Cathy Duffy enVisionMath product review
Posted by Audree Hall
on Apr 7, 2014 10:54:41 AM
Math programs designed for traditional schools generally are too expensive
for home educators because teacher editions can cost more than $100 each.
Pearson has developed affordable grade level bundles of the enVisionMATH
program by providing teacher's editions on CD-ROM along with print
editions of the student textbooks.
enVisionMATH is a 2011 copyright for grades K-6 that
reflects the current math standards. This program is especially good for visual
learners and those who benefit from having concepts thoroughly explained.
Student books are heavily illustrated with lots of color, graphics and photos.
New concepts are show visually, sometimes with real objects and sometimes with
illustrations of math manipulative's. For example, when long division is
introduced in grade three, the lesson first shows trays of sandwiches, then
models the program using place-value blocks in place of the sandwiches. It
continues to show visual models of each step of the process through three pages
of the four-page lesson. Manipulative's are not required, but you would easily
use place-value blocks and other types of manipulative's along with the
lessons.
In most lessons, new concepts are presented visually, across the top of a
two-page spread. This is followed by Guided Practice with problems based on the
new concept. Next is Independent Practice where all problems still relate to the
new concept. A Problem Solving set wraps up the lesson with problems on both the
new concept and previously learned concepts, almost always presented as word
problems.
Word problems and practical application situations pervade this program,
which means that students have to move beyond computational skills to understand
which mathematical function to apply to different situations.
In each course, lessons are divided under 20 topical units (16 for
kindergarten) with a number of lessons presented in each unit. These courses
develop each topic throughout a unit rather than mixing topics as is done in
Saxon Math. Each unit begins with a short review set of problems and concludes
with a test, all included in the student book. While the amount of work in the
student text might be sufficient for some students, there are extra worksheets
that may be printed from the teacher's edition CD-ROM.
The teacher's edition CD-ROM actually has an amazing number of resources.
Each one has the complete student text with answers overprinted along with
teaching instructions. There are vocabulary cards you might print out. "Center
Activities" are printable pages for games and hands-on activities; some of these
require two or more players but many can be used with a single student. In
addition, there are alternative assessments, "Daily Spiral Review," "Problem of
the Day", "Quick Check", "Enrichment", "Reteaching", and "Practice" worksheets
that I mentioned above. You will probably want to use one or more of these with
students. At the younger levels, there are also interactive math stories to use.
While it is a bother to have to load the CD to see each day's lesson, that is
offset by the availability of all of the easy-to-print resources.
Little to no lesson preparation is required. Independent readers can complete
most of their lessons on their own. You might want to do some of the games,
mental math, and other activities that provide more interaction, but most
studnet at least fourth grade and above might be able to do most everything else
independently since lessons are so clearly explained.
Student books for grades 3-6 are hardcover. For grades K-2, student books
have a very unusual design called a "tear-n-take tablet". These are 11 x 17
bound books with pages that tear out at the top. Each lesson is on a single
large page which is removed and folded in half to form a four page lesson. Tests
are presented in the same format. This means that the student book gradually
disappears over the school year.
A Mindpoint QuizShow program disk comes packaged with each bundle. This is
actually a fairly good game program that requires students to answer math
problems to score points. This is only one type of game but there are variations
in how it is used. Graphics and production quality are excellent.
The brightly colored format, visual presentation, emphases on both conceptual
understanding and practical application, and solid math instruction make this
series a good choice for home educators.
For more information regarding these products and to view them individually please choose a link below.
Kindergarten - http://bit.ly/1iqzbjZ
1st Grade - http://bit.ly/1ir0FQv
2nd Grade - http://bit.ly/QRUoXZ
3rd Grade - http://bit.ly/1nxuSoN
4th Grade - http://bit.ly/QLWFEn
5th Grade - http://bit.ly/1tRnrdG
6th Grade - http://bit.ly/1fGOH5B
For more information regarding these products and to view them individually please choose a link below.
Kindergarten - http://bit.ly/1iqzbjZ
1st Grade - http://bit.ly/1ir0FQv
2nd Grade - http://bit.ly/QRUoXZ
3rd Grade - http://bit.ly/1nxuSoN
4th Grade - http://bit.ly/QLWFEn
5th Grade - http://bit.ly/1tRnrdG
6th Grade - http://bit.ly/1fGOH5B
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