Talk to me about Miquon

[hollyh]

I've seen a lot of good comments re: miquon, but don't feel like I can figure out exactly what it is. Is there a Miquon website that explains it better (a google search only gave me places that sold it)? What do you like about it? What does it look like in your home- time spent/how the math is taught, etc. What all do you think is important to purchase (money is not a concern, although it seems relatively inexpensive from what I can see).

 

Thanks.

[kristinannie]

I see that you are doing Singapore. Miquon would make an excellent complement. The meat of Miquon is the c-rods. My children have learned so much just by playing with the c-rods. The worksheets are great as well. I don't know of a great website to look at everything, but I know some people have blogged extensively on Miquon.

 

Basically, we use it about 3 times a week (sometimes more). In the beginning, I just had him play with the rods. After a couple of weeks, we started with the Orange book. The way it works now is that we will usually do one worksheet a day (sometimes 2, sometimes a half a page). I always get the rods out, but he usually doesn't use them now unless he needs them. We spend about 5-15 minutes when we do it. I know that some people make up their own worksheets. I have only done this once when he just wasn't getting the concept.

 

If you are going to buy it, I highly suggest getting the Lab Annotations. They really are essential. The book covers all 6 Miquon books. The other two books are really good too. I need to reread 1st Grade Diary. The third book (I can never remember what it is called) is a great overview of the program and explains how to use it best.

 

I absolutely love Miquon. I have wavered on my choice of a main program, but Miquon is awesome. I will use this with all of my kids. It just helps kids to truly understand math. In the orange book, they cover fractions, multiplication, area, etc. It isn't hard for the kids to pick up these concepts in the way it is presented. It truly is amazing. I love teaching a concept first in Miquon and then covering it with Singapore.

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

[MusicMama]

Love Miquon!

 

My 4yo loves playing with the rods, and making "number trains" that prove her little equations. I still am not used to hearing her call out "Look Mommy, 9+9=5+5+3!" It's all a game to her.

 

If you want more info, read the First Grade Diary to get a feel for the program. If you want to implement it, order the Lab Annotations along with the workbooks. I would start with the Orange book regardless of your DC's ages. They are cheap, and the introduction to a new way of thinking about numbers is crucial to the Miquon experience. And of course, a set of c-rods.

 

Oh, and we use it about 5 minutes 2x a week.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

:bigear: I have Miquon orange and red (plus lab sheet annotations, first grade diary, and c-rods of course) and have never been able to figure it out! We use Singapore as our primary math. While I don't have time to go through and match topics up, I also don't like the idea of teaching the two separately and letting them line up eventually.

[hollyh]

I guess what I am trying to understand is why is it so different? What is it teaching that makes it difficult for others to grasp/figure out?

[KristenR]

Feel free to check out some of my blog posts. Specifically the For the Love of The Rods one. I'm a math-phonic mom who has been amazed by how much I am learning alongside my kids. I try to post about how we utilize Miquon and Singapore and how the learning takes place. Hopefully my posts help clear some things up for you.

[Rosie]

I've seen a lot of good comments re: miquon, but don't feel like I can figure out exactly what it is. Is there a Miquon website that explains it better (a google search only gave me places that sold it)? What do you like about it? What does it look like in your home- time spent/how the math is taught, etc. What all do you think is important to purchase (money is not a concern, although it seems relatively inexpensive from what I can see).

 

Thanks.

 

I guess what I am trying to understand is why is it so different? What is it teaching that makes it difficult for others to grasp/figure out?

 

Sonlight's website explains it very clearly. You should check that out.

 

To purchase: Lab Sheet Annotations, Orange and Red book to start out, Small group set of plastic C-rods. Also, some base ten hundreds flats are helpful as well as the First Grade Diary and Notes to teachers, but they are not exactly necessary.

 

What I like most about Miquon is that it develops number sense. My kids are not just memorizing the steps to add or subtract large numbers or to multiply fractions by whole numbers. They ACTUALLY understand the concepts because the C-rods create a geometric visual that they can refer back to mentally for the rest of their lives. I've found Miquon helpful in creating an intuitive understanding of number bonds (as opposed to counting strategies), the commutative and associative properties of addition, the commutative and distributive properties of multiplication, multiplying numbers greater than 10 mentally, and multiplying fractions by whole numbers.

