Math Mammoth: A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

Math Mammoth is another gem that I didn't know about until Crew members were given the opportunity to review some of Maria Miller's products. Math Mammoth produces affordable math worktexts students from early elementary school through high school.

Each Crew member was offered products for individual children, so if you are considering a math program that doesn't include the products we chose, be sure to check out the main Crew blog for more reviews.

Because my daughter still struggles to add and subract, but she has memorized her multiplication tables, I wanted to use both addition and multiplication, and that's exactly what I got, from the Light Blue Series. The Light Blue Series is a complete curriculum for grades 1-5.

In e-book format, we are using Math Mammoth Grade 1A (116 pages) and Math Mammoth Grade 1B (113 pages), a first grade curriculum that includes addition and subtraction, place value, telling time, and counting coins. We are also using Math Mammoth Multiplication 1 (100 pages).

Math worksheets in an e-book format have been quite useful. I can make multiples of some pages and skip others altogether. Printing a few selected pages for completion during the travel part of a trip is easy, and I don't have to lug entire workbooks on vacation.

When I began to study the worksheets, I was excited to see how Maria Miller takes the student from developmental foundations to more complex concepts. In the workbooks that we used, I can tell you that she starts with very visual, concrete activities, and gently moves the student into more abstract versions of the same concepts. Several of the worksheets are very similar to pages in instruments used in FIE (Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment), which is a developmental approach to growing cognitive skills. Coming from a developmental perspective, the developmental progression that Maria Miller has created in these workbooks is impressive to me.

As I am working with my daughter, I am able to use one worksheet with my daughter, in a way that shows ME what to do, and then I am able to "freehand" ("wing it! *grin*) similar activities that provice experience with the same concepts in other ways thoughout the day, with pen and paper, or with real objects as we are cooking or playing. I like a worksheet that teaches me how to teach her, that scaffolds that teaching part for me, so that I grow as a teacher, too.

This is another resource where I encourage you to spend some time on the company web site. You'll find links to free worksheets, to samples from the workbooks, FAQs and product comparisons, and links to Maria Miller's blog.

The package containing Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Light Blue series in a download is priced at $94. Individual units are available for purchase as well, but the entire series package is a better value. Be sure to check out this page if you have a student who needs supplemental work on one particular area (the individual areas of study are $5 or less).

I like this product! I like the versatility of the e-format, and I like the ideas the pages generate for me as we work on mathematics throughout the day.

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