Talk to me about Miquon

[TyraTooters]

We are switching math up this year and moving away from Abeka for the adhd kinder boy. He has learned quite a bit but he's bored with it. I try not to give him any worksheets because when I do you can see his love for kindergarten just fade away. He HATES it. It doesn't help that he struggles with handwriting and writing things backwards, either. 

 

I think he just needs something a little more hands on but nothing crazy. This looks like it might be a good fit, but I want you all to tell me more about it! 

[Coco_Clark]

Have you watched the educationunboxed videos? Highly, highly reccomended. It will give you the clearest idea of what cuisinare rods can do and how you use them.

 

I think as a teacher, there's a learning curve. Miquon is just unlike anything else out there.

 

As a student...my type A, perfectionist, linear thinker HATED Miquon. I mean, really hated every aspect of it. He's very much a physical/tactile learner so I thought it would be great. But here's the thing- he wants to be led a to b, therefor c. He likes the baby steps. Miquon doesn't Do that, it's more, "huh, a...and b....what do you think about that? Let's play with this." He also hated the aesthetic, he appreciates a full-color layout with cartoons and such. He found Miquon visually underwhelming.

 

My creative, visual, chaotic thinker (really my only accurate discriptor) absolutely thrives on Miquon. He's a kid that laughed in delight when he realized 2+3=5 and 5-3=2 and then sat for an hour testing it on other facts. This is exactly what Miquon is going for. That making your own connections and puzzling things out.

 

Hope that helped at all.

[TyraTooters]

Have you watched the educationunboxed videos? Highly, highly reccomended. It will give you the clearest idea of what cuisinare rods can do and how you use them.

 

I think as a teacher, there's a learning curve. Miquon is just unlike anything else out there.

 

As a student...my type A, perfectionist, linear thinker HATED Miquon. I mean, really hated every aspect of it. He's very much a physical/tactile learner so I thought it would be great. But here's the thing- he wants to be led a to b, therefor c. He likes the baby steps. Miquon doesn't Do that, it's more, "huh, a...and b....what do you think about that? Let's play with this." He also hated the aesthetic, he appreciates a full-color layout with cartoons and such. He found Miquon visually underwhelming.

 

My creative, visual, chaotic thinker (really my only accurate discriptor) absolutely thrives on Miquon. He's a kid that laughed in delight when he realized 2+3=5 and 5-3=2 and then sat for an hour testing it on other facts. This is exactly what Miquon is going for. That making your own connections and puzzling things out.

 

Hope that helped at all.

YES! That actually helps a ton. My oldest (8) is the same as your Type A child. I don't think the open-ended-ness of Miquon will appeal to him at all. He does Abeka and he is quite content with it. I make modifications but he likes it. He has to have a very clear picture where as I think the clear picture fogs the mind of my chaotic child! 

[TyraTooters]

Have you watched the educationunboxed videos? Highly, highly reccomended. It will give you the clearest idea of what cuisinare rods can do and how you use them.

 

I think as a teacher, there's a learning curve. Miquon is just unlike anything else out there.

 

As a student...my type A, perfectionist, linear thinker HATED Miquon. I mean, really hated every aspect of it. He's very much a physical/tactile learner so I thought it would be great. But here's the thing- he wants to be led a to b, therefor c. He likes the baby steps. Miquon doesn't Do that, it's more, "huh, a...and b....what do you think about that? Let's play with this." He also hated the aesthetic, he appreciates a full-color layout with cartoons and such. He found Miquon visually underwhelming.

 

My creative, visual, chaotic thinker (really my only accurate discriptor) absolutely thrives on Miquon. He's a kid that laughed in delight when he realized 2+3=5 and 5-3=2 and then sat for an hour testing it on other facts. This is exactly what Miquon is going for. That making your own connections and puzzling things out.

 

Hope that helped at all.

What does your Type A child use for math?

[Coco_Clark]

What does your Type A child use for math?

We've hopped around more than I like to admit. He did a year of Singapore 1, a year of Math in Focus 2, and now he'll be using Beast Academy starting in September.

[Rosie_0801]

I'd have a look at CSMP if I were you. http://stern.buffalostate.edu/CSMPProgram/index.html

 

There are no worksheets in the K level and only a page or three each week in the grade 1 level.

 

I sometimes use c-rods, sometimes the abacus (your boy may not need them- my dd has dyscalculia) and a magnetic erase board. Last year I scribed for her, but this year she mostly does it herself.

[FO4UR]

Miquon is a discovery method math.  As teacher, you will be doing more observing and asking leading questions rather than actually teaching.  I think Miquon lays an important foundation for that sort of problem solving initiative. 

