Guest IdahoMtnMom Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I have a little boy who will be 4 this week and we will be starting formal homeschooling in October. He loves numbers and doing addition and subtraction with manipulatives... mostly, using teachable moments (like he can understand if the limit of trout he can catch and keep is 6 and he has 4, he knows without much thinking he can get 2 more or that if he caught 9, but 3 got away that is 6, his limit. He will be doing Sonlight P3/4 with his 3 year old sister and also All About Reading Pre-level 1. I want to add some math in for him. I really like the Math Lessons for a Living Education, but his writing skills are not great yet, and there seems to be quite a bit of tracing, which he can do but not that well... any suggestions? Or should I put it off until his K year and just continue with teaching moments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 You might like MEP reception year. For a child that age, it is not meant to be done every day, only two or three times a week. My son really enjoyed it. He learned a lot and he liked the pictures. I very much enjoyed doing it with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morosophe Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 My son enjoyed the Math-U-See Primer level. (I'd write down his answers for him, because he, too, was not much of a writer.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Saxon K is fun, 3 days a week, and has almost no writing. It covers K and preK content pretty thoroughly. We did the meeting, but did not use the meeting book--used a poster-sized calendar and it was much more fun. There's a fun book you can supplement with--More Than Counting-- and its sequel is good, too. Also, a neat thing to do is to buy a clicker--use it in the car to have him keep track of things, like, stop signs, or red cars, or police cars, or bridges. You'll find your child will develop an ease with larger numbers--it's so fun! (There are different styles.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuzor Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I am using Count on Math. I orginally got curriculum from Critical Thinking but my 3 yo was not getting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 If you are open-minded using Miquon together with Cuisenaire Rods is an amazing way to start a child this age on the road to problem solving and mathematical thinking. It does take a motivated parent who will do some self-study and then will know when to create learning scenarios, when to instruct and when to get out of the way. We had a magical experience with Miquon. The MEP 1 materials are also fantastic (we used MEP 1 at 4.5 as there was no Reception Level then) and then started Primary Mathematics (Singapore). All these use whole-parts math and the "concrete" introduction with C Rods was the most developmentally appropriate (and effective) means I can imagine. Miquon seems a little "outside the box" on first glance (somewhat deceptive) and it does take an involved parent. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Have you looked at Right Start level A? I've done Level C with my older son, and really liked it. Now I'm trying to incorporate the ideas about teaching visualization and not just counting with my daughter: http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/2011/03/16/visualization-not-counting/ I know you didn't ask about reading or language arts, but if you want to do something fun and meaningful before you start All About Reading, here are some ideas about what to do with toddlers and preschoolers: http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/where-to-start/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 If you are open-minded using Miquon together with Cuisenaire Rods is an amazing way to start a child this age on the road to problem solving and mathematical thinking. It does take a motivated parent who will do some self-study and then will know when to create learning scenarios, when to instruct and when to get out of the way. We had a magical experience with Miquon. The MEP 1 materials are also fantastic (we used MEP 1 at 4.5 as there was no Reception Level then) and then started Primary Mathematics (Singapore). All these use whole-parts math and the "concrete" introduction with C Rods was the most developmentally appropriate (and effective) means I can imagine. Miquon seems a little "outside the box" on first glance (somewhat deceptive) and it does take an involved parent. Bill I really like Cuisenaire Rods too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Have you looked at Right Start level A? I've done Level C with my older son, and really liked it. Now I'm trying to incorporate the ideas about teaching visualization and not just counting with my daughter: http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/2011/03/16/visualization-not-counting/ I know you didn't ask about reading or language arts, but if you want to do something fun and meaningful before you start All About Reading, here are some ideas about what to do with toddlers and preschoolers: http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/where-to-start/ I really like Cuisenaire Rods too! I stole a lot of ideas for our Math-Lab from RightStart via their precuser program Activities for AL Abacus and "translated" them for use with C Rods and base-10 "flats" (hundred values). RS, to my mind, is spot-on in working on place value early, but the abacus was not the best manipulative for my son who liked to "play" with manipulatives. This playful impulse worked great with the rods and blocks. I'm with you on visualizing groups (rather than counting), I was like Joan "no wire hangers" Crawford on this issue :D Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I'm with you on visualizing groups (rather than counting), I was like Joan "no wire hangers" Crawford on this issue :D Bill :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morosophe Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 RS, to my mind, is spot-on in working on place value early, but the abacus was not the best manipulative for my son who liked to "play" with manipulatives. This playful impulse worked great with the rods and blocks. Math-U-See's "Decimal Street" is great for teaching place value, and, as you can see by the link given, homemade versions of this are extremely possible--you don't have to buy the program. If you get blocks anything like MUS's blocks, give this idea a whirl! (You can also bring it back to reinforce place value when teaching addition, because you can show how ten can't fit in the one's house, etc.) My son particularly liked it when Hurrican Mommy hit the Street, and he had to put all the little blocks back in their appropriate houses. This was about perfect developmentally for him in kindergarten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Math-U-See's "Decimal Street" is great for teaching place value, and, as you can see by the link given, homemade versions of this are extremely possible--you don't have to buy the program. If you get blocks anything like MUS's blocks, give this idea a whirl! (You can also bring it back to reinforce place value when teaching addition, because you can show how ten can't fit in the one's house, etc.) My son particularly liked it when Hurrican Mommy hit the Street, and he had to put all the little blocks back in their appropriate houses. This was about perfect developmentally for him in kindergarten. There are "extra-mathematical" ideas in MUS, such as 9s "vacuuming up 1s" or 8s going "slurp-slurp", or alligators eating the bigger number, and decimal street, that I have mixed feelings about. If they are really "needed" I could yield, but they seem like mental images I'd rather not plant unless absolutely necessary. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I'm really fond of these Uncle Goose Groovie Blocks. The various engraved and printed sides teach a lot of math concepts (number equivalency, etc.), you can make shapes and patterns with them, teach place values, and you can hook different numbers together in different ways with the grooved connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 There are "extra-mathematical" ideas in MUS, such as 9s "vacuuming up 1s" or 8s going "slurp-slurp", or alligators eating the bigger number, and decimal street, that I have mixed feelings about. You and I agree on the alligator thing. I followed RightStart with the two dots thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Alligator? Is this similar to Greedy Duck whose beak opens to eat the bigger number? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 There is a free pdf of a Miquon activity booklet for preschoolers here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I highly recommend Miquon. I started it with my DS when he was almost 5, but I will start it with my DD when she is 4 and starting pre-K. I also suggest getting lots of manipulatives (tangrams, 100's boards, counters, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggiegal Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Various math readers were well-received by my boys at that age, like the MathStart series, Elinor Pinczes titles, and others. And games, either ones you make yourself (Peggy Kaye's book Games for Math has tons of easy-to-implement ideas) or bought ones, like Sum Swamp. Tangrams, geoboards, and base 10 blocks and/or cuisinaire rods are also super. You can find various "math art" projects as well; some of my kids' faves at that age included addition flowers (sum in centre of flower, different ways to make sum written on petals around) and invisible flash cards (write answer in white crayon, question in coloured crayon on other side, paint answer side with watercolour to reveal.) And the first Mathtacular DVD (actually, I recommend the first 3, but at age 4 start with the first and go from there). We used Math U See Primer in our K year as a curriculum spine, enriching with these many other activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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