Two Boys Mastered Math

by Angie
(Lincoln City, Oregon, USA)

Product: Miquon Books - 2 full sets, Lab Notes, Notes to Teacher, Kindertarden Book

Dates Used: 2003- Present

Likes: A full math mastery program. Built into a 3 year time frame, although each book may stand alone, it fits together as 6 small magazine books. If your son likes legos, he will love the exploration of this math. The answer is not always the point of the worksheet, how the child relates to the space that is a number is. The thought process behind the working of the puzzle is where you find if they are on track. Each day we work through a worksheet, one son had a 20 minute time limit, one son did 6 pages a day - using bar graphs, cuisinare rods, and rulers, they solve puzzles to find the answer.

Memory comes through repeated practice with the pencil, hand manipulation, and seeing the answer come to life. There are plenty of years left to sit and do "Math" work later - these early years really need to be spent understanding what space, volume, patterns, measuring - is. Then assigning numbers to it.

Dislikes: The first time through the curriculum was hard. The lessons are quite different than a sit down, do this type of math. There really is no right or wrong way to do a page, the Lab Notes tell you what the goal of the page is. We had several friends who used Miquon and then switched to Saxon or TT, so I had access to them to help me. Many days you stare at a page and wonder what they want you to do. Take the time to look through the lab notes, and be committed to doing all of the workbooks, as it does come together amazingly well by the end of the 3rd grade.