 

You give your child a packet of lab sheets and let him choose which order to work.  You can make some excellent assessments simply based upon what lab sheets they pick.  Ex.  If they are always avoiding subtraction, that tells me that I should do a purposeful lesson on subtraction.  An avoidance of a topic usually means a lack of understanding.  Also, if addition is always done neat, tidy, and fast, I know that I can move on.  

 

Singapore pairs very well with Miquon.  Introduce a concept through Miquon, and use Singapore as a review and a "catch all" for any details that might not have been discovered yet.  Don't try to match up concepts.  In fact, it's better to let some time lapse between learning a topic in Miquon and seeing it in Singapore.  Retention is higher.  (I'd say to start Singapore 1A after you've gone through about half of the Orange Book...and maybe skip straight to the Intensive Practice Books instead of the workbooks.)

 

Miquon is not something you can plan at the beginning of the year.  Plan to spend about an hour a week thinking about how your child is doing in math and prepping the next week's lessons.  Before the school year starts, you need to read The First Grade Diary and Teacher's Notes.  Read the beginning of each section in the Annotations.  

 

If Miquon is NOT working, I'd say Math Mammoth is it's pedagogical opposite.  MM teaches conceptual math in step-by-sep fashion.  (My Miquon-loving kids HATE Math Mammoth with fiery passion.  I think MM is solid.  They prefer the discovery method.)

 

 

MEP math is worth checking into.  I think it's like mixing Miquon and Singapore into one scripted lesson.  Excellent stuff!  My only issues with MEP are page lay-out (small print for little people) and it's a British programme and so uses British money.  I do enough hands-on American money & measurements work at home so I don't feel that is a big problem.  It is also teacher-intensive, and that is what prevents me from using it. (I have 3 students and a toddler.)

 

[TyraTooters]

Miquon is a discovery method math.  As teacher, you will be doing more observing and asking leading questions rather than actually teaching.  I think Miquon lays an important foundation for that sort of problem solving initiative. 

 

You give your child a packet of lab sheets and let him choose which order to work.  You can make some excellent assessments simply based upon what lab sheets they pick.  Ex.  If they are always avoiding subtraction, that tells me that I should do a purposeful lesson on subtraction.  An avoidance of a topic usually means a lack of understanding.  Also, if addition is always done neat, tidy, and fast, I know that I can move on.  

 

Singapore pairs very well with Miquon.  Introduce a concept through Miquon, and use Singapore as a review and a "catch all" for any details that might not have been discovered yet.  Don't try to match up concepts.  In fact, it's better to let some time lapse between learning a topic in Miquon and seeing it in Singapore.  Retention is higher.  (I'd say to start Singapore 1A after you've gone through about half of the Orange Book...and maybe skip straight to the Intensive Practice Books instead of the workbooks.)

 

Miquon is not something you can plan at the beginning of the year.  Plan to spend about an hour a week thinking about how your child is doing in math and prepping the next week's lessons.  Before the school year starts, you need to read The First Grade Diary and Teacher's Notes.  Read the beginning of each section in the Annotations.  

 

If Miquon is NOT working, I'd say Math Mammoth is it's pedagogical opposite.  MM teaches conceptual math in step-by-sep fashion.  (My Miquon-loving kids HATE Math Mammoth with fiery passion.  I think MM is solid.  They prefer the discovery method.)

 

 

MEP math is worth checking into.  I think it's like mixing Miquon and Singapore into one scripted lesson.  Excellent stuff!  My only issues with MEP are page lay-out (small print for little people) and it's a British programme and so uses British money.  I do enough hands-on American money & measurements work at home so I don't feel that is a big problem.  It is also teacher-intensive, and that is what prevents me from using it. (I have 3 students and a toddler.)

WHOA! Thanks for all the help! I never would have thought to pair anything with it. So is there anything in Singapore that is not covered in Miquon that I would still have to teach? Or just kind of take a worksheet out and let him go at it? I feel like I need some hand-holding while I move away from Abeka! 

[TyraTooters]

I have the PDF version of MM (light blue, I think) that I have totally forgotten about. We might give that a try! 

[FO4UR]

WHOA! Thanks for all the help! I never would have thought to pair anything with it. So is there anything in Singapore that is not covered in Miquon that I would still have to teach? Or just kind of take a worksheet out and let him go at it? I feel like I need some hand-holding while I move away from Abeka! 

 

 

Singapore is complete, but some kids have trouble "leaping" into some concepts.  Miquon fills that gap.

