This is a paid curriculum review for the written by The Happy Housewife contributing writer, Beth. The Learn Math Fast System is a comprehensive math curriculum for 1st-9th grades written by JK Mergens, a homeschooling mom. It is a series of five books designed to allow students to work page by page and master mental math. I’ve used the curriculum for one month with my 1st, 3rd, and 9th grader. Previously, I’ve used Saxon and Switched on Schoolhouse/Monarch for my 9th grader. The other children have used workbooks from various publishers to build a basic math understanding for the younger years. I have a strong math background and felt very comfortable teaching any curriculum.
In the fall of 2014, we switched my high school son's math program. As we were finishing up the school year, he told me that he was struggling with math. My son who had previously received A type grades in math had not only dropped his grade by two levels, but his confidence in his math skills as well. The Learn Math Fast System is different than your typical curriculum. It starts by taking the student, no matter what their age is, back to addition. Each bite-sized lesson will slowly teach your student how to add single digit numbers in his/her mind.
Learn Math Fast Program For Schools Free
However, the Monarch math has been lacking sufficient instruction for my son’s understanding. I’ve been supplementing the instruction from Monarch even though it was designed for the student to do independently on the computer. I was excited to try the Learn Math Fast System in hopes of finding a solid foundation of no-nonsense math. Pros for Learn Math Fast The books are not marked with grade levels. This is a plus for me since some students might be uncomfortable, nervous, or embarrassed about working above or below their grade level.
How To Learn Math Fast
There are only five books for 9 years of instruction. They take up a minimal amount of real estate on your bookshelf and make it easier to school multiple ages at once. The company website provides a placement test. It’s a great tool to help decide which book to buy and where to begin. The price is right.
$190 is the current price for all five books with free US shipping. Or you can choose any individual book for $49 (with free shipping).
Plus, paying for the books couldn’t be easier. You can checkout through the author’s secure website or with Paypal, if you prefer. You can also purchase the series of books through a number of payment plan options. There is no teacher manual. You just read along with the student. There are no separate tips or pointers.
Everything is included in the paperback text. Fast, personal customer service.
I contacted the company through the website. I just wanted to bring to their attention a small error on one of the printables. Not only did the author e-mail me to thank me for the note, but the error was fixed on the website within a few hours of my comment. This is prompt customer service that is priceless for busy homeschooling families. All the worksheets, quizzes, and tests are found on the website. Your password gives you access to print as many copies as you need.
This makes it easier to make copies for multiple students and only print the pages you need. Concepts taught together. In Volume I, the concepts of addition/subtraction and multiplication/division are taught together. I think this saves time in introducing concepts by explaining that they create fact families (even though this term is not used). Timed tests show measurable improvement. My kids love the timed tests in Volume I. They get a real sense of accomplishment as they watch their quiz times come closer and closer to the goal time that allows them to proceed to the next lesson.
Some commonly overlooked concepts are explained thoroughly. Volume III has a fantastic explanation for the order of operations.
This is the “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” order for solving equations that most adults don’t remember in correct detail. I love the clear and concise presentation of this idea along with several examples for guided practice. Instruction uses everyday examples. From the very beginning the author tries to bring math to the level of everyday experiences.
Each lesson uses examples any student will be able to relate to and understand. Fractions talk about slices of a sandwich, decimals begin by talking about money, adding uses pennies as counters for concrete understanding. Hands-on help. From the very first lesson of Volume I, students are using their hands to find answers with pennies. The examples given regarding every topic throughout the system encourage the student to touch math and feel it in their hands. The geometry book (Volume IV) includes a pouch of handy manipulatives to help the student really use math and measurements in a tangible way. There’s even a built-in hands-on exercise for measuring the circumference of a circle.
I love the hands on emphasis. 60 Day Money Back Guarantee.
Learn Math Fast comes with a money back guarantee. If after completing lessons and worksheets for 60 days you don’t feel that your student is learning basic math, you can return the used books for a full refund. Cons for Learn Math Fast You must have internet access to print additional worksheets, quizzes and tests. All the materials are included in the system, however if you want additional worksheets, then you’ll need internet access.
Daily2soft.com – Manycam PRO Activation Code 4 is a Popular tool with worlds best live studio and webcam effect software. You ca enhance the video call quality with Manycam Pro. It has a quality to turns your computer into a professional quality live video production and a switcher. Manycam PRO Crack. ManyCam Pro 5.6.0 Crack & Activation Code Keygen Download.
There is no option to save the worksheets and tests to your computer. I understand the desire to regulate the distribution of these tests and worksheets, but I would be interested in purchasing a CD containing the printables. Repeating lessons is common.
Students and teachers might have to repeat a lesson before moving forward. My 1st grader worked on Lesson 1 of Volume I every day for a week before even trying the quiz the first time. She understands adding and subtracting, but she is not to the point of recalling math facts.
She still has to recreate the problem with counters (or adding on to a number) for every problem. Only after the fourth day did she begin to recall math fact families.
