McRuffy Math

we love it!!!! So much so that earlier in the year I bought all the books and workbooks I would need to cover the rest of our lower math education. I did this because, if they haven't already, they were switching to a new color workbooks. The ones I have are just black and white and that works for us.

This year 4 yo will be doing the Kindergarten book, 7 yo is in the First Grade book but will end the year with the first 20 or so lessons of the Second Grade book, and our 9 yo will finish up the Third Grade book and move into Teaching Text books.

What I like about McRuffy is that the lessons, for the most part, are short and sweet. (More on that in a minute) The lessons seem perfect for my boys attention span and it does a great job of re-enforcement through different learning styles. Visually through the workbook, cognitive with the manipulatives and auditory with oral drills starting in the second grade workbooks. They have unit tests as well as timed tests, although we did not use them.

McRuffy has helped me go from doing my own math lessons to using a curriculum without feeling like they are losing the benefits of everyday math because the lessons can be completed in a short amount of time, leaving me with plenty of time to "play math" with my kids.

The only warning I will give is that second grade math will need more than a normal school 36 weeks to complete. The lessons are much more intense than the 1st grade level and alot mathematical concepts are introduced that if your child isn't ready for them it might be best to just relax and wait for their brains to develop instead of steam rolling through them like we did with lots of tears and resistance. (Hey you live you learn.)

As a parent, I felt confident in teaching after reading the lesson overview in the teachers manuals which can be done 5 minutes prior to sitting down with your kid to go over the lesson. A big plus in my book.

We also got the Tangram Adventure and Pentomino Puzzle Book and they have been such a great hit with ALL my kids!!!!!

McRuffy did a great job at keeping their lessons within the attention span of most children without sacrificing the quality of the lesson. I do recommend buying the manipulative set as it will help your child do their lessons long before they actually grasp the understanding of what they are doing, which actually helps them speed along as soon as the light bulb goes off!!!!!

Ex:
When LJ was learning to carry, he used the cubes and rods to carry into the tens place. It took him awhile to transfer the understanding that carrying a number from the ones place to the tens place was then same as exchanging one tens rod for ten cubes. He is the type of learner that has to work it out himself and the rods and cubes allowed him to do that alone.So once he did connect it, he was whizzing through his worksheets without the manipulatives in great confidence!!!!!!

One thing I don't like about McRuffy, but knew going into homeschooling, is that I can only use it with lower elementary which has left me combing over math curriculum for the last year or so. I have decided with Teaching Textbooks but am O-P-E-N for suggestions!!!!!! Seriously let me hear what you have used for 5th grade and beyond and why, P-L-E-A-S-E!!!!!





Tomorrow I will be reviewing our Language Arts and Phonics curriculum if you want to drop by again!!! And if you haven't read it already don't forget to read what I had to say about Sonlight Cores 1 & 2. And of course don't forget to leave a comment so I can go blog hopping!!!!