 

Miquon teaches conceptual math very well, but lacks word problems and some kids need more review.  Singapore fills that gap.

 

The Cuisenaire Rods used in Miquon work very well as a precursor to the bar method used in Singapore.

 

It's like they were made for each other. :001_wub:

 

 

I would move through Singapore topic-by-topic.  So you might give a choice between subtraction and fractions, but move through each section in order.  Whereas, Miquon you can work through *any* order within reason.  

[TyraTooters]

Singapore is complete, but some kids have trouble "leaping" into some concepts.  Miquon fills that gap.

 

Miquon teaches conceptual math very well, but lacks word problems and some kids need more review.  Singapore fills that gap.

 

The Cuisenaire Rods used in Miquon work very well as a precursor to the bar method used in Singapore.

 

It's like they were made for each other. :001_wub:

 

 

I would move through Singapore topic-by-topic.  So you might give a choice between subtraction and fractions, but move through each section in order.  Whereas, Miquon you can work through *any* order within reason.  

So if I went this route, what would you suggest I purchase from Singapore? I would get all three books and the c-rods for Miquon but would I need the textbook from Singapore or just the workbook?

[pehp]

I have a love-hate-love relationship with Miquon.  We have used it for a couple of years.  I have finally settled into being good at using it (I think).  Before I would work straight through a book...but that didn't work so well. Now I am more comfortable taking and leaving things.  My son will finish Miquon this year.  I did find that we benefited from adding a little drill-type work, so last year (second grade) we did a little bit of Rod and Staff and also some Calculadders sheets, just for drill practice.  This year I plan to continue in the same vein--working through the rest of the Miquon series, along with R&S  (a dry, direct approach) and Calculadders for drill.  

 

I also recommend using Education Unboxed videos, and if he struggled with writing and you do Miquon, YOU should write answers. Or just ignore writing answers altogether at first, and simple use the lab sheets as a springboard for exploring concepts.  That works best in our household.  

Miquon is excellent and I really appreciate the strong conceptual foundation it provides.  I found that if I need to hand something to my son, I need to hand him R&S or drill sheets.  If it's a Miquon day, we sit together and work on it.  The c-rods are so helpful, but I like having something else that will provide a more 'traditional' math supplement.  I plan to use Miquon again for my daughter (she's 4.5 now) once we start first-ish grade. 

 

HTH!

[FO4UR]

So if I went this route, what would you suggest I purchase from Singapore? I would get all three books and the c-rods for Miquon but would I need the textbook from Singapore or just the workbook?

 

 

If you can only afford 1 book, I'd get the Intensive Practice.  If money is not an issue, I'd get the textbook and IP.

 

Challenging Word Problems is great, but I'd hold off until he's ready for the 3rd level.  IP has plenty of word problems.

[Farrar]

I agree with a lot of what has been said... but...

 

I don't think you need to pair Miquon with anything necessarily. And I definitely don't think you need to pair it with Singapore. Miquon is a complete program. I think pairing it with Singapore works well for some people (Spycar once said on the boards that the sum of the two was greater than their parts). However, for other kids, I think that could be the wrong approach. It certainly would have been for my Miquon kid, who used Miquon as his primary program through 3rd grade.

 

If Miquon is weak in anything, it's facts review and word problems. But I'd go a different direction. If you want Miquon to be the core of your math experience, I found that it went well with Primary Challenge Math by Zaccaro as an interesting, engaging word problems supplement. And with the Right Start games as a good way to practice facts without drills. And those are clearly supplemental to Miquon, not making Miquon the way to introduce Singapore material. Which, again, is fine and great. But is just one way to approach Miquon materials.

 

Also, I think Miquon does do well for more creative thinkers... but my Miquon kid was an anxious perfectionist type. And his brother, who did not do well with Miquon (he used MM for many years) is also a creative type in many ways. So I think a lot of this is how you frame it. For us, the primary benefit of using Miquon was the ability to jump around. If something became too difficult, we just moved to something else then moved back to it later. This was the beauty of the thread structure.

 

There's no one right way to use Miquon. You can have a kid go through book straight. You can have a kid go by the threads. You can have a kid pick his own pages. You can pick the pages. You can do a mix of both. What we did was to go book by book but skip around within the book. The only rule was that a thread had to be introduced by me with the activities from the Annotations before you could choose to do pages from it. Every day, we tried to have me pick a page and him pick a page. Don't be afraid to think about making your own pages as well.

 

Miquon really turned my kid into a mathy thinker. It taught him to love math. If there was a Miquon pre-algebra, we'd be doing it right now.