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Spectrum offers supplemental workbooks in the following subjects: Math, Early Childhood Reading & Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Testing. The materials are grade appropriate, but there are not materials for every grade.
Website: Spectrum
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(14 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: I would like to see parent/teacher guide for help.
Grades Used: 5, 6
We really like Spectrum. This is our first year homeschooling and so far we have tried 3 different curriculums. Spectrum is my favorite and probably the easiest for my girl to understand. We are only using Spectrum for reading and language arts right now. After working the exercises she is confident about the information she has learned. I am currently looking into trying the math and sciences too.
Cons: Not enough space to write answers
Grades Used: 3rd 4th and 5th
We have been using Spectrum for 3 years now. My child has ADHD plus and had major trouble in class and teachers causing her low self-esteem calling her out In front of her piers . Spectrum keeps her attention and makes learning easy for her. She hated school but has become a very good student who loves to learn.
Cons: Everything.. seriously.
Grades Used: 1-5 stars
They are truly awful. Its like they go out of they're way to make your experience terrible. Everything from mandatory obsolete routers and modems(all of them) to shoddy customer support. They genuinely put almost the bare minimum into they're website(s) and it is incredibly non-user friendly. They treat their customers with bias depending on how you signed up with them and when(and I'm talking about the price and service) and have had countless legitimate class action lawsuits filed against them. They are EPICALLY bad and do not care. Look up this stuff if you don't believe me. I wish I could give a lower rating, 1 star makes them look good compared to they're reputation.
Cons: Sometimes answers aren't in the back and you need to know the material yourself.
Grades Used: 5, 6, 8
In Malaysia I have used Spectrum to bring the levels up with children who need to be at a Grade 6 level, I have used it to supplement ESL classes, and so far I have not found a better set of resources. I am also a Teacher Trainer and often help pick out the IGCSE curriculum but I often tell parents to use the Spectrum series for Vocabulary, Reading, Spelling, and other books related to English. I absolutely love them!
Cons: Not enough room to do/show work
Grades Used: 2nd, 3rd
I piece my son's homeschool curriculum together. We don't care for the other Spectrum subjects much but we do LOVE Spectrum math. I've tried almost everything when it comes to math and Spectrum has been our constant for the past 2 years. I didn't like the order of Bob Jones math...we tried Beast Academy and it was like Common Core to the EXTREME... We use Spectrum Math, with Math Seeds (through Reading Eggs.com) to supplement, then at the end of the school year, I have my son do the Brain Quest book by himself to reinforce/fill in any gaps and put his skills to work!
Cons: Not enough writing space (Grade 3 Book)
Grades Used: Grade 3
We are using the Spectrum - Grade 3 and Math Word Problems books. The Grade 3 book, has simple 1-2 page lessons in the ELA and Math sections, that make it easy for my son to catch on to the concept. The Reading section breaks down stories into manageable pieces with grade appropriate questions for each section. If he struggles in any area, I seek additional online resources to supplement the curriculum. Unfortunately, there are no tests to ensure the information is being absorbed.
The MATH Word Problem book has a better set-up, where each concept has a pre-test to find out what he knows, before the lessons begin. Then, after each section of problems, there is a posttest, to ensure the information is absorbed. Additionally, there are semester final tests.
Cons: None
Grades Used: PreK - 1st grade
Currently using many different PreK books and introducing a few Kindergargen and First Grace ones with my 4 year old. They have been amazing for helping my early learner! He's truly loved every book and grown so much by the end of each!
Cons: The grading keys have no solutions.
Grades Used: 6 and 7
After using Abeka and Bob Jones curriculum, Spectrum has taken lengthy textbooks and put lessons into bit sized chunks, that my ADHD daughter can handle quite well. She loves the 1-2 page lessons and completes most of the lessons independently without much clarification from me.
Cons: a bit scatter-shot, but all elementary science is like that, I think
Grades Used: 3, 4, 5
We have used three grades worth of these "Spectrum Science" workbooks; we have purchased up to Grade 8, too. My daughter is currently working through the Grade 5 book (she previously finished Grades 3 & 4). The layout is a narrative (which you can read to the child, or have the child read it), then a series of questions. The reading level and questions get progressively harder, the further on you get in the series. Within a workbook, I'd say the reading level and questions stay about the same. Regarding scatter-shot-ness, I think all elementary science curriculum suffers from scatter-shot-ness, so Spectrum just fits in with the pack in that regard.
Cons: not enough space to do work
Grades Used: 4, 7, 8
My sons have been using these books this year and it works well for them since they catch onto math concepts quickly. The only complaint both my sons had was that there wasn't enough space to do their work on the pages, something easily resolved by using scratch paper or a white board. I like that the examples follow the same way of doing the work that I learned 25 years ago.
Cons: Doesn't give teaching suggestions
Grades Used: 2
We are using the Spectrum Math book for grade 2 this year. It is set up in an easy-to-use manner, with a pre-test for each section, then the practice pages, and then a post-test. It also includes a mid-test and final test. The pages are clear and uncluttered. The only thing I have found difficult is that there are no suggestions for teaching the concepts, apart from a little introduction to each section for the student to look at. I have had to add things like flashcards to reinforce memorization.
Cons: none
Grades Used: 4th
I used this to test my son at home for 4th grade. It was straight forward and provided great feedback on how he was doing in reading and math.
I bought these books to prepare my 3rd and 4th graders for State testing. These books were amazing. My kids scored very high.
Grades Used: all grades
I use these books to prep my 2nd grades for the SAT.