I'm baaaack!

I haven't posted since September 28? What a crime. A shame indeed. We've done sooo many interesting projects, read so many engaging books, went on field trips, played games, traveled and now we're here.. 28 weeks into our school year. I still have at least 8 weeks left, and I'm not going to let my previous absence deter me.

For the most part, things have been going well. However, ds has done much complaining overall, and we have listened to his complaints. He wanted more projects, we're working hard to offer him even more projects. Who would have thought my son liked hands on stuff? Hands on is not easy for me, but I'm starting to see its educational and emotional value, and enjoying the projects as well. We work on projects in History (SOTW-1), Natural Science (Young Discoverers Series books), and ds is in Cub Scouts, where he does work often on crafts and projects as well.

If I could sum up what ds enjoys doing, it would be reading and projects. This is why I'm seriously considering (but not sold yet) using WinterPromise's American Story I in Third Year. However, I love doing my own thing and planning my own books, as time-consuming as it can be. I may just get a few good project books and have a go without an actual curriculum. Don't fence me in is my motto.

I'm busy planning the following year, ds' Second Year (I prefer using Years as opposed to grades, a la Harry Potter). So far I have lots of juicy living books I can't wait to sink my teeth into and know ds will love (he loved the books selections in Ancient History and literature this year). Here are the sure materials I will be using:

Story of the World Volume 2 - The Middle Ages and Activity Guide (SOTW -1 is a big hit, for both ds and me)
Poetry for Young People Series: Edna Vincent Millay and Rudyard Kipling
The World's Greatest Artists Series (Mike Venezia): Giotto and Titian
The World's Greatest Composers Series (same author as above): Beethoven and Tchaikovsky
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) K-2: 12 more threads
Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl and Teacher's Guide put out by My Father's World
Natural Speller
Young Discoverers Series: Butterflies, Bugs and Worms (Insect studies this year)
Florida Wildflowers
Eyewitness Explorers Rocks and Minerals
English From the Roots Up

Items I'm still waffling about:

Spectrum Phonics 3rd Grade
Spectrum Spelling 3rd Grade
MCP Math Book B
Miquon Math
MEP Math (free curriculum online)

MCP Math is going okay. It just may be that ds just doesn't like math (like I did - oops!). However, I notice he gets into doing math hands-on, I just don't teach math hands-on very well. To me, MCP Math works as a teacher, as the teacher's guide is excellent and provides hand-holding for a teacher who's insecure about teaching math. It fits me to a T. However, I can see how ds would find it boring, and tedious. I'm not entirely sure it gets the job done either. I wonder if he would understand concepts better if he had another program. On the other hand, I don't want to be constantly switching programs and as a result, end up with gaps. I do supplement with Miquon, but I need to step up and read the Annotations beforehand instead of just handing him a sheet. Do the Miquon activities with him, pique his interest, spark his learning. I think with Miquon I can do this. I like Miquon, even if it is a bit baffling at times.

MEP Math. My newest discovery. I'd heard about it, but didn't even give it the time of day as I didn't have a working printer from the computer I normally use. That problem solved, and MEP Math is a very attractive alternative, or supplement. As much I don't like the idea of juggling too many math programs, MEP appeals to me, and I think will appeal to ds as well. A big part of the attraction is that it's free online, so I can test it out, print out as many pages as I see fit, and have a go at it. Not sure how it will work to actually teach, though. What I've seen so far has been intriguing, and the worksheets look very, very interesting and would appeal to my ds.

I'm having ds take the test first, and see where he is. I had him take the Singapore placement test, and I wasn't pleased with the results. He scored as if all our 28 weeks didn't matter at all. as if he could start all the way at the bottom of Singapore. Not pleased at all. This is the reason I'm thinking perhaps MCP is not working as I thought it did. But then I see glimpses of understanding, and I'm not sure anymore. It could be simply that he's not ready developmentally, emotionally, to do the subtraction or to really get a grasp on the subject. I should know this, having been there myself.

Thus far, I believe trying out MEP is not going to hurt, and may even be beneficial. I think continuing MCP could be a good foundation for ds, and adding in Living Math book selections once in a while doesn't hurt either. Ds really digs the I Love Math series so far. We also do occasional Family Math games, which is hard for me to do, actually. I don't know why. When I make the effort, we both have fun.

Would MCP, Miquon, AND MEP be too much? Or perhaps do 4 days of intense worksheet math, and Fridays do a Family Math game, Miquon Math? Can I replace MCP with MEP? Should I? These are questions that I don't see any definite answer to just yet.

Adding Fun to Math

Although Son and I are doing quite nicely with our math program, MCP Math Level K (Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics, Kindergarten Level), I felt we needed to shake things up a bit. We needed to add something fun. Games, activities, anything. I don't want math to be drudgery in Kindergarten. In fact, from all my reading and research, I gleaned that concrete examples and real-life experiences provide the best learning environment for a child his age (5). So began the quest for fun and games.

Now mind you, I'm great at researching, planning, obtaining, and scheduling our materials for the year. I even made flash cards and number cards. However, after almost three months, they were safely out of reach of daughter's clutches, but unfortunately ours as well. As a child who did not enjoy math in elementary school, it wasn't too easy to equate math with fun. Well, I am determined not to let that fact deter me from creating an enjoyable, practical experience for my kids. The matter of "how" still eluded me.

