Miquon Placement Question

[Chelli]

I now have C-rods thanks to a lucky find at a thrift store, but now I'm curious what level to start my dd7 (2nd grade) in with Miquon.

 

Do I start her at Orange and just work our way through or start with the level that's supposed to be for Grade 2 (blue book/green book)?

 

TIA.

[4littleones]

I am all ears! I just started today and dd5 said: " That's cool mum, but what am I learning?" She is able to do simple addition and subtraction and she found the first page of Miquon Orange below her level. LOL.

[Jay3fer]

The books are cheap, so at 7 years old, it's probably worth getting Orange just to make sure you've got the groundwork covered for the others.

I bought orange and red at the same time, and then as we go through, I pull out any sheets from either book that look like they're at the right level. I don't let her choose anything in the entire books; I think that would be chaos. So I'd suggest getting both of them and just ignore the really easy sheets unless she wants to do them. Start with the ones that are just below or at her level.

[Zoo Keeper]

Keep on chugging away in the Orange book; there will be stuff in there to challenge her. If she finds a sheet too easy, great! Keep going. One of the beauties of Miquon is the ability to move up within a topic, if needed (e.g. do lots of sheets in addition, or multiplication, etc.). The Lab Sheet Annotations groups the sheets in all the books according to topic.

 

One of my boys loved working through the Orange and Red books by topic (he did addition sheets from Orange and Red until he burnt out, then he went back and did some subtraction sheets from Orange and Red until he hit his limit...); his brother prefered to work through the books page by page in order--he felt better finishing one book before starting the other.

 

Both were challenged. Do what works. :) I love the flexibility of Miquon. Do NOT worry about "grade level" with Miquon. There's a reason why the books do not have "grade one" or whatever plastered all over them. Let your child work at his level of understanding, whatever book that is.

Edited November 20, 2011 by Zoo Keeper

[Farrar]

I've got a second grader who is also starting over sort of with Miquon (he was getting more and more anxious using MM with his brother so I finally decided to just break them up and do a totally different approach with him - Miquon, math journal, lots of living books, much more spiral and jumpy, even though I sort of want to rebel against it). We had already done the Orange book, but I have him continuing through the Red book even though it's mostly pretty easy for him. I feel like with Miquon it's worth it to not skip. It's got its own sequence and method, you know?

[FO4UR]

I would get the entire set of workbooks from the beginning, and go from there. Pull out a packet of pages (give some variety!!!) and let him pick which page(s) to do from that packet. Start on the easy side. I think many older kids could benefit from the Orange book even if they are beyond that point in some ways...shoot, I learned a lot going through that Orange book the first time and I passed calc in high school somehow.:001_huh::tongue_smilie:

 

When a page is ignored repeatedly, there is a missing link in information so that is where you need to be teaching. My dd repeatedly ignored the "missing addend" stuff for a while, for ex. I explicitly taught that through a game with C Rods, and she was off and running with missing addends.

 

 

Don't be afraid to give things in the packet that you think are above their heads. You never know when they will be intrigued and intuit in 5min what you couldn't teach in 20min. In giving a packet for their choosing, there is no *pressure* to do things they aren't ready to do...so it can maintain a "mystery" appeal. That attitude/format (no pressure, but lots of challenge) is the one of the biggest PROS for Miquon, so don't try to over-plan or over-direct things...observe your own dc and adapt your teaching to his needs.

[LittleIzumi]

My dd is doing higher 1st/lower 2nd math, and I started her in Orange on some subjects and Red in other subjects. :)

[4littleones]

To the OP, thank you for starting this thread.

 

To those who replied, thank you, thank you for your willingness to share your wisdom!

[nansk]

I disagree with the other posters and say a second grader could start with the Blue book. There are a few topics (Fractions) in the Red book that he may not have done, but I cannot recall anything in the Orange book that a second grader would not have learnt already.

[Farrar]

I disagree with the other posters and say a second grader could start with the Blue book. There are a few topics (Fractions) in the Red book that he may not have done, but I cannot recall anything in the Orange book that a second grader would not have learnt already.

 

In addition to fractions, the red and orange books cover multiplication, which many kids will not have done in first, though it depends a lot on the program. The annotations and the diary also show how to introduce use of the rods more in the orange and red books.

[Jay3fer]

I disagree with the other posters and say a second grader could start with the Blue book. There are a few topics (Fractions) in the Red book that he may not have done, but I cannot recall anything in the Orange book that a second grader would not have learnt already.

 

I'm going to disagree with this disagreement. :001_smile:

If a kid is new to Miquon, with little or no experience with the rods, I would still go "backwards" in order to lay a solid foundation. Even if they can do something, they may gain speed and or fluency in areas that would slow them down later on.

 

Of course, a lot depends on how first grade was handled, but in the case of the OP, having just gotten rods, I'd review with the Orange/Red books before continuing.

 

Miquon is not our main program - I like it but generally need more structure and a visible progression. So we have done a regular Grade One curriculum since January. We finished it last month and now we're taking a fun "Miquon break" to finish the orange book before jumping into the 2nd-grade book.