Has anyone ever made the switch from Saxon to Math-U-See?  My daughter just isn't grasping math and all we have used is Saxon (besides a brief 2 month stint with Singapore).  She is in 3rd grade still doing 2nd grade math, and it's still just not clicking.  I've read good reviews about Math-U-See, but I don't know how smoothly the transition would be...any input would be helpful...Thanks :)

We switched from Singapore math to Math Mammoth for my daughter, and things are going much better for her!  (She's in First Grade.  We did Singapore for Kindergarten, and we've been doing Math Mammoth for First Grade.)

At first I wasn't sure about using Math Mammoth since it's a relatively new curriculum, but after reading the great reviews for it on the discussion boards of Well-Trained Mind's website, I went ahead and tried it.  We're liking it very much so far!

This discussion board immensely helped me when I was attempting to decide on a new math curriculum (as well as a few other subjects!):  http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

I was homeschooled from 6th grade through 12th grade, and my mom used Saxon Math.  I really hated math, although Saxon did help me understand the concepts.  I wanted to try a different curriculum with my daughter, in hopes that she wouldn't hate math as much as I do! 

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info...i have not heard of that curriculum and i will definitely check them out

Hello!

We used Saxon for quite some time.  We found our older boys were not getting a good foundation from it, just more of a skimming the surface and lots of unneeded practice problems.

This year we switched to MUS.  Our oldest is in Geometry, and doing great.  The next oldest chose to do a different level lower then where he tested because he felt his understanding of division was not that strong.  He is now flying through that book and gaining a much better understanding of division.  We have also now started the 2 younger ones with MUS.  We love it.  Its one of those programs that once you start using it, it you know it will work for all the kids. 

It is definitely far superior to saxon.  By the way - while having one of our sons tested a few years ago, the teachers we met with were wondering why he scored so low in math, they asked what math we were using and when i told them saxon, they all nodded and told me it was more for the student in need of lots of practice, etc.  Not even really for your average student.....

It was not hard to switch form one to the other.  The kids i was not sure about for placement, i tested. 

The kids actually watch the DVD the first day of the chapter and then work the rest of the week on thier own in their books.  THey only come to me if there is a probelm they don't really understand or if i ask them about something they got wrong in thier work or on a test.  We do have one kiddo in the Primer, and that is mom intensive, but it is not hard and so far i have not used the dvd at all. 

If you have any more specific questions please feel free to ask!

~allison

thanks, mrsdunphy...that was very helpful...will be ordering it soon!

We started off with MUS and have no complaints at all. Both of my sons really understood what they were doing. They are also opposites for learning styles, one very right brained & one very left brained. We switched from MUS not due to a problem with MUS but bc each got mad at their own struggle with one thing that was not the fault of MUS and they got a bad attitude so I switched. However we have not been able to find one curriculum that is as good and have been switching around ever since leaving MUS. :(

I will say my now 10 yr old is the type who loves to just be told how to do the operation and doesn't want to or care to understand the math behind it, he flies through math easily and memorizes math facts quickly. The older son is now 13 doing algebra I in grade 8 (not MUS) but he'sstill the type who wants to understand what is going on and hates memorizing steps, he makes up his own processes for solving the problems & does big leaps in his head (accurately) and also has always struggled to memorize math facts.

I explain this to praise MUS for the following: 1. helping them understand the math; 2. it works on mastery and the work is not spiral method that is 80% plus review work when you can't tell if they actually 'get' the new concept and 3. MUS doesn't waste your time with too much repetition 4. if your child masters the concept with MUS just move forward faster and keep going.

I also share all this to explain how kid's minds are different and what works for one family won't work for another or more specifically what works for one kid won't work for another. Try to figure out what their struggle is then switch to whatever curriculum helps with THAT. If you figure out the way different math curriculums are different from each other you then can make a right or best fit for that child. Good luck.

HTH

We did MUS from Kinder and recently had to switch my 11th grader to Saxon because (in my opinion) MUS is just inadequate in teaching upper grade Math.  She is now in a class because she got so behind and it's going great.  The teacher uses Saxon and she's regularly in the top in scoring.To avoid the same problem with my 6 th grader we just switched him this year from MUS to Saxon.  He's also thriving using the DIVE CD Rom

All this to say - MUS is good for elementary but I feel like you children will need to switch again in junior high.