At first I thought I may need a change of curriculum. However, Son is doing so well and I feel confident in my ability to teach MCP and I like how the program is laid out. I had spent hours upon hours researching all the math programs out there before deciding on this one. Trust in yourself is one of the most important lessons any homeschooler learns, especially a newbie like me. No, we like MCP. MCP stays, likely all the way until 6th year (which is when the program ends). Then I thought about supplementation. Well, I knew I was going to be supplementing MCP Math Level A with Miquon's Orange Book next year. I don't have any experience with Miquon, but I have researched and concluded that it's a discovery approach to math, which would complement MCP's solid mastery approach perfectly. 

On the boards I've been frequenting, a tantalizing math program was being touted as the next "It" curriculum -- Math on the Level (henceforth referred to as MOTL). I usually don't fall for slick words (pictures yes, I admit it), but I had to admit, this program was very intriguing. MOTL seemed to be just what I needed: real-life math applications, thorough scope and sequence, freedom to tailor it to your child's needs and level (hence, the name, Math on the Level), fun and games, a mastery approach with built-in review, which in turn incorporates some spiral into this too. What was really of high interest to me was that this program seemed to do for Math what Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) does for Science. And I love BFSU. I love the freedom to choose threads that are relevant to us, the scientific thinking it encourages, how it makes me understand science better and see its beauty and interconnectedness, reading living books. This book certainly warrants a post of its own. 

However, with MOTL, I thought, can I really do this in Math? Is this a confidence issue or the fact that it's so expensive up-front is holding me back? It turned out to be a combination of both. BFSU is so inexpensive I didn't think twice about trying it out. I could always sell it if I don't like it, I reasoned. MOTL is not expensive in the long run, as everything is non-consumable (can be used with multiple children) and the scope and sequence goes from K-8. In the end it's actually a bargain, but.. BUT. The cost is up-front. You pay for the whole program, hundreds of dollars, without knowing if it will work for you. I know you could sell it, and I recommend people do this if they are sure they like the program, but I wasn't sure. The deciding factor for me wasn't actually the cost, but teacher prep and involvement. Although I love my children and enjoy being involved in their education, too much teacher prep is not something I would like to do on a daily/weekly basis (especially since I already have a little bit of this for BFSU, which I do gladly), and I have as a goal a more self-teaching model in mind for my children as they mature and get older.  In addition, I already have one spine text and workbook (MCP), a supplement (Miquon) and a third lined up online (Living Math.net -- wonderful resource for living math books), what did I need another Math for? Besides, I was getting away from my true quest: more fun and games in math, vs. a new program.

Hmm.. After much deliberation for a few weeks, in which I read as much as I could on the MOTL curriculum, read reviews on blogs, other websites, checked out the online samples no less than five times, and joining the MOTL Yahoo! group, I decided to stick with what I had and instead focus on getting math games. Which ones? How do I start? My brain doesn't naturally think mathematically. In pictures, yes. In words, a big yes. Numbers? Nuh-uh.

I decided to ask for help at my favorite homeschooling forum, The Well Trained Mind (WTM). What math games and activities are your favorites? I asked. I received an amazing amount of responses. Thank you, ladies! Many, many people recommended RightStart Math Games. RightStart is a math curriculum which extensively uses manipulatives and games, but it also includes a kit you can purchase separately with games. I looked into it, and it looks nice, but I wasn't ready to plunk more money down if I couldn't do it in the most frugal way possible. I still had it in the back of my mind if nothing else panned out, but I had other choices.

Family Math, for instance. Aaaaaaahh.. how could I have forgotten? I had read of this book probably a few years back now, and I put in my huge, overflowing, crowded mental filing system, where it got misfiled apparently. I remember it sounded really good to me. Check. I requested it through my library's Interlibrary Loan (ILL). I still haven't received it. 

In the meantime another WTM forum member kindly gave me a free link with a list of great math games to play with your Kindergartner. See, this is what I mean by frugal -- free :)  I gladly pay for certain things, but in this case I only need some fun, please. Thanks, Tonia!  

During all this, I received the copy of Miquon's First Grade Diary through my library's ILL, a diary of the author of the Miquon program who recorded one year, in the 1960s, of her first graders' experience with the progressive methods of her program. I found myself getting hooked with this book. Fascinating. I never thought, in a thousand years, that I would find a book about math so interesting. I'm still reading it, lingering and lo and behold, an unexpected source of inspiration and games! Turns out the program I'm going to be supplementing with next year, Miquon, has many fun and games built in and explained, but apparently only in this First Grade Diary and Notes to Teachers, not as much in the official teacher's manual, Lab Annotations. Needless to say, I will be purchasing both the First Grade Diary as well as the Notes to Teachers. Each is about five dollars new (I know!), but I can also get them used, as I did my copy of Lab Annotations (pristine condition -- free!), from the WTM board. I will just keep checking. If not, I'll splurge and spend the whole $10.

Back to First Grade Diary: I wanted to try out one of the games right away. There are pictures, which I'm much better with than following wordy instructions. The picture above shows Son and his pleased expression playing our first fun math game: matching up the number of Purely Os (the organic equivalent to Cheerios) with the dots on the dice. So simple. Why didn't I think of that? It was fun, and I upped the ante by asking him to match not only the number of dots, but also the positioning of the dice when they fell. He looks so proud matching up, eh? By the way, the long greenish thing behind him is his trusted companion, Pet the Snake, a stuffed animal Rhinoceros Snake.  Adding has never been so much fun at our house. I'm looking forward to playing more games and using more manipulatives.