Math is one of our foundation topics. It is an essential part of everyday life and it is important that students develop a firm understanding of the concepts. This is why we chose a base program that requires a solid understanding, mastery before moving on to a new concept. When looking at math programs, because we use a multi-grade approach, we needed a math program that lent itself to a guided math or centers approach and allowed for individuals to progress at their own speed while proving sufficient interaction to get the concepts down.  Singapore math is one mastery approach, Mammoth Math is another with the main difference being that Singapore is designed for a teacher in front of a larger class to present and Mammoth Math is designed to have the instructions and reasons right on the page that the student is using. Yes, many homeschoolers use this program (probably for similar reasons as to why we find it useful), but finding out that it is used in programs for gifted children sealed our decision. For our base text, we chose to use Mammoth Math.

Mammoth Math does correspond to the Common Core but with a much more reasonable approach. Maria Miller clearly explains the approach that she takes with respect to Common Core  and it is one that we agree with. We use what is reasonable and makes sense and build up from that foundation.

We should mention that our program is not just worksheet based but includes other elements too. For the lower school, it includes hands on manipulative or concrete elements from Miquon Math, and even Montessori math during the guided math times and is also explicitly linked to our theme units. In our upper school classes, we use parts of Make It Real Math and again explicitly link it to our problem-solving theme units!

So, in summary, we expect the following about our students and their use of math no matter what math level is involved:
  • The student understands and applies the concepts and procedures of mathematics.
  • The student uses mathematics to define and solve problems.
  • The student uses mathematical reasoning.
  • The student communicates knowledge and understanding in both every day and mathematical language.
  • The student understands how mathematical ideas connect within mathematics, to other subjects.