Let me make a general comment about the LM curriculum and other different Curricula, as I think many may wonder the same when they have also seen the Doman and Shichida curricula (which are already quite different between themselves).
First, it's the same old point I keep making on numerous related things - there are no hard and fast rules (except that learning/teaching should be fun and joyous). What there are are just GUIDELINES, not rules. They are there as something that you can CHOOSE to follow or not, and not to enslave you to following. Every child is different, and a guideline may work better for one child than another. The most important thing is for YOU the parent to gauge whether this is something that fits your child's needs, or not, and to tailor it accordingly.
Secondly, regarding the LM curriculum, the most important thing to understand is that the medium (or lesson-delivery tool) being used is very very different, and our curriculum is designed with LM in mind, and not flash cards.
If we were to design a curriculum that was to be used with static flash cards, you can bet that the curriculum would look A LOT different.
In particular, our curriculum is designed bearing in mind Little Math's features, such as:
- Different shapes, different colors
- Different icons altogether
- Different sizes, and mixed icons
- Grid display as well as random placement
- Dynamic random placement which is different each time (not 'static random')
There are many more which I will not name, but the list goes on.
Regarding your other questions:
- Each session is designed to be showed in one sitting. If your child is paying attention, then show them all. BTW, each lesson is different. For example, lesson one is ordered sequence, the second one is random sequence. Not to mention different icons each time.
- If you could only use one icon set, then red dots may be a good choice. Personally speaking, however, I would suggest using at least different shapes and colors instead of just sticking with red dots.
- Definitely try it again with LM. You might also want to see what many other parents who were in similar situations have said in the Testimonials pages.
Hope that helps!