Customer Reviews

Math Made Easy: Fifth Grade Workbook

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The last book in the Math Made Easy series of workbooks. Each workbook matches the math curriculum so your child will reach their full potential on the all-important standardized tests. In fact, these books have been compiled and tested by a team of math experts to increase your child's confidence, enjoyment and success.

You will find practice pages for all the major topics covered in Grade 5. There is a definite emphasis on addition and subtraction of fractions and decimals. There is a review of Grade 4 topics and plenty of Times Tables practice. There is also a Progress Chart with gold stars to record achievement.

At the back of the book the "Answer Section with Parents' Notes" provides answers to all the activities in the book. The notes for each page also help to explain common problems and solutions are given to ensure that your child understands how and why they made errors.

Contents:

Multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000
The simplest form of fractions
Changing improper fractions to mixed numbers
Rounding decimals
Decimal addition and subtraction
Converting units of measure
Speed Problems
Interpreting circle graphs
Naming Quadrilaterals
Converting Fractions to Decimals
Simple use of parentheses
Multiplying Fractions
Finding the Greatest Common Factor
Identifying Patterns
Multiplying by two-digit numbers

The successful way to improve your child's understanding of math.

~The Rebecca Review

The Previous `Negative' Reviewer was right. This book consists of worksheets without any coherent 'introduction', progress and testing format. You won't find anything spelled out and explained, though there are answers in the back.

In addition, this DK book (and generally we love their stuff) DOES NOT correspond to what every Fifth Grade class is doing these days. However, I don't really see this as a complete drawback, as one can look at the table of contents and make a decision based on that as to whether it is `right' for your child.

The biggest drawback, as I see it, is that you can basically only use this book as a supplement to another text. Or, in other words, It would make a bad homeschooling text.

Three Stars. Not a good homeschooling-type type book because you are left on your own to explain things. An okay book if you are looking for additional problems for your child to work.

This book is full of great additional practice related to our state math standards. For children who are struggling with Everyday Math and need more paractice in multiple formats, this series is "the cat's meow." Children will love the star reinforcement stickers and the progress chart which help them to track their skills. Parents and teachers will love the answer key in the rear where you can not only check work but make a record of specific errors on minatures of the actual worksheets to guide later review and practice once the worksheets have been completed or sent home. These books are a great supplemental tool. I have actually purchased several different levels and find them all well thought out and highly useful for grade appropriate math skills remediation.

Yes, I am astonished at and delighted by the topics and techniques shown in this book. I love this book; I wish I had written it.

You'll want to read Rebecca's list of topics and her compliments. She's right. Pam Tee criticizes the book for its sparse explanations. She is correct that this book supplements a textbook and is not a "stand-alone" book. As such, it is top-notch. Below I will offer a couple of changes for your consideration. It is not nearly as cluttered as most textbooks which feature laborious explanations, which is a virtue.

This book will prepare your child to succeed in Algebra One with only a little further supplementation. Don't be so concerned with the "state tests;" help your child lay a solid computation foundation to score high on the SAT's. The authors do not offer any such guarantee, but 5th grade is the right age to start, with one page a day of this book at home.

When your book arrives, spend 30 minutes reading the answer pages in the back. You will see 8 pages at once, and will get an overview which will help you see how one lesson leads to the next. You will also find some helpful hints for parents, which helps to overcome Pam Tee's objections. Here follow my own hints.

Page 3 has a wonderful introduction to equvalent fractions.

Pages 28 and 29 are super. These are good pages to hand your child a calculator and show how to turn a fraction into a decimal. Do NOT write the decimal, but do write the percent near each fraction. Older students often do not see that a fraction, a decimal, and a percent are all identical; you just use the most convenient form for the job at hand. Maybe percent could be added to the given decimals on pages 68 and 88 when you get there; your child should not need the calculator here.

