KristenR Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Had to share my love for Miquon and math manipulatives. Those contemplating Miquon may find this post interesting. And once again- I am indebted to Bill for turning me on to this program. His insightful comments and threads made me look twice at these funny little workbooks- and I am so glad that I did. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks for posting this! I am Miquon curious, and really just have been intimidated bc it seems complicated. However, I love the idea, and your post may just be the nudge I needed to do some more reading! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 I am Miquon curious, and really just have been intimidated bc it seems complicated. It can be intimidating at first because it is SO different from the way most of us learned, but I found that by the time we got through the first half of the first book I hardly needed the TM at all. It is really an awesome curriculum. If I had to choose just one curriculum for lower elementary (out of the two we use) I would use Miquon over Singapore because of just how much it makes the kids THINK. It has been a good thing for my girls in that way because they don't always want to turn their brains on, but they have to with Miquon! Try it! It's so inexpensive that it's worth it just to check it out at least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 It can be intimidating at first because it is SO different from the way most of us learned, but I found that by the time we got through the first half of the first book I hardly needed the TM at all. It is really an awesome curriculum. If I had to choose just one curriculum for lower elementary (out of the two we use) I would use Miquon over Singapore because of just how much it makes the kids THINK. It has been a good thing for my girls in that way because they don't always want to turn their brains on, but they have to with Miquon! Try it! It's so inexpensive that it's worth it just to check it out at least! Thanks, I having been wondering what I will use for ds next year for K, and really for now as I would like to start doing more with him. I was thinking about just getting some Cusenaire rods to start "playing" now (since I am about to place a RR order anyway) and then starting him in the Miquon orange book in the Fall. (Is using the Miquon orange book for K reasonable?) I think both ds and dd would benefit from playing with c-rods at this point. Any suggestions on which to buy? wood vs plastic? (sorry, totally hijacking here!) :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks, I having been wondering what I will use for ds next year for K, and really for now as I would like to start doing more with him. I was thinking about just getting some Cusenaire rods to start "playing" now (since I am about to place a RR order anyway) and then starting him in the Miquon orange book in the Fall. (Is using the Miquon orange book for K reasonable?) I think both ds and dd would benefit from playing with c-rods at this point. Any suggestions on which to buy? wood vs plastic? (sorry, totally hijacking here!) :o He is at the perfect age to just play with the rods. Don't even teach him the "numbers" for each rod. Let him lead the way in playing with them. Eventually he will make a stair step and "trains" that equal each other. Miquon is supposed to be started in 1st. We did start it in K and were fine, but I also feel totally free to stop math workbooks (or switch to our other curriculum) when my kids hit a wall. Just be prepared for that since it really is meant for older kids. Lots of time to play with the rods without any lessons is really the best way to start. I got the plastic connecting rods at first because I thought they would be less annoying (they wouldn't slide around all over when trying to line them up), but we never use them now! And my kids weren't as creative at the beginning when I just wanted them to play with them. They just made one long train. That's it. No comparing sizes, building, etc. The wood, non-connecting ones are so much better! I have a small set but I just ordered a small group set. I would definitely advise that you get a small group set! Especially since you have more than one child to use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Would this be a good start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks, I having been wondering what I will use for ds next year for K, and really for now as I would like to start doing more with him. I was thinking about just getting some Cusenaire rods to start "playing" now (since I am about to place a RR order anyway) and then starting him in the Miquon orange book in the Fall. (Is using the Miquon orange book for K reasonable?) I think both ds and dd would benefit from playing with c-rods at this point. Any suggestions on which to buy? wood vs plastic? (sorry, totally hijacking here!) :o I started the Orange book with my ds for K. It got into multiplication before he was ready to "get" it, so I bounced him around a little between addition in the Red book and SM 1A. He just finished SM 1A and asked to go back to Miquon, so now he's happily finishing the Orange book. I'm very happy with it. I think starting in Orange would be fine for K, but don't hesitate to put it on hold or temporarily move to something else if your ds isn't ready for all the topics that are introduced there. Oh, and I like plastic Cuisinaire rods. These are the ones I got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlaura Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 That size set is great. I haven't tried the wood ones, but on Bill/spycar's suggestion, I bought plastic. They feel oddly nice, not plastic-y. