Jump to content

Menu

So excited about my decision for math and ? about Miquon


JRmommy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Thanks to many of you and tons of research, I have decided to start my 4 year old son with MEP Year 1a and Miquon Orange. My plan is to eventually (in a year or two) incorporate or move to Singapore, and I may add Rightstart games also. We have done 7 lessons so far with MEP, and he really enjoys them. Now, I'd like to add Miquon Orange. I know I need to purchase the Cuisenaire Rods, Orange book, and the Lab notes. Are there any other materials beneficial to helping me teach this to my son? Thanks for the advice!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to many of you and tons of research, I have decided to start my 4 year old son with MEP Year 1a and Miquon Orange. My plan is to eventually (in a year or two) incorporate or move to Singapore, and I may add Rightstart games also. We have done 7 lessons so far with MEP, and he really enjoys them. Now, I'd like to add Miquon Orange. I know I need to purchase the Cuisenaire Rods, Orange book, and the Lab notes. Are there any other materials beneficial to helping me teach this to my son? Thanks for the advice!

 

I would urge you to get the other two teachers books. The First Grade Diary is especially important as it takes a parent along through a year of teaching with this program by Lore Rasmussen (the creator of Miquon Math). She was a marvelous teacher and writer and the way she taught and dealt with problems of understanding really inspired me. Too often people attempt Miquon without reading the Diary, and just don't "get it." Reading this book ought to solve that problem. The Notes to Teachers book is more thin, but has good ideas for starting out. These are both inexpensive, but valuable works.

 

I would also get a set of (10) base-10 flats. They should not cost more than around $10. The flats serve as Hundred value manipulatives. Together with Orange Rods (Ten values) and the rest of the rods being Unit (or Ones) values you have a full set of concrete based manipulatives up to 1000. Miquon does not require (or even use) the flats, but I found it made sense to teach numbers up to 3 digits in a "concrete" Miquon-like way from the outset. RS does this early, it is smart, I just used the blocks and rods instead of the abacus.

 

Call numbers by their "math-name" at first. So 3-Hundreds 2-Tens 5-units for 325, rather than the "English." This seems like a small thing, but it really helps on an ongoing basis (and even after they learn the English too).

 

Because Miquon can be done in a linear fashion, or one can jump to later work on the same topic, you might consider getting at least the Red book as well as the Orange.

 

Other things may come up. A geo-board. A centimeter based ruler. RS place value cards and base-10 cards were very helpful for early exposure to place value. But all you really need is the books and the rods. Get the "non-linking" type.

 

Hope that helps. Miquon and MEP (and Singapore) make a great combo. Rods are great for helping with the MEP style inequalities and for figuring "how much more."

 

Miquon was a wonderful introduction to mathematics for my son, and it provides a on-going education for me.

 

Best wishes!

 

Bill

Edited by Spy Car
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...