We're in a really good place with math for Clara now. I will go back to a formal curriculum once she's in first grade, but for now we're having a lot of fun, she's having less anxiety about math and she is still learning.
Tuesday is library day so Alex and I went while Clara was in gymnastics (the library is right behind the gym where her class is). I get a lot of info from the Living Math site... but the Chicago Public Library system is much harder to work with than what I was used to in Texas... so I just get what our local branch has. Thankfully, in the picture book section the books that are number/counting related have a number sticker on the spine. Alex and I just walk through the section collecting random "number" books. It's fun to get home and see what we've got. We also make a stop in the math section in the non-fiction area. You can find some fun stuff there as well.
We got a ton of books but here are the ones we've been using so far...
One Was Johnny by Maurice Sendak - Cute little counting book. It just goes to 10 but then goes back down again.
How Many Blue Birds Flew Away? by Paul Giganti, Jr. - This one was a pleasant surprise! It just goes to show that just because it's in the picture book section doesn't mean it doesn't include challenging content. Just read the review on Amazon and apparently the School Library Journal wasn't impressed.... said it was boring with no plot. Maybe so if you were just reading it for story time... but for us it was great. On every two page spread you have to count one item (like oranges), count the second item (like apples) and then figure out how many more of one item there was than the other. We used our Math-U-See blocks and enjoyed our time we spent reading this book.
Math Fables by Greg Tang - probably my favorite book so far. Again, we made it interactive and used the blocks which I think really brings it home for Clara. It covers numbers 1-10 and the different ways to add up to each number through cute little stories. Great practice with simple addition.
I know I homeschool but I think this is a really fun way to help your kids with math without doing boring workbooks and flashcards (although Alex really loves workbooks and flashcards... sigh).
Speaking of Alex... he is in heaven right now! I found out about this cool game on a homeschool message board. Its called Timez Attack and its a great multiplication drill for boys (I'm sure it's great for girls too... but it definitely seems more boy oriented). We downloaded the free version this afternoon and Alex is loving it. You battle ogres and such with multiplication questions. It was a great find for us since he's enjoying his new found skill but it won't be covered in our math curriculum for a while. Its a fun way for him to continue to gain speed and confidence with his multiplication facts without adding another math curriculum into the mix. I think we may have to invest in the full version soon!
Okay... that's it for my homeschool post. I'll be back later with some pictures!
we had a really good online maths game too, I loved it myself! I must find it, remind me later, I am exhausted from reading all the things you did in your previous post!
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