Hi! I have been reading and reading your math reviews trying to decide what to get my daughter. She is in first so I am looking for second grade next year. I am looking long term so I want to get something that will challenge her and also be something that will make her love math and understand it. I have been using math u see and although its working and seems like a good fit so far, I feel like it is not as rigorous in the upper years as a program like singapore. I fear teaching math the most(even though I’m great at math), which is why I initially picked math u see. I am so torn between picking singapore thinking she will have a better well rounded math experience in the long run. I have also considered doing math u see and then supplementing for part of her morning work with mathematical reasoning (like a grade level behind) since it spirals. That still leaves me confused and not knowing what to do for middle school. I know if you switch a lot it can cause a lot of gaps so I really dont want to do that. I also have younger kiddos: a 4, 2, and baby due in June at home. My daughter is so smart and great with math so I am so scared I will mess her education/future up. What would you suggest? I know your busy but I value your opinion greatly as you know the ins and outs of all these different options. Saxon would not be a fit for us at all. Thats one I do not have interest in.
I know you’re not really asking me, but I thought I’d try to give some suggestions. I also wanted a math curriculum that was rigorous for my math inclined kiddos. I chose Math Mammoth and have used it successfully for 6 years. My daughter was able to go straight to Foerster’s Algebra 1 from sixth grade Math Mammoth. (Note: we have the old version of this curr. I can’t say what the new is like.) It really prepares a child to think about math more deeply. However, it has minimal color and full pages. My kids haven’t had an issue with that at all, but some do.
With that said, Art Of Problem Solving came out with a program called Beast Academy for elementary grades a few years ago. I finally bit the bullet and bought it for my boys this year (4th and 3rd grades) to go with their math mammoth. They LOVE it. And it is fun and extremely rigorous. The math guides are like comic books (my boys have read all 4 multiple times just for fun) and the workbooks are where the real magic is. The problems are engaging and difficult.
I asked my boys which they want to do for next year of the two programs and they are truly torn. They love both curriculums for different reasons. They love Beast Academy because it almost doesn’t feel like math but more like puzzles. But they love Math Mammoth because it has lots of built in practice. (Plus, I think they’re so familiar with it after having done it for a few years.)
Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me offering a couple of suggestions to look at.
Hi! We’ve been using MUS for years as you probably already know. I did want to chime in and say to keep in mind that MUS teaches skills in a bit of a different order than most other curriculum. So as you know it teaches to mastery. I wasn’t sure about it in the beginning either, but now looking back with a 8th grader who is now in Algebra 1, I can reassure you that MUS’s teaching style has worked out well. (For us anyway.)
Looking back, I can now see why learning those basic skills to mastery is so important. Once they get in to higher math and more abstract concepts, it’s important for them to really know the basics backwards and forwards so that they’re not even having to think about those things as they start more complicated math skills.
So while MUS might not seem as rigorous as other programs in the sense that students are learning several skills each year, it has paid off for us in the long run. I think sometimes with the spiral learning, students might become a jack of all trades, but master of none. And I can see where that would definitely impact them when they hit something like Algebra where concepts are a bit more abstract. They don’t have to even think about the basics because they’ve got them down so well.
I will say that there isn’t as much review with MUS so I do make sure to do the D and E worksheets for sure just so they get to review some older taught concepts. And for the younger grades like 2nd I add in KUMON clocks and time, and money workbooks because MUS is a little lacking in that area. Otherwise so far we are doing quite well with MUS and plan to stick with it for long term.
I also tried a few other curriculum one year when I felt like you are now, and ended up saying “Remember in MUS when we did this…” so much that I finally switched back to it within a few months and haven’t looked back LOL!
My 2 cents for what it’s worth 
Erica