I just want to post an update on our use of Mortensen/Base Ten math. It's been a year and this is where we are now.
1. I know math better than I have in my life. After countless hours of playing with blocks, math finally makes sense to me. And not only does it make sense, it is beautiful. I no longer have to struggle to make math interesting, it just is.
2. We started last year and P. (my 5 year old, then 4) was adding/subtracting numbers inside of 10. We were doing some stuff with numbers above 10 if they showed up in games, but mostly up to 10. We were skip counting and working on multiplication facts with Times to Remember. Now, at 5, his favorite math is playing around with polynomials. He can easily do percents, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. He can do those things with negative as well as positive integers. We are getting a grip on fractions and what those are. He can do area and perimeter of shapes. He has had an introduction to trig, geometry, and next week we will be exploring Calculus in the form of an infinite series, which he discovered. We are still skip counting and working on addition and subtraction and getting our facts to instant recall.
3. We formed a base ten blocks FB group, it now has over 100 people in it.
4. I also started a website for Mom's who are just like me. Didn't understand math well enough to teach it. But they want to learn. You are all invited to join us.
No you don't have to have the blocks to begin. In the FB group there is a PDF for paper blocks in the files section. A year ago I said that I didn't think there was a way for most of us (normal moms like me) to teach math without base ten blocks. Of course, you can teach it, but not in an accelerated or EL manner. Base ten blocks are a game changer in my opinion. I do hope if you are looking for a math program you at least cut up some paper blocks and give it a try.
website:
www.arithmophobianomore.comFB page:
https://www.facebook.com/nomathfearsFB group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/arithmophobianomore/
Here is the last post I did about teaching fractions to the pre-school crowd.
http://www.arithmophobianomore.com/home/learning-to-count-not-as-easy-as-you-think