She became slightly bored with repeating the same lesson over and over. If this will cause the student or teacher anxiety or frustration, then I’d recommend modifying the lesson while still maintaining the foundational concept. Some concepts are oversimplified. I understand that sometimes math students don’t want to know WHY something is done; they just want to memorize steps to get the right answer. In my opinion, this just doesn’t build a solid foundation of comprehension to build on. Here are a couple of examples (all from Volume II) about concepts being oversimplified if that is a concern to you:.
The fraction of ½ is offered to compare fractions and show equivalency. However, there is no method taught to compare any other fractions to determine if they are equivalent. Most problems requiring common denominators used one of the existing denominators as the least common denominator. In the rare cases where this was not the case, the book instructs the student to multiply the denominators together. There is no mention of finding the least common multiple.
In my opinion, this just leads to more work later if the answer must be reduced unnecessarily. The idea of reducing fractions is taught without addressing how to find the greatest common factor. Students must depend on incrementally reducing the fraction by small numbers if they can’t think of a greater number that divides evenly. While this process does lead to the same answer, I can’t see how this could be faster than finding the greatest common factor the proper way.
In Summary Learn Math Fast would be a great addition to help students master math facts. I can also see this being a tremendous tool as a summer bridge builder from one grade to the next. If you use this to reinforce topics that have already been taught, the student will be able to brush up on foundational skills easily and independently. The sense of confidence that comes with these quick lessons will do a lot to encourage less eager learners that you really can Learn Math Fast. Learn Math Fast System Giveaway – CLOSED! One reader will win a complete including all 5 volumes!
Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below telling us how you feel about teaching math to your kids. Winner must have a United States mailing address. Giveaway ends November 2, 2012. Is a homeschooling mom of 5.
Curriculum was provided by Learn Fast Math, and Beth was compensated for her time while maintaining her own opinions. My two younger kids are doing well with the math program we have, but my oldest daughter is struggling right now with long division. I wonder if she would struggle with whatever program we are using. I majored in Math in college, so I know the Math, but it’s often difficult for me to put it into words what is in my head because it comes so easy to me.
I have been keeping my eyes open for any other strategies I can use with her so she will understand better. This looks like it MIGHT be worth a try!!
Thank you for posting this! My husband and I have homeschooled for several years now. We’ve tried several math curriculums during that time including Saxon Math, Math-U-See, and Hooked on Math. Neither of my daughters enjoy math and at this particular point in time I’m not thrilled about it either. Understanding math concepts is of paramount importance, but I feel like I’m failing at teaching it. This sounds like a great program, so did all the others. Thank you for providing the opportunity to win this curriculum and for publishing your opinions of it.
Perhaps some of your readers will choose to use this course of study in the future. I have homeschooled my daughter from the beginning.
She is 7th grade and works above grade level. This year she is learning pre-algebra. Since 2nd grade we have used Math Mammoth. It is a great curriculum and has worked very well for us. Unfortunately like other programs we have used it ended with a complete 6th grade curriculum.
So what to use this year. I purchased Teaching Textbooks and she used it for a while but did not like it. Thankfully I purchased at a curriculum fair so I was able to return it for a full refund. Then I purchased Math-U-See pre-algebra. We are using that but some of his explanations confused my daughter and there was not a lot of explanations. I purchased a public school textbook to supplement but I am still looking for a program that will work for her.
I would love to give this a try. I like the sample pages given for Fractions. I wish I could see some for pre-algebra. But if win this giveaway I can see them all!
My Daughter started homeschooling my grandson this year, His school has a tendecy to pass just to make their records look good. But when they did their testing last year the school failed so bad that we received a letter stating that because of this low rating we can send him to any other school in the state. We live in a small town and the next closest school is 20 miles away and their rating wasn’t much better. Then the next town would be 100 miles away and cannot afford to drive daily or move at this time.
So homeschooling was our next option. We are not teachers and any resources we can obtain is a definite plus.
At this point, since our oldest is only in Kindergarten, I obviously feel comfortable teaching her math. She actually loves math and will be moving into her 1st grade book in about a month.
I feel pretty confidant though about teaching her math up to and including algebra and geometry, with some trig. I took some calculus, as did my husband, but I’m afraid by the time she’s old enough for that, there may be some mental cobwebs, lol! However, we have good options–co-op, private cyber courses, community colleges, etc, so we’ll figure it out 🙂.
Do you want your kids to learn math fast and well? Unfortunately, several of them weren’t. We go through the math curriculum, but at the end of the year, some are still slow, make many mistakes, and don’t completely understand every concept.
That’s why I was thrilled to start using a couple of months ago. We are using it alongside the regular math curriculum as a math enrichment activity.
– Scroll Down to Enter to Win the first 4 Volumes of Learn Math Fast. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
This site contains links from a number of other affiliate programs as well. Occasionally, I receive books, products, or curriculum to read/use in order to review them. All opinions are my own, and I’ll only recommend them if I truly think they’re beneficial. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I’m disclosing this to be in accordance with FTC guidelines.