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Could I use Key to books this way?


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Could I buy Book 1 of any or all (I'm thinking first Fractions and Geometry, then Decimals and Percents) for my four year old to do mostly on his own, at will? I know sometimes the limited samples on RR can be misleading. Is the majority of the first books in each strand matching, vocabulary, rewriting...simple things like that that don't require much thinking through? In the samples of Fractions at least it doesn't look any harder than the fraction stuff in Miquon Red and Slice Fractions.

 

Has anyone used all the Books 1 first, then Books 2, and so on over the course of a couple years instead of through one strand first?

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My DD did all of Key To Algebra at age 7, and I'm inclined to say "go for it", but I'd avoid moving past about book 2, maybe 3, until he has about 4th grade math skills across the board, because once you get beyond the basics, those computational skills are assumed. For my DD, being able to complete a book so easily had a major motivational effect.

 

Also, be aware-writing also ramps up, so a 4 yr old's motor skills may not be up to the task of the later books, even if their math skills are.

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I know you absolutely can, as we did the beginning books in much the same way, running them concurrently to keep Alex's interest. For example, the 1st book of Key to Feactions series is introductory material: even to the point of shading in fractions. Gentle, eventually moving up to addition and subtraction of fractions. You will get to the point where solid multiplication mastery is needed, but this wouldn't be insurmountable or on a timeline:)

Same with book 1 of decimals, although I found that working through fractions first was very helpful.

Similarly, the first Algebra book is probably the MOST easy accessible as it starts with positive and negative integers. Whilst it does ramp to order of operations, it only goes to parentheses and multiplication (basic) so you could teach this as you go...

The first geometry book starts out as lines and Rays, so definitely doable...but of all,my little mathematician found this one infinitely frustrating. Picture horrible meltdowns. Not because the material was difficult at all, but because her fine motor skills were lacking when it came to the drawing and she is a perfectionist. And I should say she had Beautiful penmanship and cursive! We ended up setting it aside for almost a year, at which point she finished it in a day:)

 

If you are so inclined and your LO likes Fred, the fractions book and decimals/Percents book coincide nicely with the Key to series, especially if you run them just a bit behind.

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Yes we love Fred. We're still working through the elementary books though.

 

I'm planning on doing BA as well, with Key to as the easy break math when needed, or when he wants to for fun. It sounds like Books 1 and perhaps 2 would work over the next couple years for that purpose. His fine motor is pretty good.

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