Field Trip
Yesterday AJ finished her math book, and I realized that I had the textbook but not the workbook for the Part 2 book for the first grade Singapore math.
I decided that I'd better check and make sure we had M&M's Kindergarten 2B book while I was at it, since she is almost done with her book as well. Then I realized that the book she's almost finished with is the 2B book.
I'd forgotten that she whizzed through the Earlybird Kindergarten 1A and 1B books so quickly last year that we started 2A early, and then ended up starting 2B even earlier. So she's basically almost finished with her entire math curriculum for this school year already.
That leaves me with basically 2 options: I can either let her go ahead and start the book AJ just finished--which is rather advanced even for 1st grade, or I can find something else to fill in with for the rest of the year.
So today we decided to take a field trip to the curriculum store and then grocery shopping. Morning decided to come along and keep us company, which was fun.
I ended up getting the workbooks for both Primary Math 1A and 1B for the first grade math book, and then some supplemental books for both girls also--the "extra practice book" for Primary Math 1 and the "Challenging Word Problems" book to go along with this year's work too. I think I'll have M&M do some of the extra practice book, then start the next book along with that. If she's working through both books it might slow her down a bit. AJ will really enjoy the word problems book, I think.
I also bought a math board game (basically a mathematical version of Scrabble) and a couple of math computer games (Math Blaster 1 and 2) to add some variety. And, I got phonics and vocabulary workbooks for the older 2 kids and a pre-phonics book for Baby E. Adding in the Wild Animals File Folder Facts book and the Draw Right Now! Land Animals Around the World book, I feel that I filled in some gaps in our curriculum quite nicely.
The kids were so excited about their new books that they begged to start working on their new math workbooks in the car on the way home.
How can I say no to a request like that? Especially when every time they turn a new page I hear delighted exclamations, giggles, and "this is so much fun!" from the back seat all the way home.
I decided that I'd better check and make sure we had M&M's Kindergarten 2B book while I was at it, since she is almost done with her book as well. Then I realized that the book she's almost finished with is the 2B book.
I'd forgotten that she whizzed through the Earlybird Kindergarten 1A and 1B books so quickly last year that we started 2A early, and then ended up starting 2B even earlier. So she's basically almost finished with her entire math curriculum for this school year already.
That leaves me with basically 2 options: I can either let her go ahead and start the book AJ just finished--which is rather advanced even for 1st grade, or I can find something else to fill in with for the rest of the year.
So today we decided to take a field trip to the curriculum store and then grocery shopping. Morning decided to come along and keep us company, which was fun.
I ended up getting the workbooks for both Primary Math 1A and 1B for the first grade math book, and then some supplemental books for both girls also--the "extra practice book" for Primary Math 1 and the "Challenging Word Problems" book to go along with this year's work too. I think I'll have M&M do some of the extra practice book, then start the next book along with that. If she's working through both books it might slow her down a bit. AJ will really enjoy the word problems book, I think.
I also bought a math board game (basically a mathematical version of Scrabble) and a couple of math computer games (Math Blaster 1 and 2) to add some variety. And, I got phonics and vocabulary workbooks for the older 2 kids and a pre-phonics book for Baby E. Adding in the Wild Animals File Folder Facts book and the Draw Right Now! Land Animals Around the World book, I feel that I filled in some gaps in our curriculum quite nicely.
The kids were so excited about their new books that they begged to start working on their new math workbooks in the car on the way home.
How can I say no to a request like that? Especially when every time they turn a new page I hear delighted exclamations, giggles, and "this is so much fun!" from the back seat all the way home.
Labels: learning
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 7:32 PM[Permanent link]
4 Comments:
You've got a couple of firecrackers there!
Have you been to starfall.com? There are lots of games and printables there.
yes- i don't know why those singapore math books are so easy, i can't imagine only using two a year. my girls love them, too. i intersperse them with miquon and it seems to stretch them out a bit. rainforestmaths.com is an australian or new zealand site that has tons of math activities, like starfall but for math. enjoy
As a math person, I loved this post! When you mentioned having the option of going further in math or doing a new curriculum, I was cheering for the math at first, but then I realized a better option would be to let the student decide, especially if you gave her very specific choices. That way, she would have some control over her studies, and thus possibly appreciate them more. I would think that one of the best pros in homeschooling would be the flexibility to cater the curriculum to suit the child.
Ellen (aka Ginevra)
Liz, I had been to starfall before, but hadn't bookmarked it. Thanks for reminding me--some of the stuff there is really perfect for Baby E, too.
Mrs. Hannigan, I'll check out that site--thanks! The Singapore math is supposedly kind of advanced for the grade levels, but my kids don't find them at all difficult either.
Marauders, I do like to get the girls' input on curriculum choices--my mom used to let us pick out our own schoolbooks more and more as we got older, and I think you're right--it does make the kids feel more invested.
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