What is a good math for K?

[bttrflyvld]

I've looked at a lot of math programs lately and still are unsure what to use.

 

What would you recommend for:

 

An easy to teach workbook style

Uses manipulatives

Preferable colorful

Moves at a good nice pace. (not too slow)

 

My daughter is rather advanced on a math level with the exception of writing skills. She's a little behind on writing. I've looked into Horizons but I doesn't seem to have the manipulatives (I'll post a specific Horizons question.)

[Parrothead]

If I had to do it again I'd use Math U See Primer.

[bttrflyvld]

Oops.

Edited May 9, 2012 by bttrflyvld
opps wrong place

[edeemarie]

We use McRuffy and love it! Lots of manipulatives, lots of games, lots of fun! It is reasonably prices and moves at a a good pace, IMO.

[swiegers]

We are also using MUS Primer. The manipulative blocks are great and very helpful. The workbook isn't colorful, but one worksheet is pretty short. For each lesson there are 3 practice worksheets and 3 review worksheets. If my ds grasps the work pretty well, then we don't do all the worksheets in a lesson. So you can go as fast or as slow as you need to.

[blondeviolin]

I'll put my vote in for Miquon because it is very concretely and conceptually sound. Other programs you may consider might be MEP (free!) or Singapore Math 1 (if she is okay doing number bonds and such).

[tntgoodwin]

We really like Math Mammoth. You would have to add in manipulatives on your own though, I think.

[boscopup]

You can add manipulatives to any program. Does she need a lot of manipulatives? I ask because my oldest was (still is) advanced in math, and he never needed manipulatives. They slowed him down too much, and he could already work in the abstract. My middle son has needed manipulatives like a "normal" child. :tongue_smilie: So don't go crazy buying manipulatives unless you know for sure that YOUR child needs them.

 

For my middle son, I have used Singapore Essential Math K, which is 2 inexpensive workbooks that well prepare a child for Singapore Primary Math 1A. The K book A will be very easy for your child, but I felt it worth going through to see how my son thinks. Some of the questions had multiple possible answers, so I needed to ask "why" my son chose a particular answer. It was very insightful!

 

When we got to Book B, I added in C-rods for addition/subtraction. I have also done a 100 chart on the side, putting a new number on the chart each day and using straws and coins to demonstrate the tens and ones. I emphasized tens and ones VERY strongly, we bundled ten straws, exchanged smaller value coins for higher value coins, etc. This child, who at first struggled to count past 10, now can add tens and ones in his head (like 31 + 31 = 62), and it's only been 6 months since he was struggling with counting into the teens.

 

With the C-rods, my son is learning his addition and subtraction facts. I have no doubt that he'll have them down pat by the end of PM 1A.

 

I've been very happy with how we did K level math, and I will do it again with my little one when he's ready.... well, when I'm ready. He's a sponge right now and picking up a lot of math from his big brothers. :tongue_smilie:

[nukeswife]

I agree that McRuffy is great for those that want a fun, colorful, and easy to use math program.

[busymotherof4]

We love McRuffy. We went through the K program and now are working through 1st grade. Check out the samples on their website. If she is advanced you might want the 1st grade. they have a scope and sequence. Over all they are very easy to use. there are games. Lots of hands on stuff to do and about a worksheet a day. Worksheets are colorful with out being overwhelming

[Aspasia]

We've been using Singapore Essential Math K and I really like it. It moves at a pretty good pace and each page has suggestions for further teaching (usually with manipulatives), if you feel like your daughter would benefit from it. Some days we use the suggestions and some days we don't. Bonus: It's super cheap and all contained in the workbook--no extra stuff to buy.

[Miss Tick]

I want to put in another vote for Miquon. We didn't use it then, but I would have if I had known about it. I have it now and pull ideas from it to present topics from another angle. It is colorful, uses C-rods a lot, has some teacher presented ideas and some workbook pages.

[Hope in God]

I used Horizons K for my first and I hated it. This was a long time ago but if I think back I remember being upset that all the Math was done on a number line and when the number line is no longer there the student is ??? The following year I made my daughter do math u see primer. I also eventually fell out of love with math u see and now my grade K-2 use dreambox and math whizz along with some pencil and paper reinforcement.

