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math supplement suggestions for 5yo pls


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Hi all, I have an advanced dd in math, she is a very young k'er and just finishing up MUS alpha and MM1. She would well and truly be a lot further along however I am making her do most of the questions in both books and the writing is slowing her down - this is not a problem, I am happy for her to move ahead but I also want to make absolutely sure she has a rock solid understanding of each concept before moving on. Anyway, the problem is the time she takes to do math, she will easily complete an entire lesson in MUS (4-6 workbook pages depending on if we skip some) and watch the dvd and complete the test in all in under 20 minutes, i timed her yesterday and on average a worksheet is taking 2 minutes. With MM she will complete a lesson in around 5 minutes! I am happy with the pace she is working at (this is her pace and she often asks to do more and begs to finish an entire MUS lesson so she can do a test lol) but 5 minutes on math is not a lot. We play math games, use tangrams and pentominoes etc as supplements but I am running out of ideas on how to supplement her math and make it more fun. I also give her logic puzzles (rush hour, hoppers etc) for the math time.

Suggestions? Is there a good book on math ideas and games to keep her amused? Website? We love problem solving but she just whizzes through them and I am running low on ideas for more problems. I am ideally aiming for a solid hour of math as of first grade however as our book work is taking 5-20 minutes this is leaving a lot of "free time" i need to fill up.

TIA

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Well... A couple of things... First, I don't necessarily think that 20 minutes a day on math at age 5 is a problem. :) Especially if she's surrounded by a "math rich" environment the rest of the time. Second, it sounds like you need to *allow* her to move forward with her curriculum. *IF* she needs to slow down at some point, that will be readily apparent. She's extremely unlikely to "miss" some vital first grade concept just because she moves quickly. :) Let her fly! At *some* point she may slow down a bit (ds slowed down to one "level" of math per year when he hit algebra), but for now, as long as she "gets" it, let her go on! :) Once she can multiply and divide, there are so many more fun math supplements!

 

For activities... Consider the Right Start math card games set. I think it's wildly overstating things to say that there are 300 games there (eyeroll -- they count every possible variation as a "new game"), but there are several good ones. If you don't want to spend money on the whole set, I think the Corners game set is the best of them.

 

Muggins is a great game, once she can do multiplication (I think it only requires up to 6x6). I don't love the other games as much, but Muggins is challenging and flexible -- entertaining for both kids and adults.

 

Zaccaro's Primary Grade Challenge Math is a fun book to work through -- again, she'll get more out of it once she's doing a little multiplication and division. After that Number Devil (there's a book and software -- they aren't completely redundant) is a good one to play with some more abstract concepts. Beast Academy bills itself as a 3rd grade program, but it's very challenging and presents concepts most kids won't encounter in standard materials for many years. The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat is a little easier and introduces fun, creative math. In a couple of years, take a look at Math Olympiad -- there's an elementary division that offers fabulous problems to solve.

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Thanks, I agree 20 minutes a day at age 5 is not a problem :001_smile: however i would like to expand what we are doing, more problem solving and games etc however as she just whizzes through everything so quickly I am running low on ideas already! Well to be exact I am running low on ideas that are age appropriate. We all love problem solving etc here. Even myself and DH have been completing very challenging pentominoes puzzles for fun since I purchased them recently (about to order a few more sets lol).

 

Will look up those books and other suggestions, thanks.

 

I hope she slows down some time soon, this year we have already completed MUS primer, MM1a and are just winding up 1b and MUS alpha. Looks like she will get through 3 complete levels this year (times 2 programs) easily unless she slows down soon.

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Hi all, I have an advanced dd in math, she is a very young k'er and just finishing up MUS alpha and MM1. She would well and truly be a lot further along however I am making her do most of the questions in both books and the writing is slowing her down - this is not a problem, I am happy for her to move ahead but I also want to make absolutely sure she has a rock solid understanding of each concept before moving on. Anyway, the problem is the time she takes to do math, she will easily complete an entire lesson in MUS (4-6 workbook pages depending on if we skip some) and watch the dvd and complete the test in all in under 20 minutes, i timed her yesterday and on average a worksheet is taking 2 minutes. With MM she will complete a lesson in around 5 minutes! I am happy with the pace she is working at (this is her pace and she often asks to do more and begs to finish an entire MUS lesson so she can do a test lol) but 5 minutes on math is not a lot. We play math games, use tangrams and pentominoes etc as supplements but I am running out of ideas on how to supplement her math and make it more fun. I also give her logic puzzles (rush hour, hoppers etc) for the math time.

Suggestions? Is there a good book on math ideas and games to keep her amused? Website? We love problem solving but she just whizzes through them and I am running low on ideas for more problems. I am ideally aiming for a solid hour of math as of first grade however as our book work is taking 5-20 minutes this is leaving a lot of "free time" i need to fill up.

