Math Mammoth (www.MathMammoth.com)
During the years in which we have been educating our children at home, I’ve heard lots of moms talk about how difficult it is to teach math, or to know if the math curriculum they’ve chosen for their children is doing the "best" job.
"Maybe we need to switch curricula?"
"Maybe we need to hire a math tutor?"
"Eeeek! What to do!"
I’ve never been big on frequently changing to a new curriculum, especially in mathematics.
First of all, it's expensive to be regularly purchasing new curriculum.
Secondly, many academic programs and materials - especially math - are written to have a built-in sequence, so that as the child progresses through the various levels, his knowledge continues to be enhanced over time, making most math programs successful when used over a long period of time. Changing math curricula regularly means that your child won't be staying with a particular sequence during his years of math education. He may be missing out on some key concepts which need to be presented in a particular sequence.
"Maybe we need to switch curricula?"
"Maybe we need to hire a math tutor?"
"Eeeek! What to do!"
I’ve never been big on frequently changing to a new curriculum, especially in mathematics.
First of all, it's expensive to be regularly purchasing new curriculum.
Secondly, many academic programs and materials - especially math - are written to have a built-in sequence, so that as the child progresses through the various levels, his knowledge continues to be enhanced over time, making most math programs successful when used over a long period of time. Changing math curricula regularly means that your child won't be staying with a particular sequence during his years of math education. He may be missing out on some key concepts which need to be presented in a particular sequence.
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Math Mammoth graciously provided me with several levels of its LightBlue Series of math books to review. I received grade levels 3, 4, and the first half of grade 5, which, at the time, was still in the process of being written. The Blue Series, for grades 1-5, is organized by topic, as compared to the LightBlue Series, which is written by grade level. These worktexts contain both explanations and math problems. |
Meet the author, Marcia Miller
As the author of Math Mammoth – Maria Miller – states on her website, the Blue Series is "practically self-teaching – only a little parent or teacher involvement needed.
Each book concentrates on a few topics only, such as perhaps addition and subtraction, multiplication, clock, fractions, division, geometry, etc. They are especially good for remedial or supplemental work – whenever your students need extra help on some particular topic."
Each book concentrates on a few topics only, such as perhaps addition and subtraction, multiplication, clock, fractions, division, geometry, etc. They are especially good for remedial or supplemental work – whenever your students need extra help on some particular topic."
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The LightBlue Series, which I received to review, is for grades 1-5. Again, according to Maria Miller, these worktexts "contain both explanations and problems, are also practically self-teaching, (only a little teacher involvement needed), and constitute a complete mathematics curriculum for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5."
The LightBlue Series covers all topics for a given grade level, including two parts of a worktext (A and B), tests, an answer key, and a worksheet maker. |
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The Golden Series, for grades 3-8, contains math problems only. These are workbooks or worksheet collections by grade level, and they contain a variety of types of problems per page. These books are "great for classwork or homework, for general review, reinforcement, or practice."
The Green Series, also for grades 3-8, contain problems only, like the Golden Series. These cover grade levels 3 through Algebra I. One topic is studied per page. |
Now, for the personal review with our family: Sometimes, I haven’t been overly fond of e-books and digital formats, but these worktexts and workbooks from Math Mammoth are wonderful! They are inexpensive, can be used over and over again with various family members, and they are easy to print from our computer printer.
We love the math program we already use, but we found that for the levels of Math Mammoth (LightBlue Series) that we reviewed, Math Mammoth offers a slightly different approach to some math concepts. Mental math was being used in many of the problems at both the 3rd and 5th grade levels.
One of my daughters initially balked at doing some of the math worksheets, because she was needing to think in a different way than she had before. Both girls were using their brains in new ways, thanks to Math Mammoth. After a week of using Math Mammoth, both girls declared to me that they really like this program.
We won’t be stopping our current math program any time soon, but I’ll be thrilled to include Math Mammoth as a supplement to what we are already doing. Maria also provides a free online test at her website so families can determine at which level to place their children.
Maria did mention that many math books/curriculum lags behind the expectations she has for her various grade levels. My daughters were able to stay with their current grade levels, but I must say that they were challenged to really think hard about what they were doing. Math Mammoth is "mastery" oriented, but it also includes some spiraling of concepts for review and retention. I suppose you could think of it as a combination of Saxon Math and Math-U-See.
I have liked what I have seen with Math Mammoth. It is affordably priced, and the author, Maria Miller, provided excellent customer service with her products that she sells.
Her website offers an over 300-page free eBook containing samples of her math texts and workbooks for students. I highly recommend Math Mammoth. This is a product that could be a stand-alone math program (LightBlue Series; Blue Series), or could be used for review and supplementary work (Golden Series; Green Series).
© 2009 by Julieanne Miller
DISCLOSURE: While I will never be paid to write a product review (gasp!), I did accept a free level of Math Mammoth for me to use in our home and then write an unbiased review.
