Math for not quite 4 yo

[Syllieann]

I'd like to start a 4K curric with ds this fall. At that point he'll be a few months shy of 4. He currently counts to 15 and understands the concept of add/subtract but has to count it out. He's been asking me to teach him to tell time and he is interested in playing store and counting out money. On the reading side of things, he knows all letters and sounds and is just starting to put 2-3 sounds together. We are doing reading eggs. I bought a prek-k math workbook for him but he doesn't sit still long enough to get very far on it and his fine motor skills are typical for his age. Is there a curric that is primarily verbal/manipulative based? I was kind of looking at moving with math. Is that something that would be appropriate? Also, should I be looking for a prek or K curric? TIA

eta: he has all the directional things down already; left/right, over/under, etc.

[Crimson Wife]

MEP Reception and then you can probably move on to 1A. That's what I did with my DS in his K4 year when he wasn't quite ready to start Right Start. The great thing about MEP is that it's available FREE for download.

[*Michelle*]

Saxon Math K. We started it right when our son turned 4. It's all oral work and manipulatives. We're just about finished with it and Henry has enjoyed it all the way through.

[Syllieann]

I've looked at the mep. I was thinking it would be great for gr 1 and 2 if ds continues down this mathy road so if the reception would work for this coming yr that would be ideal. For the folks that use it, do you use a manipulative kit from a different program or just piece together your own as you go?

[PentecostalMom]

Saxon Math K. We started it right when our son turned 4. It's all oral work and manipulatives. We're just about finished with it and Henry has enjoyed it all the way through.

 

Do you think I could go through this slowly with a 3yo? My little dd is itching to "do school" with big sis and I was thinking of trying it for fall.

 

BTW, do they have writing and/or coloring in the meeting book? I am going to be new to Saxon in elementary. I have done 5/4 up.

 

Thanks!

[*Michelle*]

Do you think I could go through this slowly with a 3yo? My little dd is itching to "do school" with big sis and I was thinking of trying it for fall.

 

BTW, do they have writing and/or coloring in the meeting book? I am going to be new to Saxon in elementary. I have done 5/4 up.

 

Thanks!

 

I think so. It really is very gentle. There is coloring in the meeting book. Each month has a different color pattern for the calendar squares. The first month, you do all the coloring. Later, the kids start coloring in squares. It's the same for writing in the numbers. You start off doing all the writing. By the end of the year, the child is adding the numbers to the squares. There are also handwriting masters in the back of the book for practice forming numerals.

 

Definitely get the manipulatives kit!

[Syllieann]

I think so. It really is very gentle. There is coloring in the meeting book. Each month has a different color pattern for the calendar squares. The first month, you do all the coloring. Later, the kids start coloring in squares. It's the same for writing in the numbers. You start off doing all the writing. By the end of the year, the child is adding the numbers to the squares. There are also handwriting masters in the back of the book for practice forming numerals.

 

Definitely get the manipulatives kit!

 

That looks very appealing, especially with the manipulatives. Would you expect saxon k to easily transition to mep or singapore 1?

[*Michelle*]

That looks very appealing, especially with the manipulatives. Would you expect saxon k to easily transition to mep or singapore 1?

 

We're just finishing up our first official homeschool year and I only have experience with Saxon Math. However, this is the scope and sequence that is covered under the K-3 program.

[Syllieann]

We're just finishing up our first official homeschool year and I only have experience with Saxon Math. However, this is the scope and sequence that is covered under the K-3 program.

 

Thanks so much, I think we'll try it. It just dawned on me that I can pull lessons from mep in a pick/choose fashion if we need it to change programs later.

[Five More Minutes]

That looks very appealing, especially with the manipulatives. Would you expect saxon k to easily transition to mep or singapore 1?

 

I used Saxon K as a pre-school math program. It is VERY gentle and light, and may already be too simple to be more than busywork for your student.

 

I moved from Saxon K to Miquon (which I highly recommend) and Singapore Essentials A & B for one daughter. The transition was just fine.

 

You could check out Rosie's videos to get a feel for Miquon. It works well with MEP and Singapore, imo.

[Syllieann]

I used Saxon K as a pre-school math program. It is VERY gentle and light, and may already be too simple to be more than busywork for your student.

 

I moved from Saxon K to Miquon (which I highly recommend) and Singapore Essentials A & B for one daughter. The transition was just fine.

 

You could check out Rosie's videos to get a feel for Miquon. It works well with MEP and Singapore, imo.

