Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
My son, Simon, has been working through ThemeVille Math Grade 1. It’s a straightforward math program that he is enjoying now that he’s in first grade.
What Is This Product?
ThemeVille Math is a complete math curriculum for your child. It’s available for grades 1-5. Each level has a worktext and a solutions guide. There are also manipulative sets available for each grade level. However, these are optional. I did not receive a manipulatives kit, and did not purchase one on my own. While they would have come in handy, I was able to improvise with materials we already had around the house.
To help you find the right level for your child, there is a placement test. You can also look at sample pages online that can help you make the right choice.
There are video lesson available. These can be used as a supplement to help your student better understand the lesson. You will need to create an account on the website to access those. However, we live in the boonies and our internet stinks. We didn’t use any of the videos, and I never felt like my son was missing out because of it. He was able to learn the material from the lesson and practice problems.
Worktext
The worktext makes up the bulk of this curriculum. At the first grade level, it contains 120 daily lessons. You’ll also find 10 tests included.
Teaching instructions are included within the pages of the worktext, so you don’t need to purchase an additional teacher manual. Here’s a quick picture to show you what that means:
See the gray box on the lefthand page? That’s information for you to use as the teacher. You can use flashcards as a warm up, and it tells you which ones it recommends. Things like this are integrated throughout the book.
The pages in the worktext are simple. There aren’t a lot of distracting illustrations or colorful pictures to pull your child’s attention away from the math. This was a great thing for my Simon, but I know some kids prefer to work with colorful books.
The picture above, on the left, states that this is a Pre-Lesson. That’s a neat thing about this book. Each lesson is broken up into a daily review (called the pre-lesson) and a daily lesson. The review portion helps keep previously learned skills fresh in your child’s mind, and can help promote mastery.
Solutions
The solutions book is full of the answers to the problems. I appreciate that it shows the smaller version of the worktext, so you can easily grade visually. It is much easier than just having a list of answers that is hard to keep straight, especially if you’re working on it late at night and you’re tired. Because of this, I thought the solutions manual was a good format. Here’s a picture so you can see:
How Did We Use This Product?
I had my son work through a pre-lesson in the morning, and a lesson later in the day. He is still working on building up his attention span for school, so this worked better than trying to get everything done at once. You’ve got to love the flexibility of homeschooling! We did math about three days a week over the course of the summer.
I sat by my son and taught him the lesson. Then, I also helped him with the reading of the problems, so he knew what to do. Then he wrote his answers down for each.
If there were several of the same type of problem in a row (counting ten frames, doing addition, etc.) he was able to work more independently. But, the story problems were too hard for him to read.
I like that there are only two books to bring along, as we’re on the road a lot for deputation. Not having to pack a lot of materials has been important. Here is Simon working on a lesson in a hotel in Witchita, KS recently. We’re still working on correct number formation for a couple of numbers, but he has come a long ways!
What Did We Think of This Product?
For first grade, this worked really well. However, I wonder how distracting the teacher portion would be to kids who are better readers. I know that you could have them write in a notebook or on a whiteboard instead of writing directly in the worktext. However, they’d still have to look at it to see the questions.
I know that if you separated that portion out, you’d need yet another book for a complete set. You’d need a teacher’s guide. And I really appreciate that this set doesn’t have one. So I don’t know what the best solution is, but that was the only thing I found weird about this curriculum.
Otherwise, it was very straightforward. It covered key concepts that students need to learn in first grade math. My son worked on skip counting, using a number line, and adding and subtracting, money skills, and more. All of these are appropriate for first grade.
Each pre-lesson took us about 20 minutes, and the lesson part took about 25. I’m sure other kids could do this faster, but my son has a knack for taking the scenic route when it comes to school.
If you’re looking for a simple to use, no-frills math program, I recommend ThemeVille Math.
