Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Subject Topic: HWT-Mat Man? Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Maggie
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Posted: Jan 05 2010 at 11:13pm | IP Logged Quote Maggie

Hi Moms-

Has anyone used the "Mat Man" books provided by HWT. I was looking at the shapes, etc...but didn't know if it was just twaddle and something that just naturally comes to children anyways...worth the money, or not?

You can find them here

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Maggie

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kingvozzo
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Posted: Jan 05 2010 at 11:19pm | IP Logged Quote kingvozzo

I've never used them...HWT has become much more school-oriented in the last couple of years, and I think the extra mat man activities are related to that.

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stellamaris
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Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 7:13am | IP Logged Quote stellamaris

We used Mat Man here. It is a wonderful way to familiarize the child with the names of all the pieces. Also, copying a picture of Mat Man, or following your directions to assemble him, gives valuable practice with listening to instructions and with being attentive to visual details. This prepares a child later to copy letters, words, and, finally, sentences.
Mat Man also is helpful in teaching left, right, top, and bottom in a fun way. These concepts are important in the writing process.
So, I would recommend Mat Man especially with a very young child or a child that has special needs and needs extra exposure to concepts. An advanced or precocious student might be bored with it, however.

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kingvozzo
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Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 8:50am | IP Logged Quote kingvozzo

i guess I should have been more specific. I think that MatMan is a great tool, for all the reasons that Caroline mentions. You don't need anything other than the wood pieces for him. It's all the *extra* stuff they're selling now, ie MatMan story books, that I think are unneccessary.

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Sarah M
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Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 11:40am | IP Logged Quote Sarah M

We use HWOT very successfully without Mat Man.
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Marcia
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Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 3:25pm | IP Logged Quote Marcia

we use HWOT without mat man, but I love the music CD.

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