patdur
- Reviewed on Wednesday, December 31, 2008
- Grades Used: 4th-8th
- Dates used: Sept-Nov
I teach in a Texas State Jail. Most of my students are young women who are in prison for drug related crimes.
As teachers, we often see the effects of drugs on the brains of our students. Part of what we are told in our training, before beginning to teach prisoners, is that at whatever age these students start using drugs, is the same place their learning begins with us. Unfortunately, it seems that learning math suffers the most.
I saw Math Mammoth while surfing the Internet looking for something to help me teach fractions to my students in prison. I decided to purchase the Math Mammoth Fraction books. I saw students who had no clue how to work fractions become successful after using your materials. The fact that it begins with the very basic steps and moves forward slowly helped
my students feel successful from the beginning of the study. The fractions were less intimidating to them. Most the students could only remember "how hard" fractions had been. What a great sense of accomplishment they felt as they
approached the board to "teach" what they had learned.
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Hidden Jewel
- Reviewed on Friday, November 28, 2008
- Grades Used: Fractions 1, 2, Geometry, Yellow 7A
- Dates used: 2007 - 2008
Math Mammoth is one of my top choices for a math curriculum for my children. There is a simplicity to it while still teaching the building blocks of the concepts. It teaches the foundations of math instead of just rote learning of a formula. It also does an excellent job of teaching mental math. The combination of visual and abstract problems helps cement the concepts. There is heavy use of story problems throughout the material, which is important to me.
My oldest daughter used the Yellow Series 7-A Worksheet Collection for summer review after completing a pre-algebra program. These worksheets are perfect for this. Each worksheet covers a single concept using a variety of problems. I love their clean and sharp look. I plan on using the algebra worksheets this next summer.
My sixth grade daughter has used the following Blue Series: Addition/Subtraction 2B, Fractions I, Fractions II. She is currently using Geometry I. I had her do the Addition/Subtraction to become more comfortable in using mental math instead of having to write everything down. She is now using some of the concepts she learned. I am using the Fractions and Geometry as part of her final year of preparation before moving into VideoText Algebra. The Blue Series provides plenty of practice so the student can master each concept before continuing on to the next one.
Math Mammoth bridges the gap between traditional and non-traditional math programs. It facilitates learning the foundations of math so the student truly understands why the problem is solved the way it is. When true understanding occurs, the student can transfer that learning to all areas of life. And my goal in educating my children is that they can apply their learning to real life. Math Mammoth helps me accomplish this.
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jlange
- Reviewed on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
- Grades Used: 4th-5th
- Dates used: 2008
I've ordered a ton of different math programs, including Destination Math, AhaMath, and assorted texts and workbooks, and the one I have been most impressed with, in terms of actually teaching the concepts and providing the right amount of practice and review, is Math Mammoth. It's also the least expensive!
The worktexts explain concepts thoroughly (and visually); the practice problems are challenging and require real thinking/problem solving rather than just rote memorization or drill; and there is just the right amount of practice for each topic to thoroughly master the concepts without becoming boring. She often shows a variety of ways to approach a problem (e.g. to add 98 to a number, you can add 100 and subtract 2) and she explains the underlying structure and patterns in mathematics in a clear and simple way.
My son has ADD and dyslexia and really struggled with math. Since he is a visual learner, I tried several different computer programs, but it seemed like the "game" aspects often distracted him from really understanding the concepts. Math Mammoth has worked perfectly for us — he is getting the concepts, he is working the problems accurately, even though they are challenging, and he is finally learning math! The texts provide excellent visual explanations of concepts, with moderate use of color, so the pages look inviting and interesting without being too busy or distracting (unlike many workbooks).
The Blue Series worktexts are on individual topics, like fractions, decimals, multiplication, etc., and can be used for review/extra practice in specific areas, or they can be combined to make a fairly complete curriculum on their own. They range from $2-$5 each. There is also a Light Blue series which provides a complete one-year curriculum for Grades 1-4, and costs $27 for the complete year (Grade 4 = 373 pages). We are using the Light Blue Grade 4 curriculum, supplemented with the Blue Series books on Geometry, Fractions, and Decimals. (The Math Mammoth website says that Grade 5 will be available in 2009, and she will be working on Grade 6 after that.)
The Math Mammoth curriculum is available as a download, a CD-ROM, or a printed workbook. I downloaded it, and I love that I can just print out the workbook pages as I need them. If you have multiple children you can easily reuse the materials as many times as needed by printing additional copies. I also like the fact that this curriculum was designed specifically for homeschoolers, instead of being a public school text or supplement that I have to adapt to homeschooling. My only complaint about this program is that it doesn't go up to 8th grade (yet)!
There is a lot of useful information (how to teach math concepts, curriculum reviews, worksheet generators, etc.) on the Homeschool Math website. There is even a pack of 280 free worksheets that you can download. The main website is:
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/
You can also go directly to the Math Mammoth website:
http://www.mathmammoth.com/
I highly recommend this program for homeschoolers (or afterschoolers) — it is logical, well thought out, inexpensive, and (most importantly) effective, even for kids like my son who have struggled with math.
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