MEP Y1 users

[kwickimom]

I read a few threads from back in the day, but didnt see many recent and threads and I wanted to ask anyone still using MEP:

 

Are you supplementing?

Do you do all the activities? pick and choose?

liking it?

 

I think I am going to use Y1 with singapore EB books.

 

thanks!

[Aurelia]

We supplemented, but it's not necessary. I used a bunch of things for math last year. I switched to MM because I needed something that would get done in a minimum amount of time and my mom could teach, but I keep feeling drawn to MEP. I'll probably print out a few of the practice book pages and do parts of lessons to change things up because both Ariel and I need variety. If I knew MEP would get done more quickly, I would go back.

[Soror]

I'm planning on using R next year.

[LittleIzumi]

MEP IS our supplement, to Singapore.

[redsquirrel]

I am at lesson 106 or thereabouts. We started with R and did that every day. It took us a couple months at most. then, I started using MEP 1. It has been great. I don't use any supplementation. I do use lots of manipulatives such as cuisinaire rods instead of paper bars and other stuff like that

 

I was planning to start him with Singapore 1a in the autumn and call that first grade. But, I got my year 1 Singapore text books out (I have done Singapore with my older son) and it looks like we can skip 1a. MEP has already covered everything.

 

I haven't felt the need to add anything or use another program.

[ladydusk]

We are using Y1 and R (My 6yo is almost done, the 5yo is partway through Y1). We follow along with Math Mammoth, but only because my children like math and find MM fun.

 

We do most of the activities (except the Interlude/Song). I wrote a blog post about how we use MEP Y1 here. It takes us 15-20 minutes to get through a lesson (I think ... it takes each of the olders an hour to get through their work, but I've never actually timed the math portion).

 

HTH

[stripe]

I think y1 first semester is fantastic, and second semester is less so -- more repetitive. I skipped more in the second semester of y1. I like the unusual problems.

[BriannaG]

Yes, we use MEP year 1 here. I love MEP and so does my math loving daughter. I'm using it with SM Essentials. She's blasting through about a unit a day in Essentials which is all review...I was trying to make sure I covered all my bases before moving her into MM. I've started adding in a sheet of MM to see if that makes her happier in terms of having enough math to do. I alternate periods of MEP with periods of SM Essentials so far. Yes, I do skip the song/interlude mostly. I usually do the rest of the activities and find they don't take much time.

 

HTH

[kwickimom]

I am thinking about switching to MM next year also, glad to see some that did the same. I got the Singapore EB's and I dont like them, but I didnt feel DS is ready for MM1 so I figure MEP/SM EB combo will work for this year along with some of the HOD activities.

 

I was skimming through the lesson plans and it just seemd like a lot but I wasnt sure what to do or skip. I guess I will just look a week ahead and highlight what looks good to me and see where to go from there.

 

I think I may just get MM1 and have it ready to add in when he gets to that point.

[kwickimom]

We are using Y1 and R (My 6yo is almost done, the 5yo is partway through Y1). We follow along with Math Mammoth, but only because my children like math and find MM fun.

 

We do most of the activities (except the Interlude/Song). I wrote a blog post about how we use MEP Y1 here. It takes us 15-20 minutes to get through a lesson (I think ... it takes each of the olders an hour to get through their work, but I've never actually timed the math portion).

 

HTH

 

 

THANK YOU! This is a help

[Spy Car]

This first exposure to math ought to be fun. And a child's developmental needs (and how they understand their world) really needs to be considered.

 

Children this age love to play. They learn though play. This is something that ought to be capitalized on.

 

It is also tremendously helpful for most (as there are always exceptions) for them to have "concrete" and "pictorial" ways of seeing numbers and values.

 

Things they can toss and move and re-group and manipulate.

 

And to have small challenges that they can solve themselves so they begin to develop a sense of both autonomy and competence.

 

When they can "do it themselves" (with an adoring parent standing by to witness their achievements) they start the journey with warm feelings that last.

 

If the early materials involve some strategic thinking elements it engages their minds, you start from the get-go to develop "problem-sovers."

 

Whatever "program(s)" one might use, look at the objectives...then think "how could we learn the same thing through play?"

 

It could be playing with toy cars: There are 3 cars and one more zooms in, how many are there now? And then 2 drive away. How many are there now?

