Sunday, February 15, 2009

Math Mammoth

Math Mammoth is a series of math workbooks with a varied approach. Math Mammoth is defiantly not a one size fits all program. There are 4 different types of curriculum offered through Math Mammoth and I was able to review one of each of the 4 different types.

Blue- is a topical approach. It is not a complete curriculum but a supplement. If you are stuck on Fractions for instance, in your current curriculum, you can download the Fraction workbook from Math Mammoth for a fresh and specific approach to Fractions, and then go back to your normal program when the concept is grasped. There are 28 different topics available ranging from Fractions to decimals to geometry.

Light Blue- Is a complete yearlong curriculum for grades 1-5. Each level comes with two worktexts, their answer keys, tests, cumulative reviews, and an additional worksheet maker. Here are some of the features of Math Mammoth’s yearlong curriculum…
focuses on understanding of mathematical concepts
• uses clear explanations, lots of visual exercises and pattern exercises
• mastery oriented: concentrates fairly long on a topic, with fairly few topics per grade
• emphasizes mental math and developing number sense
• practically self-teaching for kids who can read; thus very little teacher preparation needed: perfect for busy homeschool moms or teachers


Golden- this is a series of topical worksheets for grades 3-Algebra 1 with one topic per sheet, but the problems are varied throughout the topic. Here is what Maria Miller, the creator of Math Mammoth had to say about the Golden series… I didn't want the student to just practice one kind of computation or thing... but to see different ways and problems about the topic at hand, and problems that required understanding of concepts.

Green- this is a series of worksheet collections (workbook) that is also topical with varied problems per page; however they are not broken down into grade level, only topically. There is however, some duplicates to other programs. Here is what Maria had to say about the Green Series… Each book in the Green series spans several grade levels on the same general topic, typically for grades 3-7. This makes it optimal for teachers who need worksheets on varying difficulty levels, and for parents/teachers who need comprehensive review material on a specific topic.
The Green series books have been compiled from the grade-level collections (the Golden Series), so they contain duplicate content with them.


Personally, I found Math Mammoth to be a very solid program. It is a bit confusing to try and figure out what is necessary to purchase, but Maria goes into great detail on her site to help you figure out where to put your child and how these programs work together.

You can find out more about Math Mammoth here and read what others had to say about it here.

2 comments:

Fatcat said...

We love Math Mammoth. We've been using the blue series and just going through all the concepts. I've been supplementing with a review site I found on the internet.

purple squirrel said...

Great Review, Tricia~ I'm still working on that one...

You've got an Award...
http://acornsnuggetsofgold.blogspot.com/

Blessings~
Lis