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessieC Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 We are using MM, but I am tempted to try this as a little side journey with my first grader. What would I need? The orange workbook? What is the "lab materials" book? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 That size set is great. I haven't tried the wood ones, but on Bill/spycar's suggestion, I bought plastic. They feel oddly nice, not plastic-y. :iagree:I like wood so I went with the wooden ones even though I had seen Bill recommending the plastic. Next year I will be buying a set of plastic too ;). The wooden ones, while nice, are pretty light. They are fine for my almost 8 year old but I think the heavier plastic will be better for my little guy. Hope I can contain myself and not get them sooner :tongue_smilie:! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Would this be a good start? That is the same set I just bought from Amazon for us. So, yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 We are using MM, but I am tempted to try this as a little side journey with my first grader. What would I need? The orange workbook? What is the "lab materials" book? Thanks! To start, you would just need the rods (I'd suggest a small group set), the Orange book and Lab Sheet Annotations (The teacher's guide). I've heard that it's good to get the First Grade Diary, too, but I never did and we've done fine without it. You can often find LSA on Paperback Swap or Bookmooch. Sometimes the workbooks can be found there, too. It's REALLY cheap if you do it that way! Read through the LSA before you start to get an idea of how it works. They even suggest you go through the whole program yourself first. I didn't do that but I did do some random pages. I try to let my kids figure out what they're supposed to do on a page before I give them help. The directions really are there for a reason! And if there are no directions, they usually give you clues in some form to show you what to do. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 I would recommend as a beginning purchase to get the First Grade Diary. True- it isn't necessary- and in fact the first time I read through it I felt overwhelmed with everything. Those workbooks are so odd looking!! I think I wanted to take smaller steps so I just focused on the workbooks and annotations. That being said, earlier this week I took out the First Grade Diary again and BOY!!!! is that thing packed with awesome lessons, activities, and ideas. I recommend everyone REREAD it when you are in a good groove with the workbooks. Now that I have some familiarity with Miquon I am devouring the First Grade Diary again and it is giving me infinite possibilities of add-ons to enhance and augment my dds education. My dd and I started on the Orange book when she was 4 and we switch between that and the red one now. My 2 year old LOVES playing with the rods. For her its free play with little to no instruction. Although sometimes we take out our Less Than and Greater Than cards and she points them to the correct rod. But that's about as "structured" as any of her play gets. This pre-Miquon booklet is something I am just now beginning to use with my 2 year old because she is almost three and has been playing with the rods for almost a year. I am seriously becoming a Miquon groupey. I can't speak highly enough about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 This pre-Miquon booklet is something I am just now beginning to use with my 2 year old because she is almost three and has been playing with the rods for almost a year. I am seriously becoming a Miquon groupey. I can't speak highly enough about it! I am doing the pre-Miquon book too with my 4 year old who is delayed...and it is amazing by the 2nd activity she was finding combinations of rods to fill in with...intentionally...it was amazing to watch. I think it is great the way it makes them think but she thinks it is play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Had to share my love for Miquon and math manipulatives. Those contemplating Miquon may find this post interesting. And once again- I am indebted to Bill for turning me on to this program. His insightful comments and threads made me look twice at these funny little workbooks- and I am so glad that I did. :lol: I have been trying not to jump into this thread. But I wanted you to know that reading your blog post made my heart warm. I feel so grateful that we stumbled on Miquon when my son was little and appreciate just how life changing a discovery it was for both my child and for me. It's my hope that maybe a few other people will find it life changing too. And when I read blog posts like yours....it makes me very happy :001_smile: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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