We started out when my son was five with a time and money workbook that I got from walmart or something. Similar to this one. He was doing GREAT! So advanced for a five year old and all. I mean he was counting by twos, fives and tens; he was able to read TIME and he was working with MONEY. These seemed extremely advanced & he was just zipping along in his workbook doing wonderful. Well, I set it to the side for a bit for whatever reason and wouldn't you know - HE FORGOT IT ALL!!! It was one of the more discouraging moments I've had over these teaching years. I was completely baffled. How could we have worked so hard and it didn't mean anything?!? Part of it was, I think, because of the fact that it was just a workbook. There really wasn't any "real life" involved and I think it just didn't mean anything but marking something down in the book. He didn't "get" that he could apply that to his life. And, of course, the biggest reason was probably because... he was only five. But, I learned a lot through that. Just because you teach it, doesn't mean it really is being learned. ;o)
So, after I got over my shock! I went looking for a new math curriculum. I had heard a lot of good things about Saxon math so I looked into that one. This was about the time that they had first introduced the kindergarten program. I found it used and went for it! It was just a little too fussy for me. Too many things to keep track of. I just wanted a simple math program, ya know? We went through about half of that, but it just seemed so repetitive and it was hard to skip over those things he already knew. I mean, he pretty much understood how the calendar worked, patterns seemed so simple, and those little bears were more for playing with than teaching. This was about the time that I purchased SOW (the first go round...in 2005) and I saw that some people used Mastering Mathematics. I liked the idea of this one. But it's a bit fussy too. Really, it is just a lot of work! I even laminated all of the pieces. I never could figure out exactly what all I was supposed to be doing with them all. That one is still in a box somewhere. Of course I felt guilty for awhile about that one, so I think it took me a bit to come around to purchasing another. I was getting discouraged. I mean really discouraged. But, off I went looking for a new curriculum. This time I went with Horizons grade one. We got through that whole book and it worked ok. It was mostly review for him. I really did not like that spiral approach. It was scary because here you would be working on easy peasy stuff, then wham! All of a sudden you were supposed to know how to count by fours - without really having any experience. To be fair, we only had the workbook, not the teachers manual. It probably would have helped, but I was deciding at that point that I just wanted to stay on one thing at a time. I still like that idea best. But, even with that conviction, I went with Singapore math. This was when I was doing My Fathers World and that was what they recommended, so I went with it. As with Horizons, I don't really have a whole lot of complaint. They both seem to be ok. I don't really remember WHY I chose to stop doing Singapore. I have a feeling it had to do with that whole spiral thing, because right around that time I tried to go back to doing Mastering Mathematics, which tends to be focused on one thing at a time. I like that idea. Well, anyway, the next purchase was Math U See. Oh no, actually I used this one too when Superkid was around 6 years old. I borrowed it from a friend who didn't need it anymore. At that time they were spiral bound and I despise spiral binding. Something about it just seemed SO expensive for a SPIRAL BOUND book?!? Sorry, is it showing that bad? It just really bugs me a lot. LOL! There wasn't a whole lot of substance to the Math U See. I wound up going back to MUS when they got a good binding and after doing the entire year, I still felt like it was missing something. Superkid agreed. So, there went that dream of sticking with Math U See till then end. I really have had my heart set on just finding one and "till death do we part...", but it just hasn't really happened that way, sadly.
So, now, onto what we are currently using: Professor B. I am really loving Prof. B Math! It is much easier than I thought it would be. I thought I would dread doing it with them each day. But instead it has been like a fun game to play with them! It is really neat because the kids think they are just playing a game, but they are memorizing math facts by using their fingers. Now, they are not COUNTING with their fingers, but memorizing the different ways that you can "make" a number. For instance you can make a two (finger) and three (finger) five or a four (finger) and one (finger) five. So they are learning, automatically that two plus three equals five or four plus one equals five. You don't even have to say it. It just becomes automatic! Then, they move on into subtraction, again, without even knowing it. For instance they see that if you are trying to make eight, two fingers are always down from ten. So, they see that two plus eight equals ten and two taken from ten equals eight. It's a really neat concept! It is a very visual learning aid. There is also pictures of blocks, panda bears, etc. that flash. The game is to see if they can say what the number is really fast as it flashes. They also get their own turn to try to make the numbers on their fingers too. So it is interactive. Also, they match their fingers with a partner to see what number is bigger. One person will put up their hand with six fingers held up to the other persons hand who has seven to see who has more and who has less. It is very natural learning. Gradually you have memorized all of your addition facts as a family. Meaning you learn 7+1=8, 1+7=8, 8-1=7, 8-7=1. You begin by seeing the hand showing the fingers on the screen, but eventually you don't need the hands any more. They are only there to visually teach you. As you go into higher addition facts the methods change a little. For instance, it teaches you to think in terms of ten by making the number ten by borrowing from the number you are adding to. So, in the problem 8+6, eight is trying to be ten so he borrows two from six and it now becomes 10+4, which is of course easier to remember. The program makes the numbers personable by adding smiley and sad faces, which is cute. It also teaches a bit of fractions as well towards the end. I really like it actually. I have been working through this cd with both of my kids (although my 10 year old is WAY beyond the first cd, they recommended I go with it anyway since it is a very different way of learning.) So, we've been working through it fairly quickly for a bit of a review. We are only about halfway through the cd, but I really am (cautiously) planning to stick with this one till the end. I like the way that it seems so natural. I'm not sure exactly where I am going from here with Superkid. We've been sort of working through this CD to take a little break (and as I mentioned to get up to speed on how Prof. B works), and in the meantime I've been looking over the Life Of Fred Math. I also really like these, but not as much as I like Professor B. I worked through the fraction book (all by my self! Aren't you proud of me!?! LOL!) not only so that I could get a little review in my own math skills - I'm telling you, being at home all the time can drain your brain a little... But, I also wanted to see how it worked. I'm not totally as thrilled as I thought I would be. It does present the lesson in a nice way, in order to relate it to "real life." The story pulls you in a bit so that you are anxious to learn, although there are some times where it really isn't helping and you feel like it's a lot of work to learn (or re-learn in my case). I don't think I could just hand this over to Superkid like I had anticipated. Maybe some children (who haven't switched math curriculums a bazillion times!), but even doing the extra problems I didn't feel like it made sense enough for him. It was almost "too" real life like. Meaning, it jumps around a little bit with a new topic introduced every chapter. It wasn't very cut and dry, if you know what I mean. It would be really good to maybe introduce the topic, but I think you would need more instruction than what is given. I found myself looking online for certain questions I had. I'm keeping the books and I'm planning to use them, but just not as the base. They are a nice supplement I guess you would say. So, because I don't feel super confident with Professor B...yet (but I still feel hope...) and because the Life of Fred books didn't turn out to be all that I had hoped, I'm ordering Rod and Staff. :o)
Yes, I did just say I am ordering another math curriculum. Don't judge, mmm k.
What is drawing me to Rod and Staff is the thoroughness of the program. It really covers everything, step by step. I like that. Now, I may get through the prof b cds and decided that my 5 year old doesn't need R&S? We'll see. But, because of where my 10 year old stands, I feel obligated to do whatever I can to help him succeed. We're getting the fourth grade text, even though he'll be going into fifth this next August. I'm planning to keep working on prof. b through the summer along side R&S, so that he feels confident about himself. That's really the most important thing to me, you know.
I'll keep you updated as we work through these & let you know how it works out. ;o)
...edited...
We eventually decided to go with regular ol' Saxon math instead. We are using the DIVE cd's and Superman is teaching. ;o) My Kinder is still going ahead with R&S math. We will update you on how all of this works for us.
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