 

Thank you, that certainly gives me a lot to chew on. I had briefly looked at miquon for the manipulatives but the non-traditional scope/sequence scared me off. Using them together would solve that problem and give me plenty of lesson options.

[Spy Car]

Thank you, that certainly gives me a lot to chew on. I had briefly looked at miquon for the manipulatives but the non-traditional scope/sequence scared me off. Using them together would solve that problem and give me plenty of lesson options.

 

Playing with Cuisenaire Rods to unlock the logic of whole-parts math is a wonderful thing to start with when children are young. Miquon helps cultivate the teacher. I will second Lynnita and suggest you look at Rosie's videos to get a feel for how this sort of teaching works.

 

Then you have programs like Singapore and MEP that you can treat in a Miquon-like style. These programs are synergistic.

 

Bill

[Sherry in OH]

I've looked at the mep. I was thinking it would be great for gr 1 and 2 if ds continues down this mathy road so if the reception would work for this coming yr that would be ideal. For the folks that use it, do you use a manipulative kit from a different program or just piece together your own as you go?

 

You don't need to buy a kit. You can use common household items for most lessons. If specific props are needed, instructions and patterns for making most of them are included in the lesson plans, copymasters, or other files on the website.

 

For reception, we used -

buttons and occasionally pennies as counters

colored craft sticks (bought plain and painted)

dice "borrowed" from a board game

play-doh

a few other household items

 

Year 1, we added -

C-rods (substituted for paper strips)

AL-Abacus (substituted for counters in some lessons)

dimes (we used pennies and dimes for demonstrating units and tens)

other coins (supplemental lessons in U.S. money system)

homemade laminated paper clock

ruler, meter stick, measuring tape

balance scale (Instructions for a wire coat-hanger version are included in the lesson plans. We own a bucket balance, so we used it.)

small mirror

a few toys (in place of classmates)

a few household items

and assorted empty containers (for measurement exercises)

[LittleIzumi]

I used MEP Reception by itself at that age. I tried Miquon with C-rods but she had no interest, so I let her play with them but didn't direct. Now she's 4 and in MEP Y1, and I plan to try Miquon again soon. We just use counters and number cards so far.

[higginszoo]

If he's truly accelerated in math, you might find that Saxon just moves too slowly after a few weeks or months. For children who catch on to math concepts quickly, I have had much better luck with MEP and Miquon. My dc used Miquon starting at about 3, at a pace of about a book a year through the first 2-3 books, then picked up the pace significantly after that. I've used MEP at various points from level 1 through GSCE prep (where I did have to cut out a lot of repetition), and it has also worked well for my mathy kids.

[Syllieann]

Thank you so much for all the input. I don't think something slow-moving would be a good fit for him. We'll give the mep a try with the homemade manipulatives. The miquon videos are great. I'll probably buy that and let him try it as well. I don't mind shelving it for awhile if I need to. It sounds like we will most likely use it eventually and perhaps the rods can serve as manipulatives for the mep in some places.

[LMD]

Thank you so much for all the input. I don't think something slow-moving would be a good fit for him. We'll give the mep a try with the homemade manipulatives. The miquon videos are great. I'll probably buy that and let him try it as well. I don't mind shelving it for awhile if I need to. It sounds like we will most likely use it eventually and perhaps the rods can serve as manipulatives for the mep in some places.

 

This is almost exactly what we did, started with mep reception as he was interested, then moved to miquon which I'm now combining with singapore. mep + c-rods play was a great way to start IMO, now DS (who turns 5 in august) is doing great in singapore 1.

[EKS]

RightStart is great for that age.

[BlessedMomto3]

I'll second Rightstart!

[jenbrdsly]

I'll second Rightstart!

 

:iagree:

 

Here are some other ideas too, from my blog.

[mathnerd]

My son just turned 5. When he was 4, we started with some workbooks (mostly Kumon) and then when he mastered the numbers upto 100, we moved to Singapore Math EarlyBird A which he finished in a few months and we are now on SM Earlybird B and will move on to the next level over summer. We added Miquon Orange book with cuisenaire rods when he was closer to 5. We use household items like Duplo blocks, M & Ms, hotwheels cars, pennies etc as manipulatives. Cuisenaire rods are the only manipulatives we have bought so far.

We also use DreamBox math online once or twice a week for a different format as well as rigor.

This has helped accelerate him quite a lot and in a fun and entertaining manner that it keeps him coming back for more "mommy math".