mamamindy Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 All of the different curriculums, methods, etc., kinda freak me out about teaching math! I really lack confidence in this area, and as for me personally, I have a science degree that required complicated math that I did fine with WITH A CALCULATOR, but ask me simple math and I'm lost! We have switched (from Saxon 1) to Singapore Primary Math US Edition 1A with my 1st grader this year. (We're doing MEP Reception with the K'er and I love the fun and slow pace.) I have liked SM so far. I have some anxiety over making sure she knows the concrete step. So far this is mostly review for her so I think she gets it. But when we get to the new stuff... how do I know for sure she gets the concrete step? Will this be obvious as she works the WB? Oh, I use the HIG and TB, then she does the WB. I have the IP and CWP, but they are unused so far. Next question. I was waiting for the first Miquon book before adding in/supplementing with some Miquon if I liked it. I have it now and it looks fun. How should I go about supplementing or using Miquon? Is this a complete curriculum? (I think I've heard it is.) Is it best used as a supplement? I don't want to do too much. I just like the idea of using c-rods. (They're actually mine from when I was a wee one. :)) If there's one subject I'm just not confident in as we home educate it's math! I think it's so funny that in the WTM she says not to lose sleep over choosing the math curriculum. I've done just that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 :bigear: :) Great questions :) Thanks for asking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 All of the different curriculums, methods, etc., kinda freak me out about teaching math! I really lack confidence in this area, and as for me personally, I have a science degree that required complicated math that I did fine with WITH A CALCULATOR, but ask me simple math and I'm lost! We have switched (from Saxon 1) to Singapore Primary Math US Edition 1A with my 1st grader this year. (We're doing MEP Reception with the K'er and I love the fun and slow pace.) I have liked SM so far. I have some anxiety over making sure she knows the concrete step. So far this is mostly review for her so I think she gets it. But when we get to the new stuff... how do I know for sure she gets the concrete step? Will this be obvious as she works the WB? Oh, I use the HIG and TB, then she does the WB. I have the IP and CWP, but they are unused so far. Next question. I was waiting for the first Miquon book before adding in/supplementing with some Miquon if I liked it. I have it now and it looks fun. How should I go about supplementing or using Miquon? Is this a complete curriculum? (I think I've heard it is.) Is it best used as a supplement? I don't want to do too much. I just like the idea of using c-rods. (They're actually mine from when I was a wee one. :)) If there's one subject I'm just not confident in as we home educate it's math! I think it's so funny that in the WTM she says not to lose sleep over choosing the math curriculum. I've done just that! For anxiety reduction I would recommend reading the Miquon "First Grade Diary" book (the first time as a fast read to get the "big picture") and also watch the videos created by WTM board member "Rosie" at the Education Unboxed website. The latter give one a pretty fast overview of ways C Rods can be used to introduce concepts to children. Every parent/child combo finds its own style, but one you get see ways others treat teaching you should feel inspired to find your own style. How many Lab-sheets you use from the Miquon book you use, or how many of your own that you make up yourself, and it what progression will be somewhat a personal decision based on taste and needs. This lack of "structure" can either be confounding or liberating. The important thing to glean from Miquon, IMO, is to remember what is is to think like a child again, and how to make what seem like mathematically complex concepts and laws things that are easy for children to comprehend. Miquon has great teaching resources. The model is the same a Singapore's but Miquon supplies the "concrete" learning and the explicit early understanding of mathematical laws that is somewhat lacking in Primary Mathematics. I think you are on the right path. Just know there is no one right answer to how you mix the materials. Questions I tend to ask are: "What does my child understand? What does he not understand? What do I hope to teach him next? And what does he need to understand before we explore that next area of the unknown? Hopefully these questions sound sufficiently Rumsfeldian :D In general playing with concepts with C Rods (and other manipulatives) prior to using "pictorial" or "abstract" means is the natural progression. Children are different. Some will get the concepts immediately, some will need extended work with manipulatives before being ready to move on, and other kids will recoil from work with manipulatives. So you will need to tailor things to your child, but that is not hard. There is a truism that one should "let the curriculum serve you, rather than you serving the curriculum." In the case of the Miquon Math-lab materials I've found this to be particularly the case—indeed such was the expressed intent of the author of the program Lore Rasmussen. I hate to disagree with our hostess, but I think some of the math advice and recommended curriculum in TWTM is less that optimal, including the idea that one shouldn't lose sleep over how one approaches early math education. The differences are profound, and the efforts you make in your own re-education will pay huge dividends in making math a subject that can ;and should) be taught for deep understanding from the beginning. Best wishes. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamindy Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Awesome. Thanks so much, Bill. I look forward to reading the Annotations. (It just arrived in the mail.) I also look forward to re-educating myself!! :) ETA: I just realized you said to read First Grade Diary. I actually don't have that one. I will have to look into getting it. In the meantime, I'll watch some of Rosie's videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Awesome. Thanks so much, Bill. I look forward to reading the Annotations. (It just arrived in the mail.) I also look forward to re-educating myself!! :) ETA: I just realized you said to read First Grade Diary. I actually don't have that one. I will have to look into getting it. In the meantime, I'll watch some of Rosie's videos. The Lab Annotations have lab-sheet specific instructions as well as incredibly rich topical information for parent-educators. But the First Grade Diary is a more approachable volume that helps a parent see how a master-teacher (Miquon author Lore Rasmussen) faced real-world issues teaching students in their first year of math education, and gives encouragement and inspiration that is both practical and philosophical. I know that prior to reading the "Diary" I felt a generalized sense that the shallow sort of math education that was typical when I was growing up was something I wanted to avoid, in favor of the sort of math education one sees in Liping Ma's influential book. But there was still the anxiety producing matter of how to practically "get there." I can not guarantee the Diary will resonate with everyone the way it did with me, but as I read through I kept thinking "a ha," "great," "I get it." And pretty soon I had all sorts of ideas of my own about how to make learnng fun, simple, and effective. For me it was just the thing I needed to go from well-intended (but somewhat clueless) to thinking "I can do this." The Lab Annotations book is a deep resource. Invaluable. But if you are feeling anxious about how you as a parent/teacher are going to pull off an outstanding math education, I would urge you to read the Diary just to see the Math-Lab approach in action. At the end of the day it is really not that hard. Once one "gets it" this way of teaching and learning seems like the most natural method in the world. In my case it just took a little bump to my past way of thinking. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamindy Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 If I really don't want to wait to get started, could I just begin by watching the education unboxed videos and using c-rods? I do have the First Grade Diary ordered, but it may be a few weeks. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 If I really don't want to wait to get started, could I just begin by watching the education unboxed videos and using c-rods? I do have the First Grade Diary ordered, but it may be a few weeks. :( Sure. They're are all just resources to help one see how they can make the process of learning/teaching math more comprehensible for young children. The videos I've seen at Education Unboxed have been really good examples of how C Rods can be used with children. I know they have helped a lot of people see how these little colored sticks work in practice. When you get the First Grade Diary, I think you will enjoy that too. Either way the videos should be quite helpful for seeing lessons being demonstrated. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Aroon Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 (edited) Heck, I just turn on the education unboxed videos and let my son work through them on his own. He likes to race the little girl on the video. I am still reading through the first grade diary and annotations. It has only been a week since the whole package came in the mail, but we all love it and I am excited to use it. Billy's consistent testimony finally won me over and I am so happy with the choice. Edited September 8, 2012 by Eileen Aroon Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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