I learned this quickly when I first embarked on finding the
perfect math curriculum for my girls. My oldest daughter displayed a love for
math over the course of her Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade year. I
started to take note in her transition from second to third grade that she was
growing anxious and frustrated when it came to timed, math drills and when
practicing her math tables. Her enjoyment of math soon turned into struggles
between me and her and resistance against receiving help when she had to
complete her math homework.
Once we made the decision to homeschool, I did a careful investigation
into what math curriculum I would choose with hopes of rekindling her joy of
math. My internet search led me when to MOTL several years ago and now as we
continue in our third year, the girls are still thriving with MOTL and Math isn’t
as stressful and frustrating as it was when my oldest finished up school in
private school.
Unlike many other math curriculums where students are
drilled extensively on a concept and then moved into a new concept, MOTL equips
the teaching parent with the tools they need to present and explain math
concepts (from elementary level skills through pre-algebra), clearly and
effectively to a child at a level appropriate based on the child’s capacity to
learn and based on their ability to demonstrate an understanding of the
concept. The curriculum comes with four teaching guides for the parent to use
as they teach their child math operations, geometry and measurements, money and
decimals, and fractions. These guides give practical and easy to understand
explanations of math concepts along with sample problems and answers that the
parent uses to develop five problems (“5-A-Day” worksheet) for their child to
work through every day to demonstrate their understanding of varying math
concepts. Additionally, MOTL comes with the record keeping materials needed to
track a child’s progress daily in each concept.
For the parent looking for an approach to teaching math that
is geared towards teaching just where they’re at, on their level, MOTL is a
worthwhile curriculum to dig into and learn more!
MOTL Pros:
- MOTL curriculum is not subdivided by grade
level. Kids have the ability to learn at their own individual level and at
their own pace, progressing however quickly (or, at a slower pace if necessary)
they desire based on their ability to show a mastery level understanding of a
concept
- Kids are motivated by having just five problems
to work through daily to demonstrate their progression in math. The 5-A-Day worksheet
does not of course preclude a parent from administering additional math
problems for their to work through for practice.
- MOTL provides the record-keeping materials
necessary to execute the curriculum, either in hard copy or electronic form.
- Kids that have demonstrated a mastery level
understanding of a concept do not have to waste time on math concepts that they
already understand.
- MOTL is structured in a manner where math games and
other practical math approaches (i.e. learning while measuring for a recipe)
can be scheduled into a child’s weekly schedule so that they learn in ways
beyond rote memorization and math drills.
- Carlita Boyles, the author and creator of MOTL,
hosts a MOTL how-to webinars and maintains a Yahoo Group for her customers.
There is great benefit in being able to email the author of this curriculum
when you’re just starting out and receiving a quick response. There is a lot to
be said for the customer support.
MOTL Cons:
- In my personal opinion, MOTL is parent- and
time- intensive as the parent is required to learn how the curriculum is to be
administered, establish a record-keeping system to record their child’s
progress in each concept, and the parent has to maintain this system daily or
weekly based on how often they will do their planning for the curriculum. The parent is also required to teach the
concepts, manually write up and check the
5-A-Day worksheets for errors, and record their child’s progress each week so
that they can track which concepts needs to be re-taught or which new concepts
can be added to a child’s scheduled based on their readiness.
- Some parents find the MOTL curriculum to be
pricey, but if you consider the timeframe (elementary through middle school)
that the curriculum applies to, the cost minimal compared to having to purchase
a new curriculum each year.
Go here to learn more about MOTL.
(I was not contacted or solicited for this review. Comments above are my own personal opinions of the product.)
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