>Just as I said yesterday that it should come as no surprise that I researched and decided upon the reading and writing portion of our curriculum fairly quickly, it should not surprise anyone when I say that the subject of math was the most intimidating for me to choose. Look, math is not and has never been my strongest subject. In fact, my own fears about my ability to properly teach this subject were the main reason I didn’t decide to homeschool from the beginning. I’m still not entirely sure that I’ll know what I’m doing from the start, and it’s probably my own insecurities coming into play when I tell you that I’ve chosen not just one but two curricula and am also considering an online supplementary program. What makes me feel incrementally better is knowing that in teaching Bear I’ll also be teaching myself. And I’ll have Tony to pick up my slack.
Math: Singapore Math (primary) and Miquon (supplementary)
Initially I was just going to go with the TWTM-recommended Saxon Math program, but the authors caution that it’s technical and content-heavy. Other reviewers have mentioned that it’s highly repetitive with lots of drill, which is good, but from helping Bear with her homework I can tell that she’s the kind of student who, once she masters a concept, wants to move forward to the next one. I’m afraid Saxon Math might get boring for both of us, and right now math is her favorite subject. I don’t want it to lose its appeal for her.
I asked my sister, Becca, for her opinion; she mentioned that some students thrive with a spiral-based math program but that she didn’t like those at all. Her feedback on that subject – and my trust in her judgment on the subject – led me to eliminate a couple other programs I’d been researching. Then she mentioned hearing about students having great success with Singapore Math, which was another TWTM recommendation. After reading reports about that program – its strengths and weaknesses – I think it will be a good fit for Bear next year, but I’m also going to supplement with Miquon. It’s my hope that these two different approaches – which I’ve read from other parents’ reviews, complement each other – will provide Bear with a math mastery program that will make sense to her.
I also recently won a free month’s subscription to DreamBox (thanks again, Christina!), an online math game resource that is much more than just a collection of games, but which evaluate and test a child’s progress as she goes through the levels. The website will send these progress reports to me so that I can see where Bear is succeeding and having more trouble; it looks intuitive and fun. I don’t think I would use this as our primary source of math-learning, but if we can work it into our budget this could be an excellent addition (no pun intended) to what we’re doing in our math curriculum. Her interest in this program over the next few weeks will help me to determine whether this is something worth making a part of her schooling.
*Disclaimer: Please note that every product I mention or link to is of my own volition. I haven’t been asked to discuss or review any products, nor am I receiving any compensation for doing so. In fact, I’ve linked to all of these products’ main websites, but have made the majority of my purchases from other companies in order to make this more affordable for our family. And now you know.
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>Yay. I have a great PowerPoint that shows a comparison graph of students who have used Symphony versus other curriculums. I'm so excited to hear all about it.
Posted by Rebecca | May 25, 2010, 21:19