What we’re up to: Math Class
Bug and Mr. Man are still plowing along in their school work. I still can’t believe how far they’ve come and how much they KNOW these days. This month, Bug will be 7, and Mr. Man will be turning 5 next month. I’m relieved that both boys are “ahead” of the curve, because this month, I am feeling like we need a bit of a break. We’re going back to the basics for the next two weeks, and then my parents are heading to visit us, and we’ll all be going to Paris for a week of vacation. Anyways: Math Class. We’re doing great!
Bug is thriving with Singapore Math. I think this is the best curriculum jump we have ever made. We’ll be keeping him with this program as long as it’s working! He is more than halfway done with 3A now, so today I ordered 3B. I like how detailed the home instructors guide is (we’re using the Standards edition) and how much it has helped me teach. I feel like this program is really helping him dig deeper into math instead of just rushing along, and he’s finally at a place where he is appropriately challenged. He’s currently working on multiplying 3 and 4 digit numbers by a 1 digit number.
He is ready for more complicated math, but his motor skills are still right on track for his age. This means that he needs more room on paper than the workbooks allow, so he writes everything out on a dry erase board as big as he likes, and then copies the answer into the workbook. It’s working well for now, but he does get frustrated sometimes. He is getting much better, and we’re working on penmanship to help him to write smaller and legibly. He still uses Beast Academy for some “fun math” but we are going very slow with it. I want to take our time with it, because they still are developing the program.
Mr. Man is showing his own strengths. Bug is so mathy, but Mr. Man has a passion for words. He’d rather read and write over count any day. Today when working on TouchMath he decided to re-write the math problems using rhyming words. 1+4=5 became cat + mat = at. We put the math away, and got out some books instead. TouchMath is still going really well with him, he likes the manipulatives, I like how gentle it is.
There you have it! There isn’ t much to report for Math because it’s all going so smoothly. It feels nice to be in a groove!
I would agree Singapore Math is a great Math curriculum! Glad it is working for your family.
I can’t believe how well it works for us. The funny thing is I avoided it at first. I just didn’t “get” it. Now, It’s my favorite math program! I’m not sure what we’ll do with Mr. Man as far as curriculum goes (because I still love Saxon K-3), but at least I have a plan for Bug for the next few years.