Math on the Level

[Alvie]

I have a few friends who recently got this curriculum, and say it is great! The whole program (K - 8th grade) is about $300+ and a big investment for our family.

My ds is 6 and we are just finishing up Saxon K which was nice. I have heard Saxon 1st grade and up is nothing like K and there is alot of worksheets and drill and tends to be boring. My ds is not a sit-down-and-do-worksheets kinda guy, he loves the manipulatives and has about a 10 minute attention span.

MOTL (Math on the level) seems to be geared to a hands on approach using real life as the learning environment. Also, lessons are short (I think) and allow for more focus on just a few concepts in a shorter amount of time.

Is anyone using this program that could give me a quick review, and any pros/cons? Also, a quick outline of the daily schedule and amount of parent preparation beforehand would be great too! (I work, so prep needs to be a minimum for me!)

Also, any other curruculums ideas that are similar and maybe less costly would also be appreciated!

Thanks so much!

[lorrielink]

I haven't used it but have read many reviews of it. You can buy it in smaller chucks too so as not to commit that many years and $ if you are not sure you will use it that long.
You might try the homeschool reviews yahoo group and search for MOTL and there are many details of how homeschoolers are using it.

Also if you are looking for hands on math you might look at right start math. you can buy it in peices as well as find used sets for sale in several places including their own message forums.

[Alvie]

Thanks, I have joined the homeschool review group at yahoo, and will ask my question there.

I had a look at Right Starts website too, thanks for that link! I'll be researching that a bit more in depth.

[elus0814]

I've seen it at a convention (and talked with the guy who wrote it) and liked the idea of it but went with math u see instead. It was over a year ago so I'm not sure if they've changed it but at that time it seemed to have huge amounts of prep work for the parent, it involved writing out your own worksheets (copying problems from the book). I decided I just couldn't commit to that kind of work, I wanted something where I could pull a worksheet out of a book and get right to it. There was also the long term commitment, I didn't want to invest in many years worth of a program if I wasn't sure it would be right for us.