[Aurelia]

We loved Right Start A. Very little workbook work, but I could teach the lesson pretty quickly and Ariel loved playing with the manipulatives. I also found MEP1 to be excellent, the pages aren't colorful, but they have coloring and stuff for the child to do so it's not all black and white.

[luv2stamp82]

MathUSee is not a colorful workbook, but we have loved using it. The manipulatives are colorful, the lessons are short and to the point with lots of review built in, and a great progression of lessons.

[Five More Minutes]

We've loved both Miquon and Singapore Essential Math K here.

 

Miquon does take a bit of time to wrap your head around, but once you've done that work, it's quite easy to use. It's very concrete and relies on manipulatives (almost entirely cuisenaire rods).

 

I used manipulatives (mostly cuisenaire rods and counters) with Singapore Essential Mathematics. The parental instructions are at the bottom of each worksheet, providing a mini-lesson; I delivered those lessons using manipulatives. Easy peasy. (And cheap and effective.)

[Loving&Learning]

Here is what I would recommend from what I have learned the hard way. Consider K, but also look at what the program that you are considering has to offer for the next couple of grades.

 

We did Horizons K this year. We have decided for many reason to switch to Singapore next year and this has caused some frustrations. We are having to go back further than what our DD tested because there were some concepts not taught in Horizons. You just need to keep in mind that each curriculum is different in when and how they introduce concepts, so you can't necessarily just start with the next grade level if you are switching curriculums.

 

We have started buying the Singapore standard edition books for next year and yes the workbooks are black and white, but the student's textbook is in color. I think it will be just fine.

[TracyR]

If you go to the Sonlight website , they sell a manipulatives kit if you want them, honestly you can save the money and make your own. But if money is not an issue then buy it. I'm using Horizon's Pre Algebra with my oldest and she really likes it and I think its very good too.

 

http://www.sonlight.com/horizons-math.html

[LillyMama]

I agree with Boscupop- manipulatives weren't really necessary for my kids to learn, sometimes they were just a distraction. Don't get me wrong, we have them- I had purchased Unifix cubes through Didax to do Montessori type stuff in Pre-K. But I really like Singapore's Standard edition as it's a nice colorful workbook that you can teach from without the manipulatives. My kids just flew through the K books. Then we'd get out the manipulatives to do games from the Kathy Richardson books (you can get them through Amazon or Didax, but they're worth finding used as they are pricey.) This helped me control the mess and distractions better- we only got them out a couple times when teaching wasn't working without it. Otherwise they were gotten out as reinforcement or a treat.

 

For what it's worth, my son is NOT a workbook kind of kid, but he enjoys Singapore's workbooks.

[CatholicMom]

You can add manipulatives to any program.

 

:iagree:

 

I would just get whatever book you like and add manipulatives to it if you want.

 

I like MCP Math for K. Workbooky, straight-forward, plenty of practice (you can easily skip some problems if it's too "slow." Better to have plenty of practice than not enough). It's very visual with pictures of butterflies, birds, and what have you. The pictures help the kids connect numbers with sets of things, in my opinion.

 

I've used a few levels of MUS, but not the Primer. It's real black and white with pretty much no pictures (someone told me this about Primer). It does have the manipulatives, but I like MCP for K because it has the pictures, like I said, and is a little more interesting to look at. And it's cheap.:tongue_smilie:

[Jpoy85]

I like Horizons for K. We tried MUS Primer and it didnt work. We will be using Saxon instead for my 2nd grader.

[didadeewiththree]

We love Rightstart Math so much that I'm also switching my 2nd grader over.

 

It's manipulative based and so fun that sometimes we spend an hour on math, but its because he wants to.

 

Its not colorful, but its teacher scripted, easy to gather materials for and just get it done without figuring out how to teach it.

 

I would say that its great for a child that is mathmatically advanced. You can start with level B instead of A, since the beginning of B is review of A. writing doesnt not have to be mastered in order to do advanced math lessons.

[momma2three]

I really like Math Mammoth so far. We're doing the first grade for kindergarten, but so far it's just been addition and subtraction, so it's been gentle kindergarten level work I think. There aren't manipulative involved in the program really, but we do a lot of the problems using counters or an abacus to help her visualize things.

 

We were doing MEP, which I think is fantastic but I wanted a little break from it.

[rachelpants]

Thanks for all the great advice here! Great thread.