Math for Budding Engineer

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I have little doubt that my little guy is going to be an engineer someday. I don't usually like to pigeon hole kids, but you know every once in a while a kid pops out who knows from birth what they want to do.

 

Plus all the men on both sides of our entire family save one are engineers of some sort. Genetics plays a part. My son eats, breathes, and lives for legos, talks about robotics, gets books from the library on concept cars, robotics, building, etc. etc.

 

I decided to open my mind this year, and go with whatever math program would be most exciting for him and best for his probable line of pursuit. Before now, I always thought I would stick with just the facts, maam. But now I realize I can do better for him.

 

He really loved Miquon math but we didn't get around to finishing it. So I am open to getting that again. He likes Horizons but the busywork is boring to both of us. He really loves to think about things- he loves logic puzzles and river crossings, or Rush Hour Jr. and things like that.

 

So I am stuck between Miquon and Singapore. RS is out of the question because money is a big issue.

 

I would love to hear from some moms of boys, especially, who loved math, and which math program their kids enjoy. My son LOVES a good challenge. What he HATES is memorization. I have no problem splitting the two and treating them as two separate subjects, and I have a friend that really recommended that.

[nmoira]

I've got some suggestions for supplementals:

 

Engineering the City

The Art of Construction

Zaccaro's books from ChallengeMath.com

the Make it Work science series (I've linked only one)

Engineering for Every Kid

Tarquin Books in Britain has some very cool paper engineering how-to books and premade designs.

[Bloy]

I second The Art of Construction. And if you are thinking of Singapore and Miquon, could you get one workbook of each? We love miquon, but there are some things that it does really well and some things it lacks.

 

I think pulling from both is a really good way to work.

 

Our boys would get along well when it comes to building stuff!

[kpupg]

And if you are thinking of Singapore and Miquon, could you get one workbook of each?

<snip>

I think pulling from both is a really good way to work.

 

:iagree:

 

If he likes Miquon, keep on ... and definitely add Singapore. My ds13 is still a lego-freak and is always designing rockets on paper, stuff like that. He didn't much like the first level of Miquon, so I didn't pursue it. Maybe it was my problem rather than his LOL. Singapore is perfect for the math-lover ... no frustrating busy work :)

 

Karen

[snickelfritz]

He naturally thinks the way Singapore teaches. He doesn't remember being taught that way, it just comes naturally. He has all these tricks to figure out things. He sees the height on an overpass (the one that tells you how tall it is) and converts it to inches in about 2 seconds. We order food and he's got the total in his head before the cash register.

 

I naturally don't think that way. I do my math very methodically by paper and pencil (and calculator.) I actually still use touch math to add numbers and never did memorize my facts very well. Needless to say, I'm not very good at practical math. He had to teach me a shortcut to figure tax.

 

We both did well in our majors. Of course, he's the one with an engineering career and I went back for my teaching certification and am now staying home. So, there you go.

[Nikita]

My son used Miquon and Singapore side-by-side and he loved both, then at his request he stuck with Singapore from then on. I added other fun stuff and some math history as well (great list at http://www.livingmath.net)

 

At 13 he still enjoys math but the legos and robots have given way to other interests, except he is still begging to do the FLL (lego robotics) competition one last time next year :-)

 

Nikita

[Homemama2]

If you were seriously considering RS, and it's just the price-I'd post in the want to buy section on the Rightstart yahoo group. I got my tm, workbook, and all the manipulatives except game cards for only $75ppd-I had thought I couldn't afford it either, but the other curriculum I was looking at was $80 new without shipping. Good luck choosing! :001_smile:

[AngieW in Texas]

Singapore is great for mathy kids. My oldest is not math-intuitive, but she's very good at it. My middle is math-intuitive and also very good at it. Singapore worked great for both of them.

[Susie in CA]

We love Challenge Math. There is also Primary Challenge Math for younger kids.

 

Susie

[CoffeeBean]

I'm assuming this is your first grader. I would go with singapore for sure (add on miquon if you like). Singapore really teaches the thought process behind the math really well - especially if you start using the word problem supplements at about 3rd grade. We went up through 6B and then skipped to more traditional books with some NEM supplements. For engineering you want algebra on to be as much depth and breadth as possible. Its all about the math.

 

Coffee Bean

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would use Singapore Math and Miquon.

 

You could do SM Primary Math 4 days a week, then spend 1 day a week as "math lab". Do Miquon as math lab sometimes, or games, or projects. Let him explore math and discover things for himself.

 

There is a chart that matches up Miquon sheets to Primary Math (3rd or US edition). You can see it at

http://www.singmath.com/SM_Miquon.htm

[Mostlyamom]

Play lots of games! At that age, we used to end every math session with a game, and it was a lot of fun.

 

I loved the one page games that you can print for free. Google "Strategies for Instruction in Mathematics" or go to:

 

http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/math/archives/instructional_resources/

 

Look inside each week's pages and you'll find one page games that reinforce key concepts, but in a "fun" way.

 

Pat