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Choosing a Maths Curriculum
See the Resources
page of this website for links to mathematics resources.
Copyright © Ruth Marshall 2007
Choosing a maths curriculum is something like choosing one for phonics. No two
are going to suit everyone; and while some are definitely better than others, there’s a sense in which no matter how poor
the programme, if it suits you and you are prepared to work with it, it will do
the job beautifully. On the other hand, no matter how good the curriculum is, if
you don’t like it or can’t work with it, you are going to be
disappointed. It really boils down to what you
are looking for.
Questions you need to consider when looking for the right mathematics curriculum include:
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How strong are you in maths?
Some curricula need a teacher who understands the subject. One example is
Miquon,
which is a “discovery” approach to maths. If the teacher has no
idea what the child is supposed to be discovering from a particular lesson,
how can he/she guide a child who is also floundering?
Other curricula are
for those who need far more guidance: they may even tell the teacher exactly
what to say and when (I think the early grades of Saxon may be like this).
Do you want that kind of hand-holding, or do you want the freedom to be able
to jump off and explore topics for yourselves?
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Do you want a workbook curriculum or not?
Families with two or three children may be perfectly happy with these. Other
families with more children find them uneconomical, and prefer something
non-consumable - e.g. Simply Numbers, the
Ray's
Arithmetics series, or First Lessons in Numbers. The latter two are 19th-century arithmetic programmes, and page images from First Lessons in
Numbers are actually online, free for the printing out.
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What about arithmetic drill?
Do you want a programme that incorporates drill, or are you able to do it
without a curriculum? I’m not one who does maths games as a matter of
course, so I really need help here! CalcuLadders are great, and are
reproducible. But there are other ways of incorporating drill, too. Some
programmes (e.g. Rod & Staff) are very strong on drill; others (e.g. Simply
Numbers) include it, but not so heavily.
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What do you think about manipulatives?
There’s a great debate over this one. Some people think manipulatives are
invaluable at every stage of maths (e.g. the Math-U-See programme); other
folk think they should be abandoned as early as possible, and that maths
should be a mental discipline only (e.g. Samuel Blumenfeld, with his How
to Tutor book). You don’t want a curriculum that drives you crazy
because it uses manipulatives far too much for your liking, or because it
doesn’t use them when you think it would be a tremendous advantage to do
so.
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Do you want to focus on one topic or skill at a time, or do you prefer a spiral
approach that constantly reviews everything?
A Beka and Saxon are examples of the spiral approach. Mastering Mathematics
and 19th-century textbooks (such as First Lessons in Arithmetic and
First Lessons in Numbers) are curricula which focus on one topic at a
time, until it is mastered.
I hope these questions give you some ideas to help in your thinking.
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