IM relies HEAVILY on existing conceptual knowledge, needs visual learners, and assumes STRONG underlying fundamentals.
Many of our students JUST DO NOT GET IT. Worse yet, their test scores reflect this! Students often express frustration with these materials, all of which are a vast change from the traditional and successful curriculum that they are used to.
Honestly, IM is simply painful and awkward to use. Even basics like "area, volume, perimeter, or surface area" must be reviewed many times and reinforced with a lot of Non-Curriculum materials to actually Engage Students.
There is VERY LITTLE practice provided, as if middle schoolers will somehow master a subject with a mere 4-6 examples.
In short, YOU must do a TON of Heavy Lifting in the classroom, with many other resources to overcome the Many Shortfalls of the book and slides.
Lack of Practice
SEVERE lack of practice for each skill. Lessons generally have 2-3 "activities" to introduce concepts with only 4-5 problems per lesson.
Mediocre or Poor Assessments
Many questions are badly designed and students often do not understand them. Sometimes, problems are not aligned with lessons at all
Hands On Activities are generally poor and overly time-consuming
Lack of Depth
As with many other options, you cover a lot of topics but do not get very deep into any of them really.
The pacing is far too fast for weaker learners, especially post-Covid. The typical 1 lesson per day will absolutely leave many students in the dust.
