My daughter is interested in starting to write a blog. Anyone have any tips on how to begin as a homeschool student? Curious about hosting and things like that. She uses facebook, posts photos of herself, and uses her real name. Her profile is set to private though. I guess I wouldn't want to compromise her online privacy and security any further than that already does. Suggestions?

It sounds to me like she is not understanding (or remembering) how the manipulatives work. But, it also sounds like they are exactly the thing she needs. If she is counting on her fingers in her head, sounds to me like she's envisioning a "visual". She's still getting the answers wrong, because she's not using an actual manipulative. It's really easy to loose track counting an imaginary visual. It can be a trick to get kids to slow down and actually count each unit for each number- 1 for 1. I am not familiar with the types of manipulatives used in Singapore or Right Start, though. I often find that, especially after we haven't worked with a particular manipulative for a while, we may have to back up and talk about what the pieces represent- usually having to do with place value and the idea that you can't have more than 9. I don't believe that all manipulatives are the same. Many are very similar, some are nonsense to me.

I don't think I'd count on Mortensen PDF's being available all that soon, however, I love the videos for showing how to do things. (We use our own worksheets with the manipulatives) Math U See blocks are almost exactly the same, cheaper, and more available. Love the negative number and algebraic uses also. And Cuisenaire rods are certainly cheap enough that you aren't going to break the bank by giving a few things a try. I'd just be careful not to try to pile too much stuff on and make yourself nuts.

Miquon is a development out of Montessori and Mortensen also. If I were you, I would choose either Miquon, Mortensen, or Math U See, and use that combined with Singapore or Mammoth Math. If your 3rd grader is working with the checkerboard material, he may have a lot of Miquon under his belt already. Unfortunately, Miquon ends after third grade. So, that's one thing to consider also. If you use Miquon, I would suggest drawing segments on the blocks- at least on one side. Montessori kids are used to counting individual beads I don't think you could go wrong with either. They're all 3 similar, and would let your kids take what they learned in Montessori and run with it.

We're using it combined with Life Of Fred. It isn't as user friendly as Math U See, which is why they have been more successful. There is new work being done on that currently though. It could be a perfect supplement for previous Montessorians.

3 was more of the same. 4 was "what have I done to myself?"

If you have any questions about how to make the connections between Montessori math and how almost everyone else does math, I'd be happy to show you as much as I can.

Both an abacus and the blocks (or beads) are good, valuable tools. There are situations where one is a better tool to use than the other. For instance, learning basic X tables- blocks help. For multiplying large numbers after X tables are learned, the abacus is a better tool. It is good to be able to do it either way. It's important for the kids to understand the connections between the two tools. If they are familiar with the bead material and with the bead frame, they should have that connection solid. There's no guarantee of that though.

I would imagine you find that your boys are quite solid on place value, especially if you don't change it up enough right off the bat that they don't keep the connections. Montessori math tends to be extremely solid on place value. Where they may be not so strong on is understanding the connection between what they are doing with the manipulatives and the numbers written on paper, especially if they have been using number tiles with the bead boards and not working their problems out on paper at the same time. So, basically, they have a different way of working the algorithm. If they can work the problem out with visual representation, they know it, even if they can't work it out on paper. Montessori said to work from the concrete to the abstract. Concrete is manipulatives, abstract is numbers written on paper.

The entire fraction material is available as a download printable (at least it was.) If you're interested I can look it up for you. The Multiplication and division charts are also. I still prefer Montessori fractions, we use some of the Multiplication charts and bead boards. As an adult, I'm really impressed to see how all of the Montessori materials fit together in the big picture, something I never fully realized before (I was Montessori through the 2nd grade.) I realize that it did change my interpretation of how math works. When I learned what the trinomial and binomial squares represented I was amazed. Same with the table of Pythagoras. I'm not sure they actually helped me much in algebra at all though because that gap was never bridged. When I started looking at Mortensen math and how algebra problems are "drawn", it was automatic for me.

My kids use an abacus modified to be just like the Montessori bead frame. You can take any wooden bead abacus, like Melissa & Doug. The bars can be taken out where needed to make the top row green, the second row blue, the third row red. Make sure there are exactly 10 beads per row. Then remove one bar of beads entirely. Start over with red, blue, and green, remove bar. I used colored sharpies to color beads after I ran out of the right colors. I have done this with one that goes to millions and another that goes to ten-millions.

Singapore is a common move from Montessori. If that's what you choose, I'm sure you'll be happy with it. If you want to stick with Montessori, there are many teaching helps with that. It is very possible that your kids haven't made the connection between the manipulatives and the sumbols (numbers.) I would strongly suggest you choose something to help them bridge that gap. Bring all that Montessori learning together for them. It's very likely they have more understanding about what's going on than either you or they realize. (I didn't realize how much I really did learn as a Montessori student until I started teaching my own kids math with the manipulatives.)In case you didn't already know, Mortensen trained with Maria and Mario Montessori in Italy, he then developed his own math program. Steve Demme was trained by Mortensen. So Math U See is just a few steps removed from Montessori (teaching philosophy is completely different) Mortensen is a good bridge though. The color scheme is actually very close to Montessori (depending on whether your kids' schools were AMI or AMS) The colors for the hierarchy material are incorporated with the colors for the colored bead material. So, ones are green, tens blue, hundres red, thousands green, and so on. The color coding for individual colors only deviates to accommodate this. My kids had no trouble making the transition. I don't teach the checkerboard anymore because I feel that Mortensen simplifies the process so much more. Your kids may really appreciate the difference.

Not DH, but my mom always says "surpose". She also keeps using the word "ignorant" when she really should use the word "illiterate." We just got in a debate about how they are not the same thing.

I'm not sure it fits the bill for traditional structure. It's probably not really something he'll do independently either. My 9th only does some of it independently. The younger kids need me to go through it with them. I read the instruction material (every few lessons), they take turns reading the sentences, we talk about what to write, and they write it.

I would focus on securing the most important things first, and add onto that as you have time and money. I plan in this order: Math, English (lit, writing, grammar), History & Science, Others. Math: Take a look at the resources you have found and try to decide if they look like a good fit for your daughter's learning style. If not, the best money spent will be for a math program that works out, IMHO. This is especially so if she is a hands-on, spatial, visual learner. English: Lots of free and inexpensive resources. I pay for an inexpensive writing program for my reluctant writers, use reading lists, free e-books, library, and a free on-line grammar program (that takes a lot of my time.) History: use what you have available unless you find something you love. Science: I'd recommend a course that has labs/experiments. This will require some of your budget for materials/equipment on top of the chosen course/curricula. Some are more inexpensive than others. When you get these 4 down, you'll likely feel a lot more confident about your plan. If you have time and energy to add languages and electives, go ahead.