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Although they offer multiple options of resources, Math Mammoth’s full math curriculum is in the Light Blue Series. This program offers lessons for grades 1 through 6 followed by a grade 7 year of pre-algebra.
You can choose between downloading and printing your workbook, getting a printed copy, or a CD version. Optional teacher videos are available to go along with the lessons.
There is no teacher manual - instead lessons are self-teaching as they are written directly to the student in the workbook. Tests and reviews are included, as are answer keys.
US, Canadian, South African, and International versions are available which provides personalization of the learning experience for your child.
Lesson plans are also available for additional purchase to help with pacing, if wanted.
Looks Boring but Gets the Job Done!
Let me start by saying, when compared to some of the other math curriculums out there, Math Mammoth looks… boring. Unlike Singapore Math, there is no overly colourful student work book with photos of 4 bulldogs plus 6 poodles to equal 10 dogs. All those images may work for some kids, but for my then 7 year old, it was visual overload. He was more interested why all of the dogs but 2 had blue collars. I needed a program that was less showy. I also wanted a curriculum that was written to the student, and didn’t require me to juggle a student textbook AND a teachers manual.
Enter Math Mammoth. The author, Maria, refers to her curriculum as “work texts”. Each new concept is explained to the student right there on the same page as the math problems themselves. The curriculum does have a bit of color on the page as coloured boxed are used to separate different problems from one another. I won’t lie - there is a LOT of math equations on one page. It can be overwhelming for parent and child. Maria herself has said that she has included almost too many questions, and that the average child could probably get away with skipping every other question. But that she has included the extra problems in case the child needs the practice. We used a blank white paper to cover the problems my son wasn’t working on so he didn’t feel stressed.
If the explanation on the page is not enough for you or your child, Maria has FREE videos online for every, single chapter (I’m pretty sure. We’re currently doing Grade 3 and I’ve only just now started watching them for help with teaching multiplication tables). As I mentioned, the curriculum is not picture heavy, but she does use images to help teach concepts. There are images of number blocks, and we have our own set that we use so my child and physically move around blocks and see how things work (like in regrouping for addition and subtraction).
Math Mammoth is a mastery program which means your child with learn Geometry, and then move onto Time, and then move onto Measurement, without much review on previous topics. There are a few cumulative chapter reviews, but for ~ $12 USD I purchase the Skills Review Workbook that matches the Grade Level I’m using in the Light Blue Series. Note: The Skills Review Workbook follow the USA edition, so if you are using an International edition of MM, your skill review pages will have imperial measurements and US currency.
Math Mammoth comes in 2 versions: The Light Blue Series is what you would buy to have a complete school year of math. The Blue Series is what you would buy if your child is just struggling in one math area, like Fractions. The Light Blue Series uses US currency and imperial measurements. The international edition uses metric measurement and Australian currency is the default (if you purchase a pdf, you will get several other currencies to print out, like Canadian dollar, British pounds, European Euro, etc.)
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