Math, Math and More Math!

A recent email when around the staff at HCOS about various math curriculum.  If you are thinking about math and wondering about what teachers think, here is a sampling... (note: "I" below is the various teachers talking about their various students, not what I am saying.) Some of the list is just what students are using and don't comment on what teachers think of them; I include them just for your reference.

Hope this is helpful!  Carmen

Success Maker
I have been using Success Maker on a trial basis with one student who was falling behind in math. He was stuck at a 50% mark in grade 5 and couldn't seem to move past this. We started the program 6 weeks ago. It's a review program and takes 15 minutes a day.  Since then, not only has he been mastering concepts he had struggled with before, but he has also completed the grade 5 program and mastered the majority of the concepts (Khan Academy Mission 5). He has had no input or explanations from me, other than encouragement and supervision. The program itself trains his brain to approach math in a logical manner. I will be ordering it for all of my students in September. 
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Raven Research, British Columbia Mathematics 

It covers all of the BC outcomes which is nice because many of the other Math programs out of the US do not cover all the BC Learning Outcomes. The family I was asking for has decided to go with Raven Math.  So when I phoned to order I found out that they take PO#’s. So parents can order directly through them.
http://www.westerncampus.ca/Raven2

The HCOS Learning Commons has ordered copies of Raven Math (Canadian) which works very well for DL students and it is cheap and easy to use.  

In math 10 I often recommend students use Raven but also get a mathonline.ca subscription.  This way the student can watch the mathonline.ca videos if a concept does not make sense in the Raven book or if they need more practice.  Raven is about $50 and mathonline.ca is $30.

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MathOnline.ca and Study Forge
In math 10 I often recommend students use Raven but also get a mathonline.ca subscription.  This way the student can watch the mathonline.ca videos if a concept does not make sense in the Raven book or if they need more practice.  Raven is about $50 and mathonline.ca is $30.

I always recommend the HCOS online math 7 course to just about everyone. They can do the course on their own through the Mathonline.ca subscription if they don’t want to do it as an online course. They would also have access to the higher level courses. These are awesome animated video lessons that fully cover all the BC learning outcomes."

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Teaching Textbooks:
Teaching Textbooks. Uses a CD and then student watches the lessons being taught. You can review any question you get wrong with a video that takes you through the exact steps.
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/


Teaching Textbooks is good and goes right up through the grades. 

Recommended this for a student of mine this year and it’s worked pretty good for him.

I would note that Teaching Textbooks has some holes in their content. In some grades they meet less than half of the BC curricular needs. 

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Math U See

http://www.mathusee.ca/catalog.php

I would note that Math U See has some holes in their content. In some grades they meet less than half of the BC curricular needs. This became very apparent with a family of mine that uses math U see at a grade 6 level, it covered some but not really enough outcomes, and it hardly covers any at the grade 7 level.  While a family may love a curriculum option if it does not meet outcomes it becomes a real problem and I find few have the willingness to actually follow through with using IXL to fill in those holes after completing their original math curriculum.

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Jump Math
I would consider using Jump for grades 7 and 8. They have a similar set up in terms of the teaching and the mastery based approach. Both programs only have “light” spiralling when they are setting up a new concept so there isn’t as much repetition like a Saxon Math program. Singapore would be a very different math program and might be too fast moving and confusing for your student as it teaches in a very different way. You could also look at Raven - the Distributed Learning versions. It is set up similarly in the “self teaching” aspect and looks like it might be a good fit."
JUMP Math (But it only goes to grade 8 from what I can tell)
www.jumpmath.org<http://www.jumpmath.org>
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Life of Fred
Life Of Fred Math Intermediate Mathematics
http://lifeoffredmath.com/index.php

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Saxon Math
Saxon Math Homeschool 8/7
http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/math/saxon-math
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Fundamentals of Math by BJU (Bob Jones) Press
http://www.bjupress.com/nav/Home

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Lifepac Math 
http://www.christianbook.com/lifepac-math-grade-7-complete/9780867170863/pd/72304?event=AFF&p=1029134&
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Singapore Math - New Elementary Math
http://www.singaporemath.com/Default.asp

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 RightStart Mathematics
http://rightstartmath.com/home-school/

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A Beka Mathematics
https://www.abeka.com/HomeSchool/SubjectInfo/Math.aspx

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Making Math Meaningful: A 7th GRADE MATH SET - Jamie York Press
http://www.jamieyorkpress.com/store/

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Math Mammoth  

This is the curriculum my student's parent had been using for K-6.  They have 6 kids and use it for all of them. It is quite inexpensive.
http://www.mathmammoth.com/ but the some actually order it though https://www.rainbowresource.com/