Math meal plans

[happycc]

Can you check and see if my kids are getting a balanced math diet? Are we missing something?

Spycar anyone?

 

For DDs 9

 

Appetizer-Key to Fractions -1-2 page daily

Main -Teaching Textbook 5-one lesson daily

Side Dish-Combination of Saxon 54 and BJU 5-once in a blue moon to explain something in key to fractions or tt.

Side Dish-Study Island-daily

Dessert-Hands on Algebra-once a week

Snacks-Math Wizz-whenever they want

Snacks-Shut the Box-once a week

Snacks-Younger sisters RightStart B games and manipulatives/fraction tower-once a week

Snacks-(on order-Singapore Challenging Word Problems 3)

Snacks-occasional math literature books from the library-once a month at least

Snacks for the summer-Mep3

Snacks-(on order for xmas-Ko's Journey)

 

For DD 8

Appetizer-Right Start Manipulatives-daily

Main-Rightstart B-daily

Side Dish-Study Island-everyday

Dessert-Dreambox-whenever she wants which has been daily

Snacks-Shut the box-once a week

Snacks-Hot Dots-once a month

Snacks-(on order Singapore Challenging Word Problems 1)

Snacks-occasional math literature books from the library-once a month at least

Snacks for the summer-Mep1

Edited November 29, 2011 by happycc

[mom31257]

May I ask you have time to use all of those curricula and why you use so many different things? Do your kids really love math or do you feel they will end up in a math-oriented career?

 

My 3rd grade ds is using BJU Math, plays math games here and there, weekly Balance Benders, and some SP CWP orally. Ds is very strong in math, understanding it very easily. I could see him in a math/science field some day.

[HSMWB]

I'm curious as to why so many as well? I have not even heard off some of them, and only have looked at the ones that I have in the house, so I don't feel like I am really in a position to comment.

 

However, I do wonder about Rightstart B - as the 'main' for the daughter. And I only even comment this simply because I am doing Rightstart B with my 6 year oldand my 4 year old is starting to figure out how to play some of the games as well even though he is technically in 'A'.

[alpidarkomama]

Goodness, gracious, how do you fit all that in???????? :bigear:

 

We just do Math Mammoth and it's plenty. :)

[happycc]

above how I fit it in at this point...

 

Math I find is very very very very important.

 

Math is in science.

 

Math is in music.

 

Math is in literature-poems

 

Math is truly everywhere.

 

When you take me out to nature, I see math patterns.

 

Math is beautiful because I hated math once a upon a time ago but now see how it is truly just fun puzzles. I only started to like math only after I was thrust into it headfirst. Once I got it , it has been fun fun fun because I love science.

 

I have a few scientific kids. One in particular. I think she will go into science for sure and it is hard to get far in science without good math skills.

One of them goes along for the ride. She just likes to do well in everything.

The last one ---well has struggled and hated math but suddenly is having a tons of fun with Dreambox. Can;t seem to get her off it.

 

Anyways we had fun learning about Earatosthese (sp wrong) of Cyrene and learning about his method of finding prime numbers to 100 today. They had so much fun teaching dad all about it when he got home. We will be learning about sales tax in a few days since two of them love to shop and will need that skill to shop til they drop.

Hands on Algebra-is so fun. Kind of like moving chess pawns around.

 

Why do I use so many curriculum? Because once size does not fit all.

Edited November 29, 2011 by happycc

[Jay3fer]

Umm.... if they love it, that's great. My kids, who like math, would run screaming. :-)

 

We (mostly dd6) use...

- JUMP Math as our "main", but

- we're taking a Miquon break right now because we love the flexibility.

- Evan-Moor Daily Word Problems (daily) only because JUMP is somewhat lacking in word problems

- The Verbal Math Lesson, because I noticed dd6 was enjoying doing the problems in Life of Fred out loud

- Oh, yeah... Life of Fred Elementary, Book 2, Butterflies.

 

And I feel like we do a lot of math. Certainly enough. In PS, all they'd get is take out a workbook once a day, do a few problems, close the book and done.

[justLisa]

Why are you comparing math to food:confused:

 

My kids just fell asleep about 20 min ago, and I had to lug a 75 pound 7.5 yr old to bed and I've worked up an appetite so many I was hoping this would be a midnight snack recipe LOL.

[boscopup]

Why are you comparing math to food:confused:

 

My kids just fell asleep about 20 min ago, and I had to lug a 75 pound 7.5 yr old to bed and I've worked up an appetite so many I was hoping this would be a midnight snack recipe LOL.