TIA

My dc all needed about 5-10 minutes for math at that age. I'm not sure why you want a full hour at 5 unless she's asking for it. My dd's are both the AP class, academic scholarship type of students, but at 5 I kept it short & sweet if that's what they wanted. And in 20 minutes a day one of mine did 2 grades in math in one year before she decided she'd rather do less math & play more.

 

That said, I'd try fun books such as Life of Fred which can be read aloud as a story & then you can do the your turn to play aloud or in written form, or picture books with math stories (eg the Sir Cumference books). Great math music can be found on the 3 CDs (or is it 4 now?) by the fellow who did Doggone Math.

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My K'er only spends 5-10 minutes on math (Singapore 1A). He gets math, reading, and handwriting done in about 30 minutes, then we have about 30 minutes of read aloud time. After that, he goes outside to play so I can teach his older brother.

 

I wouldn't worry about math taking 5 minutes at age 5, as long as the child isn't begging for more math.

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An hour is a really, really long time for a 5yo to spend on first grade math. I know that schools typically devote an hour to math in first grade, but homeschooling is so much more efficient. Also, a homeschooled kid has to answer all the questions herself rather than have classmates take up some of the slack, so lesson time tends to be more intense.

 

Also, it sounds like you might need to take a big jump forward. If your child understands the math and can do it easily, there isn't much to be gained from more practice and doing every single problem in two different math books.

 

In short, I'd recommend having her spend a similarly short amount of time per day (20-30 minutes) on much harder math, rather than piling up more and more same-level work to keep her busy longer.

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I've had three kids plow through math at that age. They could read, I purchased the work books and let them go (my older three did Abeka at that age, #4 is using Math Mammoth, but she's not interested in school...so school looks a lot different than it did for my olders). I agree with the others who have said let her fly...the concepts at this age are very, very simple. I wouldn't worry about her missing anything vital. I also wouldn't worry about spending an hour on any subject at that age...unless she is pushing for more (my 3 older pushed for more...my current Ker would rather twirl and play all day).

 

Some math related things you could include would be dot-to-dots, mazes, and we also have the Memory Challenge software from Critical Thinking Co.

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I hope she slows down some time soon, this year we have already completed MUS primer, MM1a and are just winding up 1b and MUS alpha. Looks like she will get through 3 complete levels this year (times 2 programs) easily unless she slows down soon.

 

I wouldn't count on it! ... You may need to let her move forward more quickly or take a more substantial leap before that happens. You wouldn't make an 8 or 10yo do math meant for 5 and 6yos. That's what's likely happening in her brain. You're trying to artificially slow her down. :) That may just be inappropriate developmentally.

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My kids were both like that. The logic puzzles were great supplements but I never could find enough of them. Another great supplement is an old fashioned cardboard puzzle. Dd went through stacks of them at that age. We bought big ones. We went to garage sales and bought colorful puzzles-- piece number did not matter. There never are many in stores.

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... I am ideally aiming for a solid hour of math as of first grade however as our book work is taking 5-20 minutes this is leaving a lot of "free time" i need to fill up.

TIA

 

Short Answer: MEP. Even the lessons that are complete review for Button take 30-45 minutes. Plus, lots of puzzle-type stuff. You might want to work from Copy Masters in MEP esp. if she's working above the standard for her age -- the bigger print is much more fun for the littles. You can write in anything she can't write, of course, but the big stuff is just easier for them to read & think about.

 

Next Thought: Living Math. If you do MEP each day, maybe some oral drill or Wrap-Ups or something (I am a fact hound myself), and a living math book (or maybe a RightStart or other game -- chess would be great, there are easy starting games), you'd easily be at an hour of math that is fun and developmentally appropriate.

 

Agreeing with the above that an hour is not necessary; though, if you count oral drills and the amount of time we spent running loops through the house btw. problems, we probably had that much in first. I would break it up into 2 or three sessions, though, with other stuff in between. Maybe 2 and some oral drill.

 

I found that we slowed down with the multi-digit addition in MUS Beta, though Button hit that very young so your DS might have an easier time. Certainly the multi-digit multiplication and division in Gamma and Delta will slow her a bit, though she might still be at 3 years/1 year ratio in MUS. I don't think that's a problem if she is happy with the work. I parted ways with MUS shortly after fractions -- we followed it until fraction division, then jumped to Key to Fractions, then a bunch of other stuff as we found our rhythm and now we're doing Singapore & MEP (not on the same day though -- our Grade 2 days are long enough!)

 

With MUS, though, not being able to write will be a problem with those multi-digit things. We used 1/2" ruled graph paper, or big grids drawn on art paper, to keep things straight (and still do).

 

ETA: when we got really dragged down with the nitty-gritty of multiplication, we only worked on that for 10-ish minutes a day. I waited until the tot's nap, made fresh orange juice and gave us both a piece of chocolate, and we worked hard for a problem or two then celebrated our perseverance!

 

Also, Button required a lot of math for his mental well-being and didn't like stories, art, music, &c. He's a lot mellower now and we're slowing down the pace...

Edited by serendipitous journey
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