 

Grocery shopping is the best! Mommy want to buy 3 Apples, she has 2 in the bag, how many more does she need? The variations are endless.

 

Games, dice, cards.

 

You all know I love Cuisenaire Rods and base-10 flats so kids can model 3 digit numbers when they are pre-schoolers.

 

Talk about numbers using "math names" at first. There are various "schemes" for these math names, I like (for example) 3-Hundreds 2-Tens 4-Units (or Ones) as opposed to three hundred twenty-four.

 

1-Ten 2-Units/Ones is much easier for a child just starting out to grasp (an reenforces place-value) than the semantically confusing "twelve." then talk about "our funny language."

 

What was the question again? :D

 

Bill

[nmoira]

We started out using Miquon as a supplement but dropped it after Orange as superfluous. However, C-rods are a good substitute for MEP's paper number strips and we used them regularly. We use Singapore's CWP and will add Zaccaro when appropriate.

[kwickimom]

This first exposure to math ought to be fun. And a child's developmental needs (and how they understand their world) really needs to be considered.

 

Children this age love to play. They learn though play. This is something that ought to be capitalized on.

 

It is also tremendously helpful for most (as there are always exceptions) for them to have "concrete" and "pictorial" ways of seeing numbers and values.

 

Things they can toss and move and re-group and manipulate.

 

And to have small challenges that they can solve themselves so they begin to develop a sense of both autonomy and competence.

 

When they can "do it themselves" (with an adoring parent standing by to witness their achievements) they start the journey with warm feelings that last.

 

If the early materials involve some strategic thinking elements it engages their minds, you start from the get-go to develop "problem-sovers."

 

Whatever "program(s)" one might use, look at the objectives...then think "how could we learn the same thing through play?"

 

It could be playing with toy cars: There are 3 cars and one more zooms in, how many are there now? And then 2 drive away. How many are there now?

 

Grocery shopping is the best! Mommy want to buy 3 Apples, she has 2 in the bag, how many more does she need? The variations are endless.

 

Games, dice, cards.

 

You all know I love Cuisenaire Rods and base-10 flats so kids can model 3 digit numbers when they are pre-schoolers.

 

Talk about numbers using "math names" at first. There are various "schemes" for these math names, I like (for example) 3-Hundreds 2-Tens 4-Units (or Ones) as opposed to three hundred twenty-four.

 

1-Ten 2-Units/Ones is much easier for a child just starting out to grasp (an reenforces place-value) than the semantically confusing "twelve." then talk about "our funny language."

 

What was the question again? :D

 

Bill

 

 

:001_wub: This is why I was liking MEP and all the activities (and the free part)

[Spy Car]

:001_wub: This is why I was liking MEP and all the activities (and the free part)

 

The activities in MEP are terrific. The "problems" in the student pages are also challenging in a fun way.

 

Part of what I most valued about Miquon was it got me thinking in the spirt of doing "math" through play and hands-on activities. Doing the sort of learning the MEP lesson plans outline. But let that be a starting point in your thinking, and really think "what are we trying to learn" and "what do we have to learn first to make this other thing make sense to *my* child?"

 

We all get busy and "workbooks" are a temptation for all of us (and they do have their place) but consciously doing a Math-Lab approach at least some of the time, and narrating real-life chores in a way that reenforces the "math lessons" is invaluable.

 

Bill

[Already Gone]

We're using MEP Y1--I think we're at lesson 136.

 

We don't supplement, though I sometimes do some oral drill on our non-school days while we're driving around (skip counting, math relays, etc.). Every once in a while I hear the siren call of the Singapore word problems, but I haven't caved yet.

 

We do most of the activities, though like many, we've been doing fewer from the second half of MEP. Sometime an activity is just too involved (and, um, I didn't do the prep) in a non-classroom setting. Sometimes it seems unnecessary (the oral drill mentioned above takes the place of many of the activities for us). BUT I will say that I tend not to skip activities until I have a grasp of their function in the overall program. Often I'll think an activity is utterly pointless only to find that it lays some important groundwork for something several lessons down the road.

 

Yes, we're liking it :001_smile:.

[SnegurochkaL]

MEP IS our supplement, to Singapore.

 

:iagree:

 

We do every assignment most of the time, but skip "class activities", because we do not have a big group to interact with, or modify them to be applicable only for a single kid.