 

:lol:

 

My own math schedule ("meal plan" sounds weird to me? :confused:) for my math geek 7 year old is:

 

Singapore lesson in the morning

IP or CWP in the afternoon (alternating - IP 3x/week, CWP 2x/week)

 

Sometimes our lesson might involve a game. Yesterday's lesson included a factor game, so we played that. It took me a while to realize why we both still had "11" to fill on our game boards at the end. How many numbers can you roll with 2 number cubes labeled 0-5 and 6-11 to end up with a factor of 11? Um... one. 110. :tongue_smilie: We were both down to just having the 11 uncovered, and DS finally rolled 110 and won the game. I tried to roll 110, and gave up after several rolls. :lol: I think the factor game would be more fun if we just used a random number generator.

 

My K4'er has this schedule for math:

 

Singapore EM K book B, 1 page, or more if he wants to do more

Cuisenaire Rods used with the above lesson

 

That's it. He doesn't need any more than that right now. :)

[chepyl]

It does seem like a lot. We use SM wkbk, text, CWP, and IP. But I do the text and wkbk, when we finish a level we do the IP and CWP. We also read Life of Fred once a week. This is a lot, it can take anywhere from 15-45 minutes a day. DS is very mathy, but he would hate math if I tried to make him do more.

[choirfarm]

Well I also see it as a lot. But, here is another idea.. What about living math??? www.livingmath.net This would incorporate math as part of everything without using tons of curricula. I am using some of these books with my daughter along with Horizons and xtra math for math drill.

[mrs.m]

Wow! Your curriculum budget must be outstanding! Do you approach LA with the same idea?

 

I know we couldn't handle a schedule like that without sacrificing other subjects. I lean more towards over-doing LA though because math seems to come naturally to my older children.

[southernm]

Your post format wasn't the easiest to read through. I don't get the food reference. Anyway, I would think that amount would lead to the burnout you have referenced in two different posts you started just this week.

[HootyTooty]

Your post format wasn't the easiest to read through. I don't get the food reference. Anyway, I would think that amount would lead to the burnout you have referenced in two different posts you started just this week.

I believe this is a s/o of another thread this poster started here:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=327601

[go_go_gadget]

It does look like a lot, but if I'm reading correctly it's not actually a ton of work each day because more than half of the programs listed are used once a week or less frequently. I don't think that such a schedule is necessarily overload, but I would likely drop one of the side dishes when the SM CWP arrives. I would possibly drop one regardless, because while, again, it's not necessarily overload right now it certainly might be teetering.

 

Something to consider is the efficiency of the programs: could less time be spent to achieve the same effect, either by reducing redundancy or by using curricula that effect the same level of understanding in less time? I've heard, but have no personal knowledge of the accuracy of this statement, that TT is sort of "light" on math, and I'm not sure where it falls on the mental math/deep understanding spectrum compared to the ones discussed in this threads.

[happycc]

There is a thread titled "curriculum vs meal plan"... you might want to read it to further understand why I am changing it to a meal plan...i believe it causes a paradigm shift....

 

Yes TT is light and being used because the kids were in PS in previous years...TT is used for review to make sure to go over the things they learned or did not learn in PS. I am throwing in alot this year because 1)don;t know how long I would be able to homeschool this set of kids 2)holes from PS 3)catching up 4)they may end up wanting to live with biomom and no school work gets done there much less kids doing anything at all except for video games and teens getting pregnant. I am hoping in future years--less intensity. We can relax just a bit cause I know we have less holes.

 

My curriculum budget: I have homeschooled in the past and have some stuff saved from the past, people gave me a bunch of free stuff, Half Priced Books, also we are with a charter school giving us $800 per child per semester, lots of free curriculum online-Prontolessons etc.

 

 

Yes I also do the same thing for other subjects as well.

 

My current Language arts meal plan

 

Appetizer: narrations of library books

Main-Nanowrimo for the month of November, WWE rest of the months

Side Dish: Phonics Pathways for the 8yrs

Side Dish: AAS-for two of them and Spelling Workout for the third

Side Dish: First Language Lessons

Side Dish: Idiom Study

Side Dish: Study Island

Side Dish-Handwriting Without Tears

Side Dish-Montessori Grammar

Dessert: Free book reading

Dessert: Writing Letters to Penpals

Snack-Read aloud-Charles Dickens The Christmas Story

Snack-Book on tape-Island of the Blue dolphin

 

 

Is anything missing?

