Miquon from Orange Through Purple - Anyone?

[BBG580]

Has anyone here used Miquon through third grade? I'm curious if you used it independently or in tandem with another curriculum, which curriculum and any thoughts you have on Miquon as a whole.

 

I see a lot of Orange book users out there and then lots of Orange on the FS forum, so I'm wondering if this is something people try and abandon and why that is? Is is just too different to keep going with it longterm?

 

We are using McRuffy Color Math as our main program but the Orange book looks very interesting and worth spending time with as well.

 

Thanks in advance.

[StephanieZ]

Yup. My final (3rd) kid is in Purple right now. Love it! Great stuff!

 

Orange to Purple, over K - 2nd grade age/years (K-PM4 in Singapore covered over same time period.)

 

We use Singapore Math alongside Miquon. I don't try to coordinate them; just treat them as separate subjects. With the exception that my rule is -- 2 exercises a day in Math. And that can be one each or two in one. :) This allows the child to take a break from one when it is irritating her. Without fail, a few days later when they return to the topic that had been difficult, it is suddenly easy.

 

(To avoid the problem of getting too far behind in one program, I will withhold handing over the 'next book' in SM or Miquon if they are very ahead in that one & I want them to catch up a bit with the other. . .)

[chiguirre]

Dd's finished up SM 2b and we'll be doing Miquon for a month or two. She's working mainly in Blue, Green and Yellow now. I used to do the Miquon sheets that corresponded to each SM unit directly following the unit, but after 1b we switched to doing a stretch of each. Dd likes both and I like the different focus of each. I've never used Miquon alone because it's not as teacher-friendly as SM or MM. It's a great supplement, but it would require more planning and prep time for me.

[NancyNellen]

Yes, we use Miquon all the way through purple. I use Singapore at the same time and treat them as two different subjects. I do not try to line them up at all. We have been very, very happy with this arrangement.

[shinyhappypeople]

We're using McRuffy also. Younger DD just finished up K math and now we're taking a break and doing Miquon for a bit. It's nice to have a change of pace. I've thought seriously about doing McRuffy 3-4 days a week and Miquon 1-2 days a week. I think there's real value in seeing concepts presented in a completely different way. Anyway, I haven't used through purple, so I'm no help with that (sorry), but just wanted you to know there's someone else out there in the same boat. :)

[Dinsfamily]

It's nice to see so many people using it through Purple.

 

We're planning on it. I have one who's almost finished with Blue and one just starting Orange. It's definitely working here. Ds6 calls it his fun math. We use it alongside Singapore (and Horizons...but that's just because my ds can't get enough math). We don't coordinate it with our other programs. I let ds6 pick whatever pages he wants to do. Ds4 isn't at that level yet. He mostly plays with rods and goes through the book in order.

[patchfire]

We love Miquon!

 

Dd used it as her main curriculum, but used Developmental Mathematics as well. Ds is technically not using it as his main curriculum (that would be Right Start), but he does love it and we plan to use it through Purple as well. It's a fabulous curriculum, IMO.

[LAS in LA]

We also love Miquon! We used Singapore Earlybird and Primary (1A) books for DS7 and then switched over to Miquon. DD5 is about to switch over. I really like the "creative" and "play with numbers" aspects of Miquon. On a few pages the student completes some problems and then writes his/her own problems which follow the same pattern. I think the child has to understand the concept to be able to write more problems (and DS really enjoys trying to stump the teacher -- I answer the problems he writes).

 

Miquon's workbooks have a "handmade" look. To me, this makes math seem like a normal activity for real people, not just something which only super-smart math book writers do. It seems less intimidating.

 

I haven't found Miquon to require a lot of prep. work, though the Annotations do give plenty of suggestions for introducing some concepts.

 

Hope you find a good curriculum fit!

[BBG580]

Thanks for the replies! I am going to get out the Notes To The Teacher and the Lab Annotations and spend a little more time with the Orange book to get a better feel for the program.

 

I am NOT mathy and I really want my kids to be confident in math. I've thought more about math curriculum than any other subject and my kid is only going to be age 6 and in 1st grade. :001_rolleyes:

[Amber in AUS]

I plan on using Miquon through Purple, we have completed orange & red. All going to plan we should finish up this calendar year for DD. We are also using Kumon Word Problems alongside and for DS who seems to need more we are going to try out Horizons alongside shortly.

[Mallory]

My two older boys went through all of Miquon. We don't really use any formal math for K-3. I have talked about our math lab in some other threads. Here's one- http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214799&highlight=math+lab

[K&Rs Mom]

My older is a couple weeks from starting purple. It's our only math program, though I did take a month off earlier this year to have her work through a Kumon book to get multiplication facts down cold. I plan the same with my younger (currently halfway through blue).

 

I think Miquon is a love it or hate it program - it's not for everyone and it's very different than a lot of others, plus different from what most outschools do.

[Zoo Keeper]

We love Miquon here as well. We have used it along with Singapore and MEP. We don't try to line them all up topically; they work well to review and reinforce each other. I like the combining programs; it works well to let me and my children see math from different perspectives.