I'm I doing too much math with kindergartener?

[ktgrok]

I'm using CLE 1st grade math with my kindergartener. She'll be 6 in Feb, if that matters. Has good fine motor control, doesn't seem to mind the amount of writing at all. But the lessons are pretty long, between the initial lesson, flashcards, speed drill and "I can do it" section it takes us a minimum of 20 minutes. (granted, we get interrupted a lot by the 3 yr old)

 

She can do the work. But...there are times I feel ridiculous sitting there drilling a kindergarten student with flashcards and timing speed drills. 

 

We're starting to use Mother of Divine Grace, and it recommends a much less time consuming approach, doing Abeka Mathematics K5, and only twice a week! I don't think I want to go to twice a week, but I am starting to think I'm doing overkill. At the same time, most K programs were stuff she already knows. 

 

Any thoughts? I am realizing time goes SO fast, and I need to enjoy the relaxed time we have in Kindy. (I have a 10th grader too, so I know it goes fast!) 

 

Should I switch to something...shorter? Easier? Spend the year cementing skills in say, the Abeka K book? Or just cut back and do half lessons in CLE? I will have to buy more CLE light units anyway, so it's not like i have all of them and have that sunk cost.

 

 I do think she'd like the colorful nature of Abeka. She's my artsy kid. But does Abeka do a good job of fact memorization, etc once you get past kind? That was the draw of CLE for me. My family has a history of being not so great at memorization but having an innate understanding of concepts. I feel confident explaining concepts even if they aren't in the book, but need structure to make sure the stuff that should be memorized gets memorized. Family of ADHD people :) And before anyone suggest Right Start or something...we are not that kind of family. We lose manipulative, lose the cards to card games, etc. (see again, family of ADHD people.) We like workbooks. Even the 3 year old loves workbooks. I bring out manipulatives here and there, every few weeks, but am not looking for that to be our main thing. (for instance, we have cuisinaire rods and I do break them out to explain a concept, or just to play with, but they aren't our main thing.)

 

So, any thoughts? Part of me wants to take things slow and easy, no rush, and get Abeka K (but do it 4 days, not 2). The other part of me thinks it is crazy to "go backwards" or give her work easier than she needs. Someone help!

 

I do think we will stick with MODG long term, I'm very impressed with the balance it strikes between too much and too little as far as scheduling, etc. 

Edited January 9, 2016 by ktgrok

[rebcoola]

I haven't used either of those curriculum so can't say anything about that.  IMHO I don't think changing curriculum when it is working overall is a good idea.  I would modify the lessons or do it simply by time 20 min max and move on.

[ktgrok]

I haven't used either of those curriculum so can't say anything about that.  IMHO I don't think changing curriculum when it is working overall is a good idea.  I would modify the lessons or do it simply by time 20 min max and move on.

 

There are times she is confused by part of it, and frustrated, but we manage to get through it and she does get it eventually. I'm worrying though that frustrating a Kindy student might be a not so good thing. She definitely doesn't enjoy it, although she doesn't dislike it. She's a very compliant child, so it is easy to push harder than maybe I should. My oldest...that wasn't an issue, lol. 

[ktgrok]

Ok, the K workbook was $15. I went ahead and ordered it to look at. I can always resell it, use it for the next kid, etc if I want. I'll show it to her and see how she feels. If it bring joys to our lessons we'll use it. 

[HomeAgain]

This is why we ended up with MEP.  Manipulatives are whatever I have handy.  Beans, egg cartons, I have a few things I keep in a plastic bag that we use more often. The short lessons, the bursts of work mixed with games, songs, or finger breaks, that fits my kid better than drills. We have flashcards, but don't really use them.  He has a timed drill about once a week where I let him set the time.  It's very relaxed but at the same time very engaging for him.

[Junie]

My dh said before we started homeschooling that he wanted me to do Saxon Math.  When the time came to begin, I asked if I could use Abeka through grade 3 before switching over to Saxon.