Edited November 30, 2011 by happycc

[Lang Syne Boardie]

There is a thread titled "curriculum vs meal plan"... you might want to read it to further understand why I am changing it to a meal plan...i believe it causes a paradigm shift....

 

Yes TT is light and being used because the kids were in PS in previous years...TT is used for review to make sure to go over the things they learned or did not learn in PS.

 

My curriculum budget: I have homeschooled in the past and have some stuff saved from the past, people gave me a bunch of free stuff, Half Priced Books, also we are with a charter school giving us $800 per child per semester, lots of free curriculum online-Prontolessons etc.

 

 

Yes I also do the same thing for other subjects as well.

 

My current Language arts meal plan

 

Appetizer: narrations of library books

Main-Nanowrimo for the month of November, WWE rest of the months

Side Dish: Phonics Pathways for the 8yrs

Side Dish: AAS-for two of them and Spelling Workout for the third

Side Dish: First Language Lessons

Side Dish: Idiom Study

Side Dish: Study Island

Side Dish-Handwriting Without Tears

Side Dish-Montessori Grammar

Dessert: Free book reading

Dessert: Writing Letters to Penpals

Snack-Read aloud-Charles Dickens The Christmas Story

Snack-Book on tape-Island of the Blue dolphin

 

Is anything missing?

 

Yes, something is missing. Your homeschool needs a philosophy.

 

If you like meal analogies, I don't see a balanced diet here at all. I see the extreme effort (and overfeeding) of a Thanksgiving Dinner all the time instead of sensible meals for everyday.

 

Honestly, when I look at the LA and Math curriculum lists, I don't see meals at all. I see a food fight. You are throwing everything at the kitchen wall to see what sticks instead of having the children sit down to take in and digest reasonable portions of solid food.

 

I think you and your children will crash and burn with this approach.

[mom31257]

Yes, something is missing. Your homeschool needs a philosophy.

 

If you like meal analogies, I don't see a balanced diet here at all. I see the extreme effort (and overfeeding) of a Thanksgiving Dinner all the time instead of sensible meals for everyday.

 

Honestly, when I look at the LA and Math curriculum lists, I don't see meals at all. I see a food fight. You are throwing everything at the kitchen wall to see what sticks instead of having the children sit down to take in and digest reasonable portions of solid food.

 

I think you and your children will crash and burn with this approach.

 

:iagree: After seeing the LA curriculum list, I'm wondering if you try so many things out of fear that you are going to miss something. I try to look at this from the standpoint of the education I received. It was a traditional, public school education; yet, I went on to receive a college math degree. My dh had a mostly public school education with ACE (School of Tomorrow) his last two years of school. He has a master's degree in history and political science. Neither of us had an education I would call top notch or first rate, and we turned out just fine. I believe my kids are getting better than I did in most areas and better than they would down the street.

 

Are they getting the absolute best education possible? No, because I know my own limitations. They both test in the top 5% or higher on standardized tests, enjoy reading, and seem to have fairly good critical thinking skills. Dd seems to be writing well, and dh (public school history teacher) is pleased with her understanding and writing about history thus far. Ds is 8 and read The Magician's Nephew on his own this year and just finished reading The Hobbit aloud with dh. They seem fine and our "meals" are much simpler leaving lots of time for fun and using their own imaginations.

 

JMHO, but do you really need so many different things?

[happycc]

is not a daily or weekly thing.....

 

 

It may look like it but it is not....A lot of the stuff is just here in the house on the shelves.. pulled out to use often for free fun time ie hot dots etc.

 

My kids have plenty of time to make messes, make up their own videos, play with their Pet Shop toys, do chores, ride their bikes, play on the electronic piano and free play with random musical instruments from the dollar store, have three whole days off a week from school to have friends over and to do all the non school stuff, board games, homeschool choir, watching movies, dress up, fort making, church, awanas, visit other relatives, jumping on the bed, pillow fights, telling jokes, do internet seaches for fun, craft, shooting each other with nerf guns, coloring, drawing, chasing each other, hide and seek etc.

 

Right now: they are making up a fraction rap..and video taping it...too funny. fractions fractions everywhere we go.

 

Sometimes when left with a lot of unstructured time--I notice fights among them.

Edited November 30, 2011 by happycc

[justLisa]

Well it's great if it works for you but I don't want to call my studies by meals and I"m not sure you are going to create the wave of popularity you may be hoping for on the matter. It's kind of like something that is cute one time.... I'm sorry to be so honest but it kind of makes me giggle.