I love the three lessons on "Simple Use of Parentheses." Most books rush children into "Order of Operations," and seldom show why those rules follow from everyday use of math: I buy 3 lbs of apples @ 97 cents a pound, plus a 5.6 pound chicken @ $1.29 a pound, plus 2 pounds of carrots @ 78 cents a pound. To find my total, I multiply before I add. So this book teaches children to work with groups, and later they can see the groups without the parentheses. Super lessons.

Division starts on Page 100. Division is the most important operation, because all of the advanced math and science problems are division problems. I'll skip my usual list unless someone asks for it. I recommend that students learn short division with single-digit divisors. And with this book's earlier practice with basic facts, your child will be ready for short division. Zoom!!! I am not sure if it is worth struggling with your child over the two-digit divisors on page 102. Save those for 6th grade if it begins a battle between you and your child.

I don't care for teaching the Mean, Median, and Mode together, but page 120 does the job as well as anyone I have seen. Page 122 has Co-ordinates. At the top of the page, have your child write (right, up) and burn it into their brain. The textbooks all belabor this important topic. (RIGHT, UP) say it 3 times. It's your new mantra.

Page 128 begins a great, spaced sequence on Factors. I would encourage your child to write the factors on another sheet of paper, in the form of a tee chart. That allows an orderly search for factors. All I know is I learned write tee charts from my 8th graders the first year I taught. Thanks again, Kids. This would be a good time to have your child memorize the first five prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11. Very valuable. Right up there with (right, up).

Page 134 has great Elapsed Time problems. Be sure to teach your child which way the hands turn. Not every 5th grader knows "clockwise."

Page 143 is a good lesson on finding the GCG. Helpful hint: Only write the factors of the smaller number and search that list for the GCF. Second hint, if the two numbers are close to each other, find the factors of the difference between the numbers and search that list for the GCF.

Page 145 is a great place to use the calculator again to find percents for each fraction and write them on the pictures. Please see my notes on pages 28 and 29 again.

This review pays homage to the authors of this marvelous workbook. I wish I had written this book and I salute you authors. You parents can help your child for a small investment of time and money. Don't hesitate. Don't skip anything except maybe the two-digit divisors.

Be sure to make up some problems such as 4 minus 7 to get your child started on negative numbers painlessly. And please draw vertical number lines instead of horizontal lines.

Nothing but practice. Unless the student already knows how to do the work, there is nothing in the book to help them.

This has many "worksheets," no explanations, no really interesting problems, and did not match our fifth-grade curriculum. It doesn't even match our fourth-grade curriculum--way too basic! It's just drill, drill, drill. At least it offers good practice for basics that many fifth graders already have nailed. I appreciate its easy-to read design.

I have used the Math Made Easy Workbooks beginning with their Second Grade Workbook. They have made it easy for me to teach math to my two children. The workbooks cover a variety of math topics relevant to their corresponding grade title. I wish I had known about the Math Made Easy Workbooks sooner.

My daughter is in the 5th grade and struggles with her Multiplication tables and some other basic Math functions. It has been causing her to struggle for the past 2 years. I've sent her to a Math tutor and have had a hard time finding something that is fun and will keep her interested and excited. This workbook is it!
She's a positive reinforcement learner and the gold stars and progress report pages after each short section really give her a sense of accomplishment. She asks to practice more and more and this is during track out time from school. I bought another workbook and it overwhelmed her and she said "Mom this isn't fun!" Great tool for parents and kids!

I got this book for my son that is going to 6th grade. We're re-locating overseas and to register him at the school overthere, he needs to pass a math exam, among other tests. This book is wonderful. It starts easy, reviewing basic math... multiplication, division, rounding numbers. It becomes more challenging later on. Every excercise page has an empty star on the top corner. The book comes with a page of golden star stickers. Once the kid has completed a page, that empty star on top is filled with the sticker. Also, you can keep track of the star reward system at the beginning of the book. The star reward system is working wonderfully for my son. I recommend this book to any child that needs an extra practise in 4th and 5th grade math.

Stars are a nice touch to motivate kids when they finish a chapter. Great mathbook to help them practice the usual topics so that they can master them. Recommended