 

My reasons were this:  1.  Saxon in the lower grades is consumable and would need to be purchased for each child

 

2.  Abeka is so colorful and fun-looking

 

I figured that if I had to buy the books for each child anyway, I wanted to make it fun.

 

We switch to Saxon at the 5/4 level and we are using the same books over and over and over again.

 

I don't know much about Saxon past elementary, but it has been a good fit for us.

 

 

I also like that it is just a workbook and I don't have to keep track of extras.

[Guest]

I would chill out with CLE, but keep doing it b/c it works. Fight those add tendencies :-D 

 

We do the flashcards once a week, instead of as scheduled. I also don't make him do the tests, although he chooses to sometimes. And he draws all over the book.

 

We play a grip of math games, to cement facts. The flashcards really end up just being the thing that shows HIM he knows these things. *I* already know he knows because he uses the math all the time.

 

[KSinNS]

If she doesn't hate it, but it's a bit long, you could do the lessons over 2 days (or more) and add in some games when you felt inclined.

[ByGrace3]

What about CLE 1 at half pace? Half lesson a day? That is what we are doing with Math Mammoth. Dd is doing MM1 but at a slower pace...she does 15-20 minutes a day....sometimes less not really ever more.

[umsami]

If she's Kindy age, but doing a first grade curriculum, I'd slow done.

 

Somebody posted these great videos on another thread....and they may help as well:

 

http://kateshomeschoolmath.com/how-to-teach-addition-facts-that-stick/

 

 

 

ETA: To complete my thought. LOL

Edited January 9, 2016 by umsami

[Guest]

Don't time the 'speed drills'. It really is not worthwhile to stress her on that now. Think of it more as exposure than mastery right now. 

Edited January 9, 2016 by Paradox5

[Sarah0000]

I've been keeping lessons short and sweet primarily by removing drill from sit down math time and figuring out ways to include it throughout the day so it doesn't feel like practice. Somtimes this is by randomly reciting math rhymes or stating a math problem and pausing for him to fill in the blanks, Right Start card games and other games, and living books. I also plan to use some of Peggy Kay's games from the book Games for Math. When it looks like he needs to spend more time on drill then I'll very occasionally spend a week doing drill during sit down math time.

[ktgrok]

If she's Kindy age, but first grade, I'd slow done.

 

Somebody posted these great videos on another thread....and they may help as well:

 

http://kateshomeschoolmath.com/how-to-teach-addition-facts-that-stick/

 

She's in kindergarten as far as reporting goes, just more advanced than most K curriculums for math. 

[abba12]

I wouldn't drop her back to k math, so if you move to abeka I'd go to their 1st book not their k book

But, I'd be more inclined to just stretch the lessons over two days in cle. We spend about 20 minutes a day on math here, so if it's an easy set of lessons we might do half a dozen pages. On a tricky lesson we might do two

[MerryAtHope]

I'd probably stretch out and work in more play. When my youngest was in K, I let her play with manipulatives each day for math, or do one of those Disney Princess math workbooks from the store (she always liked those and thought they were fun). I actually felt she had a better mathematical foundation from her year of just playing with manipulatives, than my son did after a year of working through a curriculum with him. She played with counting bears, a scale, pattern blocks, Cuisenaire rods, Base 10 blocks, and whatever else I had lying around. 

[ktgrok]

From looking at it the Abeka K does cover some of the same things she is doing now, as far as addition, subtraction, and money. It's just smaller numbers and slower. That might actually be perfect. I'll see how it looks when it gets here. The 1st grade book would be too hard at this point...it has double digit addition in it, along with other things. 

 

We're actually at kind of a sticking point right now, with writing and reading numbers in the hundreds, so the plan was to spend more time with the base ten blocks next week anyway. And we'll cut back to half a lesson until I at least see what the Abeka book looks like. I think she'll like that. 

