BJU Press Math 4 REVIEW

Shortly after starting the school year, we made a switch to BJU Press Math after I was reintroduced to the textbooks at the 2:1 Conference.  Switching curriculum was a needed a change for us if we were going to make progress in math this year.  Luckily,  I won a giveaway for BJU Press curriculum at a Twitter party, and this allowed me to receive the fourth grade BJU Press Math Kit for free.

What's included?

The BJU Press Math - Elementary 4 Kit (3rd edition) includes the teacher guide with CD, student worktext, test pack, manipulatives packet, review pack.

A peek at BJU Press Math 4

About BJU Press Math 4 Subject Kit ...

BJU Press Math - Elementary is written to the teacher.  There are few instructions in the student workbook although there are examples in the student text for all new information.  BJU Math 4 expects the instructor to introduce and teach new concepts to the learner.  If you aren't a natural math teacher,  the teacher's guide is truly a gift.  It walks out each concept step by step.  If you are a natural math teacher, the guide can possibly introduce you to different techniques for teaching math.

Inside BJU Press Math 4 student book

The fourth grade math course is divided into 16 chapters.  Each chapter focuses on a particular topic of mathematics from fractions to geometry to 2 digit multipliers to pre-algebra.  Each chapter is broken down into eight lessons.  The lessons typically build from previous learned skills and include ample review.  There are daily review pages for each chapter.  Some review include skills learned in previous grade levels which isn't meant to be challenging, but ensures that the learner has actually learned previously introduced materials.

The lessons are colorful and not long at all.  The average lesson has about 40 questions.

How do we use BJU Press Math 4?

Since we started later in the year and my daughter does well with math , we skipped several of the earlier lessons.  We also have skipped additional lessons as we have gotten further in the book.  Skipping the lessons that she has mastered helps my daughter to not become bored or complacent.

Most lessons began with me introducing the new information to my daughter as directed in the teacher's guide.  The teacher's guide provides built in room for practice and review which at times require additional resources from the CD or manipulatives set. I don't always teach the concepts using the methods from the teacher's guide because other methods suit my daughter's learning style better. Once the new material is introduced, my daughter works through the day's lesson and then follows the lesson up with the daily review assignment. 

BJU Press Math 4 is pretty straight forward which doesn't leave room for much confusion. 

Our thoughts about BJU Press Math 4 ...

My daughter likes BJU Press Math 4 out of all the different math curriculum we have used.  She likes the colored pages, the length of the lessons, and that it isn't digital.  I like that she does her math without hesitation.  She is a great math student, but if the math isn't engaging she tends to shy away from the work.   

Another peek inside the student book for BJU Press Math 4

I appreciate that BJU Press Math 4 is engaging and challenging.  There have been some lessons that were easy for my daughter which is great.  I like that she can build her confidence in the areas which are her strength.  Just the same that I appreciate the lessons that she has to take her time to complete.  Each lesson has two pages of problems for those lessons that are a bit more challenging, I extend them by having her to complete half a lesson each day.  This is another reason I like the homeschool math program is because we can make it our own.