Mastering Essential Math Skills: 20 Minutes a Day to Success, Book 2: Middle Grades/High School

I homeschool my 6th grader. He is generally very good with math and picks it up very quickly, but can have issues with slowing down and doing things step by step and is very difficult regarding repetitive tasks (ALL subjects, not just math). I have tried many teaching options with him - Teaching Textbooks, Singapore Math, Spectrum workbooks and instruction by me, Acellus online, etc. Generally speaking, all of these methods have had 1 of 2 problems - either he can do the problems after the short instruction but forgets the steps very soon after because he didn't really have ENOUGH practice OR he gets unbearably frustrated by the volume of work and repetition. This system is a perfect fit for him. He knows that he can be done with it in 20 minutes a day, and it reviews enough to keep things fresh in his mind, but not so much that it is tedious. The videos are good for when he needs instructions and doesn't want me to provide it . Showing him the 2 sample problems myself is enough to determine that he know what to do. Having him correct any missed problems the next day is enough to get him to slow down and make sure he does things right. Oddly, the drill in the corner is super fun for him - which is odd because he really dug in and complained about all other drill sheets. Something about the random number, and the circle format instead of a line of problems really makes it seem much more manageable to him though.In all honestly, the only concern I would have about this book is whether or not this is the right level for my son. This book covers Basic operations/arithmetic of whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, geometry, (angles, classification, perimeters, area) Integers, Charts & Graphs, & Word Problems. It is a thorough review of those concepts in a short time though. There are 121 total lessons (including reviews) in the book, so around a semester to complete, so I will certainly be purchasing book 3. An excellent value - truly the best ~$30 I have spent this year!

I have purchased this book twice now. For me, math is one of those "use it or lose it" skills. I'm an ELA teacher, but I often help my 6th grade students with math. I bought this book before taking my certification exams and it taught me everything i needed to know. This time I bought it as a refresher because I have been struggling a bit when helping my students. I may start using this for students as well. Each page has a small speed drill exercise, 4 review questions, a problem solving activity and a new concept or practice section.

We homeschool our child and I looked everywhere for a Math book that was not only easy to understand but simple to explain. I found this and read the reviews and decided to order it. I am most definitely NOT disappointed. I sat down with our student and showed her the different lessons and she was actually excited about this one (She HATES Math!). I highly recommend this book to parents that are looking to refresh themselves on Math or help their students advance in whatever grade they're in. The video tutorials are also a plus!

I don't want to use the word outdated to explain what this book is like. I'd rather use the word old fashioned because it's the same math we had when we were kids, and I think my math skills turned out okay. I am a math teacher after all. I've used this as our main text book in the classroom for the first time this year. Our students loved this book because they felt it was easier to understand than the common core book we were using. Case in point, they were able to do their homework on their own with this book, as opposed to needing extra help when we did the common core stuff.In some cases tho, I'll admit that this book was below grade level. The explanations and examples are a lot gentler than the ones I've seen in those common core books. When you're first learning a concept, you shouldn't start out with incredibly hard examples, and teach them ten different ways to solve a problem because that confuses students and causes them to hate math. Like in this book, examples should start out gently until you've mastered the concepts. What I would like to see though are more practice problems. The extra problems also should be a little more "meaty" than the ones that are found in the book. This can be done very easily on the Mastering Essentials website (hint hint Mr. Fisher).I believe you will find that this book is pretty good, but only if you want to take the express train to algebra. Like an express train bypasses many stations and gets you to the same destination much faster, this is an essentials book. It does not cover many of the obscure topics and tricky word problems that are found on the common core state exams. The bulk of which are not needed in order to learn higher math. For that reason, if your intent is to get your child ready for the common core exam, you will need to supplement this book with a common core aligned math book. On the other hand, if your intent is for your child to actually learn the fundamentals and like math, and not just study to the test, then you should buy this book. Finally, I like the fact that this book has videos that go along with each lesson. And I also love the price!Oh, and one last thing. Although this book says middle and high school, IMHO this book is more for 6th and 7th graders. Once they finish this one, they should be ready for the No Nonsense Algebra book. The only way I'd recommend this be used in high school is as a remedial review for those students who took common core math and didn't learn the basics.

We loved this math book! We homeschool and my son (12) can easily work his daily page of math independantly, learning new concepts as he goes, and the bonus is being able to watch the videos online for each lesson if there is something he doesn't understand. There were a few mistakes in the book, but nothing that was a deal breaker for us. We will be buying the next book in the series as soon as he finishes this one.I wish there was something similar for language art.

I got this book for my daughter to really own the math skills and get faster at them, especially fractions. She loves this book! She really likes the wheels for addition and multiplication at the top of each page. She is getting better with each page as we go, and math has become her favorite subject!