Summer Studies Part 1- Math

OK, this is going to be a real homeschool curriculum type of post so if you suspect you may fall asleep, by all means please, feel free to move on!

Aside from camps and the beach and playing with friends this summer , we will aim to spend a little time each day delving into school subjects. First of all, and most importantly, we will keep up with math. No, math in the summer is not child abuse so don't be so quick to call the social services. Lessons are short and such a regular part of the morning that it is no big deal to continue.

Ben will continue to use Math U See. He really likes this program and I am so glad I found it. It really suits his style. Math U See (MUS) is a mastery program, whereas the the curriculum he was using before this had a spiral approach. With a spiral approach a concept is presented in a lesson, then has a few exercises on it, then the rest of the lesson is review of previous concepts. The next lesson is usually not on the same topic as the previous lesson. It jumps around tremendously. Ben was always in a panic because he felt he wasn't getting a chance to perfect the lesson. He suspected something was left undone, and for him, it was. He needed to be able to work on the same concept until it was solid and then he could move on. MUS does this for him. One concept is worked on at a time and plenty of practice happens before moving on.

I really like it for the same reasons Ben does, plus the amount of daily work is just right (in my opinion) and the pages are uncluttered, restful if you will. Ben can also watch short lessons on DVD given by the creator of the program, Steve Demme. Steve is a humorous guy, and explains the concepts clearly. The program is easy enough for me to teach as well, and the teacher's guide gives extra ideas for practicing math with topic specific games. There is even a convenient online drill page. Ben has refused to use the "U See" part of the curriculum (the blocks) from day one, though. He never has liked to use counters or manipulative helps of any kind. That's just Ben.

William hated MUS! For him, it seems, it was too difficult to master a concept in one bite so to speak. His way of thinking and his attention span demand more variety. Smaller bites of information that are slowly and incrementally reviewed over a long time until all the pieces finally come together. Oh, and he is really attracted to colorful, workbook-y style presentations. I looked at a number of different things to try to match up with his style. I finally settled on Horizons Math. Horizons is an incremental approach (similar to spiral, yet different) and each concept follows a deliberate pattern of introduction and gradual development. Will works on a few different concepts at a time and they are reviewed for a couple weeks, more concepts are introduced and reviewed, and then some weeks later the original concepts are revisited and reviewed. And of course there are colorful pages, but not too distracting either. There are no superfluous bunnies and kitties here! So far he loves his math and is doing well with it. Yay! He still does like to use the manipulatives from Math U See though, as those were the part he liked best about it!

So, two different kids, two different math programs. Ahhh, the liberties of homeschooling! I love being able to pick what will actually work for my kids and match things to their personalities!


On the left is Will's Horizons book, on the right is Ben's Math U See.



And here are some of our "extras" for practice and review.