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Willa
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| Posted: March 15 2007 at 11:56pm | IP Logged
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Aidan, who is 7 and dev delayed, has just learned to count and is still a bit shaky sometimes about accuracy. Do you have any ideas for a gentle and manipulative-based approach for math? He is not ready for formal addition and subtraction but I think I can start in a very lowkey way. His OT recommended using an abacus. Any ideas about something that would help guide with the concepts and so on?
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Genevieve
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| Posted: March 16 2007 at 2:29am | IP Logged
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I'm wondering whether Montessori approach to Math might be helpful. Each exercise has a isolation of difficulty that could make things clearer to Aidan. Shu-Chen has some very detailed lesson plans. MWEI has great photos. Perhaps a few file folder games might be handy if Aidan prefers variety in presentation while solidifying concepts.
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Genevieve
The Good Within
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SharonO
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| Posted: March 16 2007 at 7:54am | IP Logged
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I haven't look at it in depth lately, but the Saxon K math book uses a lot of manipulatives like the little colored plastic bears for sorting and counting. They also use household stuff to teach first, second, third position. I just gave a copy I had at home to a friend of mine or I could give more concrete details.
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Sharon in MO
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Helen
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I've had a lot of recommendations to use Right Start math. (Abacus based) This past year I finally got the program. (It is not cheap.) I have to say it was the best math text and approach yet.
But, I couldn't sustain the lesson planning. You really have to read the teacher's manual and follow along. This year, Sound Beginnings took all my lesson planning time.
Or was it all the years of the other programs making Right Start look good?
I also used Elizabeth's book guide for Math read alouds. This also was extremely helpful.
Right Start offers a lot of variety in presenting the same concept. This was very helpful to my delayed students who need to hear things many times, yet realize they are hearing the same thing again and again.
If you don't really like to follow a teacher's guide, I wouldn't recommend the program. I think for this program to be worth it, you have to like to follow detailed instructions and have the time to photocopy the paper manipulatives and assemble all the different parts for each lesson. (The parts are excellent including songs, rhymes, manipulatives and paper two dimensional concepts.)
I've only used level A.
The two moms who raved about the program were home schooling one child.
I'm trying to give a balanced view of the program.
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Ave Maria!
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mom3aut1not
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| Posted: March 16 2007 at 11:22pm | IP Logged
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Willa,
I have been using RightStart with Joseph for about 20-21 months. I go at whatever pace he needs; we are almost 2/3 of the way through level B. Right now it's very slow because of his poor communication skills. But he does seemto be learning. He surprised me at Christmastime when he responded to mentioning the word parallel to my mother by saying "Parallel!" and holding his arms parallel to each other. I had thought he hadn't really gotten it.....
If you don't want to have lesson plans or don't want to spend the money, you can get her original program (Activities for the AL Abacus) which is multi-level. If you got that, the worksheets, the abacus, and the games and manual, you would pay a chunk,but you would be covered for years. (You could also use much of it for any other children K-4.)
Here are a link.
http://www.activitiesforlearning.com/index.asp?PageAction=VI EWCATS&Category=30
I really like RightStart.
In Christ,
Deborah
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momtomany
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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I've been using Developmental Math this year with John. I don't know how the lower grade books are since we jumped into Level 6, but they break down everything into very small steps and are very easy to understand. Switching to this series has really made a big difference.
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Jamberry77
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| Posted: April 15 2007 at 12:32pm | IP Logged
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I wanted to add a few words about Rightstart Math. Helen is right about the Kindergarden level about having to photocopy and cut some things out to use as manipulatives. That ends at first grade, though. At that grade, a workbook is provided and one uses the manipulatives that came in the kit.
I like the script for the teacher. Almost all lessons are two pages (think left and right spread open book). I sometimes glance ahead in the book so see what's up and coming but normally I open up the book for the day's lesson and just start teaching. It's very clear and straightforward for the parent.
Another big plus is it has very little writing, especially for the younger grades. That appealed to me. Also, it teaches strategies instead of purely counting or memorizing. Eventually the child will memorize but the program insures that through the use of manipulatives, the child visualizes quantities in his mind.
Another Catholic homeschooling mom (she has seven kids and uses these for K-4th) told me about this years ago and we've used it for Kindergarten, first, second, and third, and we'll use it next year for fourth, then the geometry part for fifth (which, the author tells me, is not pure geometry but rather teaches math concepts through geometry). We have loved it; I have learned many new strategies that I never knew before, and Thomas has surprised me by the methods he has used to figure out tough problems.
This does take about 45-60 minutes per day, at least in third grade. The author strongly encourages playing the math games in the game book she sells. She says learning math w/o games is like learning grammar but never reading books.
I met the author yesterday at the Catholic Family Expo in Charlotte and she and her husband are Catholic and normally only attend Catholic HS conferences and visit charter or private schools. The articles on the website will definately answer a few of your questions.
By the way, the K. book has about 70 lessons, then the number of lessons slowly increases. In third grade, the book has 142 lessons. So that definately gives time to take a day here and there for just math games.
Love,
Kelly in NC, mom to Thomas-9 and Peter-5
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ShawnaB
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| Posted: April 15 2007 at 1:59pm | IP Logged
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Hi Willa,
Have you looked at Schiller Math? It is a Montessori, homeschool math curriculum. One thing that is kind of nice is that there are two kits, one for ages 4-8 I think, and the other from ages 9-12. It is geared to address developmental needs rather than grade level standards. Each kit comes with a set of manipulatives, a mat, music CDs and a workbook/guidebook. I would highly recommend seeing the kit before purchasing though, as it is a little spendy ($200). I know our Charter School has purchased the sets for parents to view before purchasing.
Hope to see you this summer!
Shawna
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: Math for beginners?