 

I like that Miquon teaches you to say "of" for the multiplication symbol and "haw many ____ are in _____?" for division. Those two things have made math so much more clear!

 

We use Singapore along with Miquon for the early elementary years and I really like the mental math strategies taught in Singapore, but if I could only choose one program it would be Miquon. (OK, maybe I'd add in the Math Mammoth add/subtract blue books so we could learn the mental math, too!)

 

We've mostly just gone straight through it. Sometimes we do it every other day (with Singapore on the opposite days), sometimes every other week, sometimes we take a break for a few months and then pick it up and do it exclusively for a few months. My girls can often do it without my help but I'm always available if they need me.

 

 

Yes, it is very different from any other math curricula out there. First of all it teaches in a different sequence. It doesn't get around to teaching about "carrying" and such until the 5th book, I think, but you'll find multiplication and fractions in the first book (maybe division, too? can't remember right now). It is supposedly for 1st-3rd, but we started successfully at 4ish years old and there are topics in the later books not usually covered until 4th, 5th, or even middle school in other textbooks. (squares, graphing, sets, multiplying fractions, etc.)

 

It also uses a different method of introducing topics and skills. Instead of stating explicitly how to do a certain type of problem and then having the student practice more of that same type of problem, Miquon usually will have little or no instructions on a page but will do the first problem or two for you to give you enough clue as to how the rest of the page should be done. You basically have to figure out what you are supposed to do. My girls find this frustrating, but I think it's good for them. They don't like to turn their brains on sometimes and Miquon makes them do so by presenting them with something they've never seen before and making them figure out what to do. (Caveat: sometimes neither they nor I can figure out what to do and that's when I check the Lab Sheet Annotations. That's about the only time I use it.)

 

This is not a scripted program. You kind of have to have faith that it will work out. Maybe doing Singapore along with Miquon helped me to have that faith, I'm not sure. But I've seen what a clear understanding of number concepts that my girls have now and Miquon was a big contributing factor to that.

[kristinannie]

Feel free to check out some of my blog posts. Specifically the For the Love of The Rods one. I'm a math-phonic mom who has been amazed by how much I am learning alongside my kids. I try to post about how we utilize Miquon and Singapore and how the learning takes place. Hopefully my posts help clear some things up for you.

 

 

These were the blogs I was thinking about.

 

 

 

I think that people who have the most problems implementing Miquon are those who need a script. It is very nonscripted. I think that little booklet Notes for Teachers really explains the program. I think that most people who have problems with Miquon do not buy this book. It is a small little book that you only need to read once, but it really just gives you an understanding of how to use the program.

 

In my opinion, it is unrivaled in math programs. I got the first multiplication page out of the Orange book this week for my son to do. He immediately understood the concept of multiplication because he already had figured it out playing with the rods and through the previous lessons of Miquon. In fact, he has been doing multiplication for months. He will say, "Mommy, do you know that 3 6's are 18?" I just had to explain to him that the "X" meant there are this many of the second number.

 

I like the looks of the worksheets. They look handmade. They are noninstrusive to the child. My son likes the looks of them. He also likes making up his own problems. They feel like a fun experimentation for the child. They are figuring out the math all for themselves. There are huge lightbulb moments when they begin to see the patterns and how math just fits together so beautifully.

 

I can see how parents would be overwhelmed by Miquon. It is very unconventional. When I read that I should just rip out pages and let my son choose, I was horrified. Rip pages? Do the workbook out of order??? I am very type A. But...I took a leap of faith and let go! Honestly, I will now staple several sheets together and we just do those and move onto a new section. Sometimes I will go on into the red book if he is really into a certain thing (like addition or whatever).

 

You don't have to do every.single.page. You don't have to do it every day. It could be your only math program, but it also works well as a supplement. It takes about 5 minutes a day and gives the child such a confidence that they can do math. I really cannot recommend it enough.