The last article promised curriculum reviews and I’ll deliver those, but with a different take than originally intended. You see our world got flipped upside down this week when my husband became the homeschool teacher.
hero-school
I feel extremely blessed to be married to an awesome man who I can hand over curriculums to and say “teach.” He’s an involved dad and a smart man, so I don’t worry if he’s up to the challenge – but the challenge wasn’t in our plan. He was the dad / husband with the stable job and insurance, so although it took a toll we weren’t too worried when we decided to try the homeschool life, which meant me cutting back on work. We figured it would give me time to build up Mi Families and give us the opportunity to travel with dad’s work while strengthening the boys skills. It was a temp plan in the beginning that grew to a plan of continuing on as long as possible and we pray the possibility is still there.
our classroom
We were shocked when my husband was let go from his place of business. He is looking into appeal processes for the job he loved and other job options… as well as unemployment options as I type. Since he was the main source of income we realized we needed a solution quickly. I reached out to my network and found work with Mother Goose Time. I love expanding my network and collaborating for myself and Mi Families, but I admit it’s hard to let go of my homeschool plan. Still, we have A homeschool plan and while my husband figures out his next step, I’m thankful he’s the one educating and caring for our children and their needs. But, this made me re-think curriculum. I have been designing a curriculum based on research and my boys individual needs and my teaching style… MY teaching style. What is HIS teaching style and what would be the best program for him to use with the boys? We don’t know yet. This is why I scrapped my original review plan. Instead of a review of what I think is quality programming – I figured I’d video tape the boys using different programs and let YOU cast your own opinion. I don’t know what would work well for your family’s needs as I’m not in your home – or teaching your students. HOWEVER, should you need help deciding I CAN assess your children’s learning styles and help you narrow down choices, or assist you in creating your own curriculum. (If you are not homeschooling, but need tutoring assistance, I offer some unique/individualized curriculums for that as well!)
Last year we used TouchMath * Great for basics
The curriculums facing off this week are: MathUSee and RightStart Mathmatics. I have no good reason to start with a math curriculum other than that’s what my boys have enjoyed the most lately. They are doing math ALL the time now – for FUN! For real!!! At this moment my 6 yr old is under the table with a ruler, paper and pencil – measuring, adding, subtracting… Is it because of one of these programs or trying out various styles? I dunno, but if it works… we’ll continue on. My 8yr old says to continue on with all four styles – mine, the one my husband is starting up, and the two you’ll watch on video.
100s chart: Math-U-See style
Mine is a progression program which works on understanding how each number can be used in real world application. For instance zero & starting number line, 1 & one-cent, 2 & doubles, 3 & triangles, 4 & ¼or25%, 5 & counting by 5’s… Each number can be taught through counting, calculations, money, time, calendar, fractions, percentages, shapes… Each number can be taught as a whole group while applied differently for each age/stage. Each number becomes understandable as “why we learn math.”
Beta blocks
My husband is following my program and tweaking it for how he teaches best. He is also going to start using some online programs through Little Lincoln and Khan Academy and we’ll letcha know how those go, but today’s v-log will feature two curriculums showing top rated programs and how the first lessons went in our home. NO we aren’t going to use ALL the programs all year. We’ll figure out who learns best from which one and continue on from there. So far both boys agree that the best part of both programs are the music. Watch for yourself and see if there are any parts you think would interest your student. Then feel free to contact me with any direct questions you may have about any of the programs mentioned. You can contact me by commenting below, messaging me at Christi@MiFamilies.com or posting on our Facebook or Youtube sites.
*Click to watch Lesson 1 of RightStart Mathematics
*Click to watch Lesson 1 of Math-U-See
Thanks for reading / watching. Check our next blog for more teachable tools.
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