Here is my confession for today: before I knew my second son had dyslexia and dysgraphia, I ended up using 3 different math curriculum before I found one I liked. I couldn’t get anything to stick. I was getting very worried that it was me, my teaching style, or that he would not grasp math.
Of course, the first curriculum I used in Kindergarten is a very popular math curriculum. This only furthered my frustration when it didn’t click with my son. The second we used for the first semester of 1st grade also gets awesome reviews but didn’t work well for us and then we went through a move and I switched to another curriculum to see if that would stick. Still no. I was getting desperate. I then read on a homeschooling forum about CLE (Christian Light Education) Math. This was much different from the other three math curriculum. This one is spiral the others were all mastery approach. This one teaches very short “lessons” the others do not. This one has built in speed drills, flash cards, practice, quizzes and tests!
By the end of 1st grade we had started him on CLE Math. By the time 2nd grade was in full swing we had noticed a huge improvement in his mathematical ability. He suddenly had gained confidence. He was retaining what he had learned! What’s more, on his end of year testing he was scoring years ahead of average. He now scores 3-4 grade levels ahead on math reasoning and computation is about 2 years ahead.
It might be that this math curriculum is no frills. There are no bright colors, there are no extra pieces to remember. For a kid with dyslexia or other learning disabilities all the colors and pictures might get too distracting. Think sensory overload. All the problems are in the thin workbook that, to be honest, doesn’t look like much. It is a very lightweight book called a “lightunit”. One year is made up of 10 of them. Each lesson only takes a few minutes to teach. There are a few practice question on what they learned and then several pages of practice questions reviewing what they’ve learned in previous lessons. There are questions even spanning things they learned in previous grade levels. This is the secret to keeping everything fresh in their minds!
The setup is the same in each lightunit. Lesson 5 and 10 are actually quizzes and then there is a test at the end of the book. I think this method gives the kids a sense of accomplishment. I like the few “extras” that can be purchased for first or second grade. There is a number chart, a calendar book and flash cards. I love this curriculum so much, that we are also using it on our 2nd grader and our oldest son, who has special needs.
He is excelling with this math program, as well, even through his moderate disabilities and delay. The short lessons are key for him. He feels rewarded by doing a quick lesson and then a bunch of review. He also truly enjoys the speed drills which he thinks are “easy” and he has succeeded at getting 100% in 1 minute on two drills. The others he’s been off by 1 or 2…which serves as a source of encouragement for him. (I want to note that I purposefully started him in a lightunit that I thought he already understood most of the material so that it wasn’t too challenging. Making work too hard has had a way of backfiring on us with him.)
All in all, I’m very pleased with CLE and I’m so happy I happened upon it several years ago. Please leave a comment and let me know what math curriculum you have used and which ones are your favorites!
Thanks for your review. I’m starting CLE math 100 with my 6 yr old soon. She doesn’t do very well with abstract concepts and needs plenty of review.
I’ve had a hard time finding a good program for my oldest. He is in 4th grade with ADHD & dysgraphia. He is using Teaching Textbooks. Its the only way i can keep him from staring into space, crying & taking hours. I do wish it was a more rigorous program.
CLE seems to jave long lessons with lots of problems. How does your son with dysgraphia handle this? How long does it take him?
Thanks for the info!
Hi Audrey! Thanks for leaving a comment! My son who is finishing up 4th grade has dyslexia and dysgraphia. I know what you mean about crying, staring, etc. We have had the same problems. His handwriting has improved after doing some work with an O.T. for about 3 months. He still struggles a little, but not as much in the beginning. Now, I teach his lesson and then I allow him to do the problems that pertain to that lesson as practice. After that, I circle several problems on each page that I think he needs to work on or review. I do not make him complete every problem. In the 4th grade book, there are a lot of problems in each lesson and I think that could easily become too much for him. He doesn’t need *that* much review. It is helpful for him to do a few problems about fractions, a few multiplication, a few memory work, a few division. Sometimes I only circle one of each and if he struggles, I assign more or help him with them. He does about 50% of the problems for each lesson. Even with skipping so much, he is retaining and doing well on quizzes, tests, and end of year testing. I hope that helps!