[Arcadia]

I'll skip the speed drills at that age. 20mins isn't long for math but if she thinks it is too long then it is too long for her.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Arcadia

[mumto2]

We loved Abeka math especially for the lower grades. My dd loved the colours...it made a difference to her.

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

My daughter was advanced doing 1st grade math and even some 2nd grade math in kindy. I pushed her ahead too much because she was able and compliant, but now she hates math.

If your daughter's not enjoying but just complying, I'd slow down, spend more time playing (try games from www.educationunboxed.com - they will still stretch her math skills but be enjoyable). Keep the lessons short and don't worry if the math book doesn't get completed by the end of the year.

My daughter's in third grade now doing Saxon 5/4 (which Veritas Press uses for third grade, so she's not really that ahead anymore) and while it isn't hard for her, she can't enjoy math.

I would keep the flashcards (but ask her the questions while she is doing something pleasant like coloring or jumping rope or on the trampoline, swing, slide, etc) and not do speed drills at all. My six year old just started drills in December, but I spent his whole year of kindergarten doing "flashcards" while he played physically on our mini trampoline and the small slide we used to keep inside. He also likes kicking a soccer ball back and forth as he answers questions. .

 

I ended up learning from my mistake and didn't push my son. He is ahead (second grade math Singapore at age 6) but only does one page of math per day. He loves math, but despises writing and doing school (he'd rather read and play) and I am mostly letting him do that. 

[EmilyGF]

Could you cut out the timed drills and flash cards and do simple math games instead? I'm thinking, take the face cards out of a deck of cards and play addition war (whoever gets the most wins). Ask, "Who has more?" (Ker does the adding for you both). Then add on, "By how much?" (intro to subtraction). Or use dice. There are tons of games you could play without additional cost, and that would be relationship building.

 

But if everything is working.

 

Emily

[rocassie]

I'm another one that thinks games may be the way to go instead of flashcards and speed drills.  Some of the games we do are addition war, Bingo, addition or subtraction memory.

 

Another thing I have done when my kiddos have been ready for math but not to intensive yet is to break a lesson up over a couple of days.  Instead of one lesson a day, I will do it over two or three days using most of the games to memorize and learn the facts.

[Wholesomemomma]

I used the Abeka K5 workbook for my son last year when he was 5. It was fun and colorful and challenging but not TOO challenging. This year (1st grade) we started CLE 100 and he's well prepared and loving it. O like that he feels successful and good at math. We don't time the speed drills and don't do flashcard review as often because 200 and 300 math in CLE is STILL drilling the same facts. So we have time. I think doing Abeka K5 or CLE at a slower and more relaxed pace are both great options. I'd just be sure to preserve the LOVE of learning at this point!

[Happygrl]

We use it with my Ker. We don't do flash cards, don't always do the speed drill and I aim for 3 lessons a week. I stop after 10-15 minutes. Then we play a math fame of some sort (not every day).

 

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

[ktgrok]

Today I had her fill in the numbers in her counting book from CLE, then we did a page on money from Seton K, that I had laying around. I had to search to find a page in the book at her level,but it was perfect. It was just hard enough that she had to stop and think, but not frustrating. She was all smiles and so proud of herself. That if nothing else tells me my gut is right, and I've been pushing too hard. 

 

Then we did some picture study stuff and she's on cloud nine :)

[Tumbatoo]

My K'er is in Singapore 2A. We stopped because I was afraid she was getting too much in before getting down her math facts. She didn't tolerate practicing them. It was starting to be frustrating to do stacked addition counting on fingers. I also don't do spees drills or flash cards. Instead, we got a trial of Dreambox. She loved it! It's a review so far, but the game like settup presents a different perspective and is really helping her with her math facts. I also didn't want to bog down a K'er. We've also used Miquon for a break and a different perspective. This is my math loving child, but she's still only barely 6, so trying to slow it down for now.