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RS/ Miquon question


ksoika
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The great value in Miquon is found in the three teachers books.

 

They are a very rich resource generally speaking, and some of the Lab-Sheets might seem incomprehensible without the Lab Sheet Annotations.

 

I doubt you would get much value out of the student books alone.

 

Bill

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I doubt you would get much value out of the student books alone.

 

I would have to disagree with this, at least the later books. My 9yo dd slowly working through the last three or so Miquon books. They are proving very useful for us. My dd is covering material that she already learned with RightStart. She isn't a natural math person, and seeing the same (easy) problems formed in different ways has been very helpful for her. She is unbelievably solid in her math understanding and computation, but she is naturally anxious and panics in timed math situations (fact drill, standardized testing, etc) or whenever out of her comfort zone. I think completing the worksheets has helped build her math confidence, particularly in doing problems that aren't setup the RS way.

 

This dd is in Level D, so our situation is likely very different for someone at the beginning of Level B.

 

Now to only find a way to help relieve her anxiety in the rest of her life....

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I would have to disagree with this, at least the later books. My 9yo dd slowly working through the last three or so Miquon books. They are proving very useful for us. My dd is covering material that she already learned with RightStart. She isn't a natural math person, and seeing the same (easy) problems formed in different ways has been very helpful for her. She is unbelievably solid in her math understanding and computation, but she is naturally anxious and panics in timed math situations (fact drill, standardized testing, etc) or whenever out of her comfort zone. I think completing the worksheets has helped build her math confidence, particularly in doing problems that aren't setup the RS way.

 

This dd is in Level D, so our situation is likely very different for someone at the beginning of Level B.

 

Now to only find a way to help relieve her anxiety in the rest of her life....

 

The later books are more strait-forward looking than the Orange Book (which some find incomprehensible even with the teacher books :tongue_smilie:).

 

I also think many people put away the Lab Sheet Annotation books after awhile, in part because they "get" Miquon and don't feel the need for explanation of the individual worksheets, but in so doing miss out on the wealth of topical information on the four operations in the Annotations book.

 

And if one misses out on the topical information (which is aimed at the parent/teacher) one misses out on a great deal of the value in the series.

 

Bill

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OKay, now I'm more confused.

 

Teacher's guide is needed to understand the directions on the worksheet?

Lab sheet annotations are how to present concepts?

 

If you supplement RS with Miquon, how do you keep from working two programs every day? Or do you?

 

Thanks,

Kelli

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OKay, now I'm more confused.

 

Teacher's guide is needed to understand the directions on the worksheet?

Lab sheet annotations are how to present concepts?

 

Yes, to both. Some of the objectives of the lab-sheets are quite clear, but others are less so. The Lab Annotations book has notes on every page in the student books. Some are more "necessarily" than others (in terms of understanding what the child is to do with the lab pages). But it goes way beyond "directions."

 

In addition to having notes on individual pages the Lab Annotations book has extended sections on Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Fractions, Inequalities, Place Value, Functions, Factoring, Squaring, Graphing, Geometry, Area, Mapping, Sets, Word Problems, and others.

 

The purpose of the teachers materials is to educate the teacher. It is pretty deep.

 

And that is only one of the 3 teachers books.

 

Bill

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OKay, now I'm more confused.

 

Teacher's guide is needed to understand the directions on the worksheet?

Lab sheet annotations are how to present concepts?

 

If you supplement RS with Miquon, how do you keep from working two programs every day? Or do you?

 

Thanks,

Kelli

 

What has been suggested above would have you working two complete programs every day. That would be far too much for me. RightStart is a complete program all by itself. If RS is working for you, why would you supplement? If you have a particular need not being met through RightStart, then you would supplement in some way to meet that particular need. You wouldn't necessarily use Miquon as a complete program.

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And I would not use Miquon as a supplement with the lab-sheet books alone. I think it would be a waste.

 

The difference between using the lab-sheets alone vs having and using the teachers books is in "teacher education" and that is a huge factor in student success. Without it Miquon would be woefully incomplete.

 

Studying the teachers materials is more work for parents (not their children) but this sort of re-education makes us more effective teachers. Me anyway. It would be giving up the most valuable part of the program.

 

Bill

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OK, so what I understand is that I could be teaching the girls two programs each day or I could view Miquon as a way to get a more thorough math teaching education.

 

I love RightStart... it's been perfect for my two girls and we're cranking along nicely. We do the lessons and play the games at home but there is one day each week when we do school out & about. I've been toting along our stuff or just picking a game to play but I think a worksheet would be more convenient. Plus the girls like the simplicity of a worksheet sometimes. That's the impetus for supplementing RightStart.

 

So often I see RightStart and Miquon mentioned together that I figured they were the best fit.

 

I'm all about reading teacher's manuals that help me teach, so I think we might dive right in to the whole thing. I'll just present as much of the information I think they need to work through the workbook and rely on RightStart for the foundation.

 

Thanks all!

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OK, so what I understand is that I could be teaching the girls two programs each day or I could view Miquon as a way to get a more thorough math teaching education.

 

I love RightStart... it's been perfect for my two girls and we're cranking along nicely. We do the lessons and play the games at home but there is one day each week when we do school out & about. I've been toting along our stuff or just picking a game to play but I think a worksheet would be more convenient. Plus the girls like the simplicity of a worksheet sometimes. That's the impetus for supplementing RightStart.

 

Well, you sound just like us. We love RightStart and it fits us perfect. It is truly a complete program, and I really would not add another complete program to my life.

 

If you are looking for a worksheet-type supplement while you are out-and-about, I would choose Singapore Challenging Word Problems. It's one book to drag along, and the CWP definitely add depth to RightStart. The math techniques are similar so you won't have to teach new or different. It would be an easy and enriching way to supplement.

 

If you using Miquon on your out-and-about days, you would be toting the worksheets and rods. That's pretty much the same as what you are doing now.

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If you using Miquon on your out-and-about days, you would be toting the worksheets and rods. That's pretty much the same as what you are doing now.

 

Good point. I wonder why I hear about supplementing RightStart with Miquon so often?

 

Off to check out CWP,

Kelli

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Good point. I wonder why I hear about supplementing RightStart with Miquon so often?

 

Off to check out CWP,

Kelli

 

I don't know. But Miquon is not a "workbook" program. Like RightStart it is a "developmental" math program which share influences of Montessori and other like-minded schools of thought.

 

Bill

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