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Frequently Asked Questions - Blue Series

1. Is the Blue series a complete curriculum?

2. Do the Blue and Light Blue have the same material?

3. Would the Blue Series cover the same information a s the Golden Series grade-level sets?

4. Are tests included in the Blue Series books?

5. Do all the Blue Series books come with answer keys?

6. Does the Blue Series come with a teacher manual or at least have
    something to explain how to do the problem?

7a. Can I buy the Blue Series books as hardcopies (print versions)?

7b. Can we buy the downloads and then take them to a Kinko's type place to have the book printed up and bound nicely?

8. In which order should I study the Blue Series books?

9. I'm confused and at a loss as to where to start my kids. Do you have placement tests?

10. What is the copyright notice or license when using these books?

11. How many word problems are in your materials? From the samples it seems
    most pages don't have any word problems.

1. Is the Blue series a complete curriculum?

The Blue Series books have not been written to be a complete curriculum as such. Math Mammoth Light Blue series is the complete curriculum. The Blue Series does not contain tests or cumulative reviews, nor is it organized to go by grade levels.

However, it is possible to use the Blue Series books and "piece together" a math curriculum. This will cover all the necessary topics for grades 1-5, and most topics (fractions, decimals, ratios, proportions, percent, problem solving, and geometry) for grade 6. For 6th grade, it currently lacks integers, statistics, and probability.

Please keep in mind that several of the books in the Blue Series cover material for several grade levels in one book. It is NOT organized exactly by grade levels.

2. Do the Blue and Light Blue have the same material?

Nearly so. Comparing with the Light Blue grade levels 1-6(A), there are only a few minor differences: there are very few lessons here and there that are in one series but not in the other. The Light Blue 5th grade has some material that is currently (2010) not in any of the Blue Series books: statistics and integers. The Blue Series has two books (Percent and Geometry 2) that the material in those is not yet in any of the Light Blue books, but will be in Light Blue 6-B.

3. Would the Blue Series cover the same information as the Golden Series grade-level sets?

Generally, the Blue Series books contain much more, because they contain the explanations of the concepts. The Golden Series books are worksheets (problems) only.

4. Are tests included in the Blue Series books?

No.

5. Do all the Blue Series worktexts come with answer keys?

Yes. In the Blue Series books, the answers are appended to the main worktext.

6. Does the Blue Series come with a teacher manual or at least have something to explain how to do the problem?

The explanations of the concepts are right there in the Blue Series worktexts. There are no separate teacher manuals. Please look at the sample pages on this page: Math Mammoth Fractions 1. The lessons generally start out with the explanations and then continue with the problems. With the fraction lessons, sometimes it asks the student to try something first, such as adding something or thinking about some particular problem, and then goes on to explain it.

7a. Can I buy the books as hardcopies (printed versions)?

Yes. The Blue Series books are available as softcopies (printed books) through Lulu.com's storefront for Math Mammoth. The inside pages are black-and-white (or grayscale) (not full color) because full color publishing is fairly costly. At each book's webpage you will find a direct link to the corresponding printed version at Lulu.

7b. Can we buy the downloads and then take them to a Kinko's type place to have the book printed up and bound nicely?

Sure. Just remember the copyright notice: the person who owns the book(s) is allowed to make copies (whether by Kinko's printer or some other printer) to HIS / HER students, but not to other teacher's students. You can also use Mimeo.com for printing online -- it seems reasonably priced.

8. In which order should I study the Blue Series books?

Please see my suggestion for the order of study for the Blue Series books .

9. I'm confused and at a loss as to where to start my kids. Do you have placement tests?

I do not have placement tests specifically for the Blue Series. However, I have written Blue Series placement advice concerning the various addition, subtraction, multiplication & division books in the Blue Series.

You can also use the placement tests for the Light Blue series. Once you have the results from the test, you can email them to me, and I can help you pick books from the Blue Series that would best suit your needs.

10. What is the copyright notice or license when using these books?

The copyright license is for a single teacher use. One teacher (owner of the materials) is allowed to print and copy the materials to his/her students, however many those might be. In a family situation, the parent is naturally considered to be this teacher.

Sharing between teachers is not allowed. Each teacher should buy his/her own copy.

School licensing or other similar situations: please ask.

Here's the copyright notice as it is found in the books:
Copying permission: Permission IS granted to reproduce this material to be used with one (1) teacher's students by virtue of the purchase of this book. In other words, one (1) teacher MAY make copies of these worksheets to be used with his/her students. Permission is not given to reproduce the material for resale. If you have other needs, such as school-wide licensing, contact the author at www.MathMammoth.com/contact.php.

11. How many word problems are in your materials? From the samples it seems most pages don't have any word problems.

I feel I have put lots of word problems into my Blue Series books. They tend to be on the last page of a lesson, and not on the first page of the lesson (the lessons are typically 2-4 pages long) - and for the samples, I usually tend to use the first page of a particular lesson since it shows how the concept is taught. So, that is why the samples do not really show many of the word problems.

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