I’m following this thread!