I've been watching this thread for a while. I'd love to join you on Skype
My kids prefer SchoolHouse Rock and Times to Remember. They have shorter text than the rest and for them, as non-native English speakers, these songs are very attractive and easier to remember. They're singing them daily to me
) We started looking at Peter Weatherall videos on youtube too. Funny thing is that the youngest is looking at a book we have in Romanian about colors and he's singing Times to Remember songs
Unlike Sonya, who knows firsthand different math methods parents talk here on BK forum or elsewhere, I only read about them in some posts. My experience is with the beginning Montessori lessons only. I've watched amazing Ella and other kids doing very good at math. Yet my kids are different, at least one of them that I'm particularly interested for his homeschooling. After reading studies and books on Montessori Method I understand better Mortensen Math and agree with its practicality. What's more, they use the senses and it's so attractive that they completely forget about computer and iPad.
The question that I had to ask after reading about more than one method and watching other was:
WHAT do I want my kids to do with math? WHY do I want math for them? The answer became clear mainly after watching some of Crewton Ramone's videos.
I want them to understand math. I didn't understand it myself in my studies, even though it's been one of my favorite subjects (apart from foreign languages). I had great teachers all the time. And I got lost on the way when algebra and trigonometry proved to be too much for me. I loved statistics in college - that's the moment I realized I need math in life and I'd better do something to fill the gaps I've had over time. Have to say it's the first time I'm relieved that I can really fill these gaps and pretty fast too.
Attached you see my handmade manipulatives. They are made of cardstock. Which means are not good for stacking. And kids stop pretty soon when they discover they can't be stacked. I need the plastic manipulatives. Not just for the kids, but for myself! Thank God I have great friends in USA
Today we had the 3rd lesson and the last one I cut very fast 9 circles made of the same colored cardstock as the blocks. And we put them next to the blocks, in order. The little one, 2 years and 8 months, has a thing for the orange block (2) and recognizes few others too. They were in love from the first lesson. As I said, I need to help them stack. If I made them from cardboard they'd had been much more useful. I don't have the time to make them again. We'll play with what we have for a while.
Have to admit, in the first lesson I told them 'NO' three times
This is a habit I'm working on. Crewton Ramone has tons, really tons of sample lesson, advice in each lesson, and he has A LOT OF PATIENCE and HUMOUR. I don't have his patience and humour, really I don't. He's set to making kids have fun while playing math.
Ever since Sonya told me about Crewton Ramone House of Math I've been watching videos, looking at how fast kids understand and how happy they are when they are playing. And he is right: that's what kids do all day, PLAY.
I have a special needs kid, one that uses more perception than logic. He touches manipulatives, looks at them, sees the color, the length etc. and that's how he is learning. Show him first and foremost the abstract and he'd rather learn a foreign language than that! I like this method - from concrete to abstract, from using your senses to working with symbols only. I suspect this is what works most with special needs kids. Crewton Ramone had succes with such kids and I'm not surprised cause he has the tools and is a great teacher.
Yes, I'm caught in this cause I believe it can work for my kids
. And I have a tight budget so I want to invest only in what I know would really work for my kids and for quite a long time. I'd also prefer a single method and or curriculum, not more.
When my husband (who is currently in China) was very impressed with the boys' first lesson, he said: "You raised them in a healthy environment, they are curious to learn." He had to trust me for the last 6 years so my heart melted and I am so happy he told me that. Their education has been mostly on my shoulders all this time (he's been busy with work and studies, we barely see him... next year we have him back for good, yay!) and I've done my best to do what we both wanted. If he likes what I've been doing and how they develop it means I'm really on the right track. And his feedback is the I need to move on.
Digg
