You need to join the yahoo group for the science books, It isn’t super busy but there is a lot of good ideas that come down through the ranks and some very educated folks on there. As far as I can tell not too many EL however.
I think Kerlianne mentioned that math just becomes part of the da - little chunks here and there. That is what we are doing with science also. I"ve kind of picked up some basic concepts that need to be taught and then we just talk about them. At 25 months my son has a pretty good grasp of living/non-living. We didn’t do worksheets or anything, just go outside. We do a lot of sorting/categorizing. Everytime we put the toys away we sort them differently. Sometimes we put all the cars, critters, balls etc into different bins. Sometimes we sort by color, sometimes by shape. Sometimes we just make a mess of it and them we get frustrated when we can’t find what we want- but that is a good thing to learn also. We don’t make a big deal out of stuff. We blew up balloons and I said full. Then I let the air out all over my son’s face and he grabbed the balloon and said empty. He has the idea that air takes up space. He knows that air moves. I really like the book a lot. His recommendations for books are great!
Any idea how to find this yahoo group. I havent really had much to do with the yahoo groups.
Keri has given me a lot of ideas for books. And I go to our library for most books. We absolutely love the usborne behinners books. James learns so much from reading them over and over. But they are not comprehensive in all catergories. I love the science sections in the What Your _Grader needs to know series also. But I felt that it was lacking in its entirety. I really just wanted one all in one book. And I am absolutely smitten with the flow chart in the Buillding Foundations For Scientific Understanding book. I have plans to recreate that for math.
I still plan to do math haphazardly. I make up a lot of games and activities as I go along. And I borrow from a variety or curriculum and do sheets from various workbooks. But I want to have a focus each day so that I am not skipping things or jumping ahead too much.
Chris-
I shall have a look through our collection and pull out our favorites to make you a nice list…i actually have a booklist somewhere that organizes them by topics taught. We began with the MathStart books by Stuart Murphy, and they have nice lists of further activities for reinforcement. They are also by topic and are leveled, which makes it helpful. although, there again, minimally so! Marilyn Burns has some really nice ones, Alex adores one called The Greedy Triangle that always wants to add just one more side and one more angle…Alex can instantly recognize up to a pentadecagon…in fact she kept asking me for a ‘something?gon’ but I couldnt uderstand her. Finally she said, no, "I want a ‘centi-gon’ and made the ASL sign for hundred! She was DEVESTATED to learn that it is actually called a hectagon lol She still insists this is not correct…We have quite a range as well, from picture books to Penrose books to Life of Fred Apples, which she adores…for the harder ones she requires a lot more background and we read them again and again, at her insistence…I think she gleans just a bit more each time.
I do know that it causes her to think about the world differently. She was just a little more than two when I came into a room and she was sorting some bath blocks with numbers she hadn’t even glanced at in ages. She was sorting them into an even and odd pile (when questioned, she knows that even-numbers can all be ‘shared fairly between her and her stuffed hen’.
Definitely, the integration of math into picture book reading, daily activities, everything we do (especially science) has done this. At this age it is so much fun to teach a toddler what literary concepts like Onomatopoeia is in a picture book about math, whilst we buddy read (she reads the even pages and I read the odd!)
Sonya-
I absolutely second the BFSU book, and that is exactly how we use it as well, combined with the Handbook for Nature Study and a ton of supplements…I actually find that the integration of science, math, and reading all fall into place naturally, especially just incorporated into the day!
I recently posted a How to Teach your Toddlers Science thread, and Taniket first mentioned BFSU then. I bought it immediately and have been thrilled!
Here is the thread, and I actually found a free ebook version of the Handbook of Nature Study, the link is also posted in the thread. http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-other-topics/how-to-teach-your-child-science/
And if nothing else, take a look at the Rookie Readers! Your LO is just about the right age and they tackle concepts like mass, density, gravity, atoms, etc, as well as a geo set and life science set as well
Cross - posting this from the math supplement 3 y/o thread
Just wondering if anyone has seen or used this. Obviously we are not ready for it but thinking of ordering it. I found this on the Hoagies Gifted Website and it comes with rave reviews. The website is terrible. You have to wade through a mess to get to his material. Anyway opinions?
Sonya- we must be reading each others minds lol I recently bought the package after sending him an email! I will post in the advanced 3-year old forum as others have asked as well!
I picked up Marshmallow Math from the library today. It is a fine enough book. But I think I will take notes but not purchase it. It has great ideas but I liked and got more from KTM than Marshmallow. However, the KTM series is considerably more expensive.
The other thing that you guys might want to think about is picking up a Saxon 2 teachers manual and use it as a spine. Not the books for kids. It covers everything and is scripted. So it says, "say this.Then wait for a response and then say this…Do this…
I really did like the way that Saxon taught stuff in the early years. I’m betting you can get them cheap on Amazon or Ebay or homeschoolclassifieds.com. It is going to give you that solid foundation and you can adapt the lessons as the kids move to larger numbers. It will be a book for you and you will really get a feel for the spiral approach that Saxon uses. You really don’t need the student books as it is just straight math and you can get worksheets all over the internet.
You can use that with MEP or something else. And there is this resource: http://www.schoolhousetech.com/ I purchased the old version about 10 years ago, which I am still using. It is a much better product and will take a child through high school. I used it less as my son got older. But we used it to make time tests and a bunch of other stuff. i also used it to make tests when I couldn’t find the test kits from Saxon.
