Scott-Foresman is a well-known, respected publisher of curriculum. As members of the TOS Homeschool Crew, we were sent one of their new elementary math texts to review. We received the 1st grade Pearson enVision Math student book. It's a softcover, large, consumable workbook. It measures 11x17 inches and is very bright and colorful.
click to view enVision 1st grade
Each lesson is meant to be removed from the packet, folded in half, and then used by the student, thus the odd size. In order to keep a record of your homeschool student's work, you'd need to either file the completed pages, or 3-hole punch them and place in a 3-ring binder. Using them in the provided format, without tearing them out, wouldn't work very well.
I really wish I could tell you HOW this program is designed to work. However, I didn't receive a teacher's guide, a manipulatives kit, or access to the online digital portion of the program. I only received the student textbook and there were portions we could not use because we lacked other required components.
I CAN tell you that the book we received is very attractive, with bright colors and a visual demonstration of each new concept. It would work great for visual learners, which is exactly what it was designed for! The parts that we could use were well-designed, but some of it lacked explanation. It also didn't have as much practice as some children would need, which may be because there is a separate homework workbook.
I have tried to search the website to provide more information to you, my readers, of how the program is supposed to work. However, the Pearson enVision website is geared to the public school system and some of its features are limited to those who can confirm their status as a public school teacher. They allow you to mark that you are a homeschool teacher, but then they limit what you can see, since they can't confirm that.
It would be helpful if they had a section that tells the homeschool parent EXACTLY what they need, and HOW the program works. It would be awesome if they made their enVision samples more accessible. There is a sample available, but for those who can't prove they are public school teachers, you can only see the student textbook. Which leaves you in the same place I am, unable to really see how the program works.
I don't know which of the following enVision components are necessary for this program to work well:
- consumable student edition with digital access $34.47
- consumable student edition with premium digital access $36.47
- interactive homework workbook $7.47
- teacher program overview $21.00
- individual student manipulatives $18.97
- teacher's edition and resource package $525.00
I can't tell you if the digital access would make this program more homeschool-friendly. I can't tell you if the teacher program overview will help you use this program, or if the very expensive teacher's edition is required. Which is a shame, because the student book is beautiful and my 1st grade son really enjoyed using the parts that we could use. My 5 year-old daughter also coveted the bright worksheets and begged to be allowed to use it.
The enVision math program features look really great, but it would be helpful to homeschool parents if Pearson would put together a Deluxe Homeschool Package and a Basic Homeschool Package so parents could know they had all the components they needed to use the program, and see right away what the cost would be for them. If the consumable student edition with digital access for $34.47 was all you needed, then I'd give this program a huge thumbs-up. But I really don't know if that is enough, or not. You'd have to contact a sales representative assigned to your geographic region in order to try to find the answers.
I apologize for this rather incomplete review. It's just hard to explain and review a curriculum when you only have a portion of it. I did contact customer service, and if/when I hear from them I will update this review.
In the meantime, the best I can say is ... "it looks really neat" and "my kids love how it looks."
This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion. Visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
Trusting In Him,
April
