Math... dun dun duuuunnnn! You gotta teach it. So far in our homeschool we have tried a view different things, from curriculum to workbooks. But today I'm sharing the three full curricula you have tried out.
Here is the video from my YouTube channel if you would like to see an inside peek into each program:
Math U See
This was the first the curriculum we started our homeschool journey with. I was very intrigued by the approach this curriculum takes. I love that it explains the way behind math concepts and not just the how. The block set provides a visual representation that is so helpful to understanding the concepts.
My daughter loved the Primer we used her kindergarten year. She always wanted to start her day with math! And we loved Math U See. And we were happy.
But part way into Alpha she decided she wanted to try something new. By this time I had learned the very important homeschool lesson of "if it isn't working, try something new". So that is what did. Was really into workbooks at the time, so we picked up an Evan Moor Skill Builder (which we love by the way) and that is what we used for a few years.
But spoiler alert! We currently use Math U See and love it! That is right. We went away for a while, but we came back. We needed to explore other options to learn that Math U See really was the right fit for us.
Beast Academy
During our workbook phase, a friend of mine ended up with an extra copy of Beast Academy workbooks, so we decided to give it a try. At first we were in love! The comic book style was right up my girl's alley. It is a super fun, very engaging way to present the material. And if you want rigor, Beast Academy gives you rigor in spades!
But for us, it was a little too much rigor. And the more we used it the less she loved it. In my personal opinion, some of the concepts are very challenging for the age levels they are written for. And sometime we just couldn't figure it out based on the information we were given. But Beast Academy now offers on online program that includes not only the fun comic book style instruction, but also video lesson to help with understand. We did try out the free trial of the online program, and while my daughter liked it more than the workbooks alone, she still did not chose the program.
However, my friend who gave us her extra copies. All of her children use the online version and love it. So I do think that this program is worth checking out. It is a unique take on math instruction that is defiantly worth looking into. I would recommend starting one level behind were you think you should though.
Teaching Textbooks
The last stop on our journey back to Math U See was Teaching Textbooks. And let me tell you, I was in love when we first starting using it! I was no longer need during math time, and they even did the grading for me! My daughters enjoyed it and things were going well.
But over time, she became less excited to do her math lessons. It is an online program with short video lessons followed by practice and lesson questions. She started to become very frustrated with having to do the lesson questions. They are very repetitive! Lesson after lesson she would be asked the same questions (different versions of course) over and over. She wanted to know why she had to keep answering these questions when she already knows how to do it.
I wish there was a way to tell the program that my child understand this topic, please move on. Or even better if it learned on it's own when a concept was mastered. And because no teacher guide is included, it was very difficult to see what lessons she could skip and what lessons were important.
So while I know this program works well for many (I mean who wouldn't love a curriculum where mom can be almost completely hands off!), it just was not a good fit for us. We used the program for two years, and my middle daughter joined us the second year and had the same complaints. So it was back to Math U See for us!
I want to say that all of these programs a good programs. I never found anything "wrong" with them, but sometimes things are just not a good fit for your kiddos or your homeschool. And that is A-okay!
I hope this helps you when choosing your curriculum. Hopefully by seeing what did and didn't work for us will help you see what is going to work or your homeschool. If you have questions, please ask them. I will try to answer them the best I can. And if you have used any of these programs before, I would love to hear your thoughts! Please comment down below!
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