Saxon confuses me immensely. Their 54, 78 odd numbering system which is not in use anymore? So confusing. And I have read several times that the old versions are exponentially better than the new ones.
Do you have any idea what old book would be relevant for Kindergarten (usa) level?
The Saxon for younger grades is the old Saxon and it is much better. We used Saxon from Saxon 1 through Algebra 1. Once you get the Saxon 5/4 it has all been rewritten. We used the old stuff when you could usually get tests and answer keys on ebay.
Saxon was originally for public schools. So, the 5/4 means it is for a 5th grader or advanced 4th grader, same with 6/5 and so on, 7/6 can be skipped as it is mostly review. Saxon starts out at Saxon k. We used Saxon 1 in kindergarten. For most of the kids on here you could start that at about 3. Nee is going to laugh that I even post this as I’ve voiced my dislike for Saxon when it comes to the later grades.
I’m not sure you need the whole series. I think KTM and others will get you to where you want to go. It covers all of elementary math. Plus MEP and other resources. But it is a fine curriculum for the early years. I mentioned the second grade book only because it teaches basically the same material as 1 and 3 but only in more or less depth depending on the year. For a parent who has no idea how to teach specific concepts the lesson is scripted. For a good foundation that covers all the bases, Saxon is a good choice. I kept my Saxon Teacher’s manual for this very purpose even though I have no intention of using the program.
All this is just so that you begin to feel comfortable that you are covering the bases. I haven’t really looked at Ray’s but I know there are a lot of people who like it.
Sorry, here is the link to the kindergarten or 1st grade book. I don’t think they were used in grades per say just used till finished and then the kids moved on.
I am still debating if I need saxon. I am using IXL for all our core content so I don’t miss anything. And I plan to set up a flow chart for myself similar to what is in BFSU. And I don’t fear math, I tutor it currently (upper elementary) and I used to tutor it back in high school. So I don’t feel I need the scripting. I really like the spectrum and kumon workbooks for practice. We implement right star and miquon math (soon), i have marshmallow math and KTM on order.
It is just tha everyone says Saxon is so good… If I can find an old one cheaply I would like it for reference. I have issues. I want Singapore math too!
James is currently at a kindergarten math level. And we are very slowly working through the spectrum workbooks at that level. We haphazardly play math games, and have daily teaching moments, to work on concepts and then when we are ready we will go back to IXL to check his mastery for K. He had no issues mastering all the Pre-K content in less than 4 hours total.
If you drill math facts you will have down what Saxon does best. MEP is a great replacement Singapore (in my humble opinion better) and free…
Go to book sales - you might find old Saxon stuff cheap. I’ve picked up the old Saxon books for $.50 a book.
My husband is a book dealer we go to sales all the time. I can’t afford the kind of book library I want without going to sales. I like books that are hardbacks with dust jackets…I want a book that costs $25 but I don’t want to pay more than $1.00. Only because we love books, Books are usually .25 - $2.00. A lot of the kids science and math stuff gets left behind and you can pick this stuff up on bag day for $5.00 a box/bag. How do you find them??? http://www.booksalefinder.com/
Korrale4kq-
I did take a look at Rays Arithmetic, and whilst it is pretty comprehensive, it wasn’t something I thought I could happily and easily adapt for a toddler, even with Alexs love of all things number/math related…maybe some could?
full disclosure, though They are based upon the old-school McGuffy Readers books (I own them and have RARELY used them for anything- just too outdated and better options, IMO, so I know there are SO many that would disagree lol
Also, here is a link, previously posted several times by various wonderful BrillKid members that will allow
you to download, For FREE, the Saxon 5/4 and Saxon 6/5 books, in their entirety, so you can see for yourself lol (obviously this is Saxon Math for older kids, and, as Sonya has said, differs from the K- level and up old material. Still, it may help a bit)
I taught my first reader to read with mcguffys. Well I Used Samuel blumenfiels word list first. Which is a lot like the Flesch cards. And then I dove into mcguffy with the girl. She loved them. But we didn’t need to go beyond the primer.
I am re-reading the concept of one-to-one correspondence in Marshmallow math, and I wondered - why on earth would anyone say a child only understands that concept at age 6-8?
In Marshmallow Math, the author says:
‘One to one correspondence is a mathematical way of saying that if there are 6 peoples and you want to give each person a cookie, you need 6 cookies. This is a simple, but fundamental concept that child must learn. The above illustration using cookies is a good example of how to introduce the concept to your child. If you have a large family, then every meal presents a good opportunity to reinforce the concept. How many glasses will we need? How many knives and how many forks will we need? At snack time, how many apples or oranges will we need? If you have a small family and especially if there are only two of you, you will want to improvise. Throw a tea party for teddy bears or take toy animals on a picnic in the living room. If you have friends or family come to visit, take advantage of the opportunity to reinforce the concept with a different number of people. With older children, you may explore two-to-two and three-to-three correspondence. This will provide a foundation for understanding multiplication later’
As I read this, I’m thinking, what on earth is so mysterious about that? Why would a child need to aged 6-8 to be introduced to this? A 2 or 3 year old who understood the concept of quantity and could count to 10 could learn this!
Found this today.
Some might find it useful. Not sure if site is available outside the UK…
My quest to find fun maths things for Android led me here (though this isn’t an app). Tempted to get an iPhone just for the maths apps! But that’s another topic entirely!
