Miquon - number of pages per lesson?

[keirin]

Ok - I recently got the miquon orange and red books, the notes to teachers, and the annotations. I've browsed through them and started to make lesson plans. I'm also using education unboxed, inchimals, and math games of all kinds with miquon. But my question is - it seems like most people finish orange and red during their first year, and I'm looking at the thick stack of pages in orange and wondering if we'll even finish it much less both orange and red. I have twins that will turn 5 and start kindergarten with me at home, and I'm just wondering - what sort of pace is expected? Two pages a lesson? I know that the idea is to let your children choose topics that interest them but should I impose some sort of pace in order to finish the book? What do I need to do in order to stay on pace?

[73349]

I planned for us to do approximately the front and back of one page a day. Because the format varies so much, sometimes that's very little and sometimes it might be too much, but it seemed to work well on average.

If you go more slowly, you might only do 1 1/2 books the first year, and that's fine if that's a better pace for your kids.

[FO4UR]

No. Do not impose a pace.

 

The best way to do it, ime, is as Lore Rasmussen instructs.  Give them a packet of maybe 6-12 pages.  Let them choose what to do in the packet.  Every few days, make a new packet.  They will roll through pretty fast over the course of a year.

 

Use the pages they avoid as a cue on what to directly teach.  If they are avoiding something, it's typically b/c they are unsure of it.  A little hands-on lesson will move them along.

 

Don't plan it all out now.  Plan to spend 30min on the weekends making packets, jotting down which education unboxed videos to watch and what hands-on activities to do.  

 

Little kids learn sporadically, and your beautiful yearly plans will be worth nothing.  Week-by week, if not day-by-day.  5yo's are so funny that way.

[justasque]

No. Do not impose a pace.

 

...

Little kids learn sporadically, and your beautiful yearly plans will be worth nothing.  Week-by week, if not day-by-day.  5yo's are so funny that way.

 

All of this.  My goal was to stop right before it stopped being fun for the student.  I wasn't always perfect at this strategy with my little 'uns, but it remains a good guide even with my current Algebra II students.  Watch the student, not the clock. And not the calendar.  They will show you the pace they need.  Each lesson should be challenging but not frustrating.  And I find that students can only absorb so much at a sitting before they get "brain freeze" where they lose focus and can't do stuff they could do perfectly well ten minutes prior.  Ideally, you stop just before brain freeze sets in.  (And if they're having fun, don't hesitate to keep going - just keep a sharp eye out for indications that it's time to stop.)

 Math is not a race, and the foundations you build now will serve them well later.  

[Coco_Clark]

My 6yo using Miquon spends 20 minutes a day on math. Sometimes that's one page, sometimes it's 3 or 4. It really depends on the subject, on his mastery of it, on his interest level, on how many problems are on the page, ect.

 

That being said we did orange, all but maybe 10 pages of red, and a handful of blue already this year and we only pull Miquon out 3 days a week (one day is for education Unboxed games and another is word problem focused). You'd be surprised how quickly you can mow through the early books.

 

Also remember that orange/red are meant to be first grade. So starting in kindergarten even if you only finish 10 pages, you will be ten pages "ahead". :)

[MeaganS]

Dd5 averages 2 pages and a page of mep daily. My almost 4 year old does a page or 2 and no mep yet. That said, if it is a hard or slow day, I back off but this is what we hit most days.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Meagan S

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

No. Do not impose a pace.

 

The best way to do it, ime, is as Lore Rasmussen instructs.  Give them a packet of maybe 6-12 pages.  Let them choose what to do in the packet.  Every few days, make a new packet.  They will roll through pretty fast over the course of a year.

 

Use the pages they avoid as a cue on what to directly teach.  If they are avoiding something, it's typically b/c they are unsure of it.  A little hands-on lesson will move them along.

 

Don't plan it all out now.  Plan to spend 30min on the weekends making packets, jotting down which education unboxed videos to watch and what hands-on activities to do.  

 

Little kids learn sporadically, and your beautiful yearly plans will be worth nothing.  Week-by week, if not day-by-day.  5yo's are so funny that way.

 

:iagree:

 

I don't plan it at all.  I tried to start the orange book with my youngest in September, but she wasn't digging it, so I put away.  Brought it out again in mid-December.  Now, she loves it as a part of our mix.  I offer her a selection of a handful of sheets at a time and she chooses.  Some days she does one or two pages.  Other days, she does 5 or 6 and begs for more.  Some days she does none and plays with math cubes  or geoboards or whatever. In 2-1/2 months she has completed probably 2/3 to 3/4 of the orange book?  I have the red book ready to go, so we will move on whenever she is ready.  No need to schedule it out.

[lindsey]

We usually do one page front and back, and then some other activity--a favorite is using numeral cards to create a number with the rods...how many ways can we make 12? Or geoboards, or number line jumping, etc. We aren't currently working daily, but more like 3x a week? He's in PS kindy, so I'm mostly just trying to start and get used to the system so it comes easy to us in June. Or, easier* anyway. :)

 

I haven't thought to just have several pages on the table for him to choose from--typically the 4yo and 1yo are 'helping' in the worst way possible, so it's all I can do to control one piece of paper and the box of rods. :P 

Edited February 26, 2016 by lindsey

[keirin]

For those offering a selection - do you stay within a topic? Like 4-6 addition (B) sheets? Or do you offer multiple topics?

[MeaganS]

I offer whatever topic, but the rule is it has to be the next page in that topic. Usually with dd5, I let her pick a page and then I pick a page. We take turns.

[FO4UR]

For those offering a selection - do you stay within a topic? Like 4-6 addition (B) sheets? Or do you offer multiple topics?

 

 

Offer a variety of topics.

 

If you make a 6 page packet, I'd pick 2 pages of 3 different topics. I don't tell them any order to do them in.  They naturally gravitate to pages that they feel that they can complete.  Their choices are great assessments in and of themselves.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

:iagree:

 

Yes, I offer a few different topics at a time.

[keirin]

Thanks for the suggestions all.