Math Options

[eachlee]

Hi,
I'm new to Heart of Dakota and have just started using Little Hands to Heaven with my 4 year old son and 3 year old daughter. I must say it is such a blessing! My 4 year old who has been hating doing any school all year is now excited and asking to do school. I also have a 17 month old, who is loving the fingerplays.

My 4 year old will be moving into kindergarden this fall. I am wondering if any of you use a different math program with Little Hearts? I am worried that the Singapore math might not be enough hands on. My son has a short attention span, and likes to see and touch things and rather than do a work book page. Maybe someone with experience with the Singapore math books can tell me more what they are like? I've looked at the sample pages but don't have a very good feel for what the day to day would look like. I know he'll be doing a workbook for writing and don't want to overwhelm him with so much seat work. I'd really like him to enjoy school, kwim?

Thanks so much!

[Kathleen]

Hi!

If you're looking for hands-on math...you will love LHFHG with the plans Carrie has written to go along with the Singapore Early Bird books! It is VERY hands on! My kids and I are thoroughly enjoying it this year. My 3 yo who's tagging along loves the active part of the math and does it with us (but does no writing in the workbook ). Here's a peek at the 1st week of math plans in LHFHG. http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/little ... t-week.pdf Now, for this week you're mostly working on forming the numbers so that your child can do the work in the workbook as you move along. Some of our favorite activities recently have been putting a big masking tape number line on the floor and adding numbers (placing manipulatives on it), doing various calisthenics a certain number of times while learning to recognize the number words from 11-20, hiding a penny under stuffed animals and using ordinal numbers to locate it, making patterns with snacks, learning about halves and quarters with apples & graham crackers...

There are hands-on activities to go with the 1st 3 years of Singapore in the HOD plans. I've also used the ones in Bigger with my oldest and those were a hit, too!

Singpaore math is very time-conscious to use...which also sounds like what you're looking for. We're also really enjoying the short lessons after using something previously that was quite time-consuming day to day.

Welcome to HOD!
Kathleen

[Michelle]

Hi there!
I didn't do Little Hands...at all, but I am doing Little Hearts For His Glory with my dd now, and I can tell you that there are "hands on" activities almost every day! In the LHFHG guide are all the "hands on" activities that go along with the Singapore Kindergarten level. Then, in the Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory Guide are all the "hands on" activities for Singapore levels 1A and 1B. Then, in Bigger Hearts For His Glory are all the "hands on" activities for Singapore Levels 2A and 2B. It's not until you get to the Preparing Hearts For His Glory Guide that the "Hands on" activities stop for Singapore Levels 3 and up, but then you would get the Singapore teacher's guide or Home instructors guide along with the workbooks. Besides, by then I imagine you would have a good grasp by then, as to how to teach this kind of math yourself without too much trouble.

Anyway, I can tell you that there are LOTS of "hands on" activities scheduled within the guides for you. I'm sure your son will just love them! My dd began her love for math because, (even though we didn't go through the Singapore Kindergarten workbooks) last summer we did all the hands on stufff in the LHFHG guide just to prepare us for Singapore level 1A. We began with HOD in Sept. and 1st grade with LHFHG, but we are doing Singapore levels 1a and 1b with the hands on activties listed in the Beyond......guide. So, we have 2 guides this year, but we are just using the next guide up for the math stuff only. However, if you do LHFHG for your Kindergarten, then you would only need the 1 guide, because the hands on stuff for Singapore Kindergarten is in that guide! I hope you can understand all this! I think I'm confusing myself now!

Hope this helps!
Michelle
ps. All has been going very well with Singapore, but I do slow down at times when I can see her little head filling up!

[crlacey]

As others have said, there are hands on activities written in the guide to go with Singapore. If you still wish to look at other hands on type math programs, Math-U-See is full of hands on. Your children learn math by using the blocks set sold at the MUS website.
I personally could not understand the Singapore way, so we are using a more traditional math method that I grew up using.

[my3sons]

The hands-on math plans HOD has written for the younger guides are among my favorites of the guides. They are short, doable, use things I have on hand, and work well for the even the most bodily/kinesthetic oriented child! HOD writes hands-on plans for Singapore up through level 2B, and then when 3A comes, the textbook is used for instruction. I like that hands-on math is used when dc are younger, but then they are able to make a break from it when they are older, as that is the point that math needs to be done more mentally. We have found this progression to work so well. I'd encourage you to try the hands-on plans along with the Singapore written work. I think you will love it!

In Christ,
Julie

[eachlee]

Thanks for the encouragement. I so appreciate hearing from mom's who've been where I am! I think that we'll go ahead and try the Singapore math. I can always change it if I need to (especially since the kindergarten workbooks aren't a huge investment) if it doesn't work out.

Nancy

[kelli]

i decided to go with hod about a year ago for our first year of homeschooling. i saw that i was able to pick my own math program. i chose horizons just because some of my friends were using it. i realized the hands on math activities written in the guide were not corresponding with the math in horizons. (i am slow) i realized half way through the year that my son had the most fun doing the activities carrie wrote to go along with the math. he called it fun math and it was his favorite part of our day. i then, finally realized how much more he would be learning if i had gone with singapore. we have completed the horizons first grade math book, but will now be doing singapore 1a and then b and going back and doing the math activities as written in the guide. i am so sold on hod in every way that i can't stand the thought of my son missing out on experiencing it as written. the really crazy thing is we are both looking so forward to doing a year of math over the summer. my suggestion is to do singapore math with the activities written just as they are in the guide. it's a beautiful combination. i hope others might learn from my mistake.

[MistyP]

We chose to do Math-u-see this last year, it was our first year of homeschooling and we had really liked what we had seen with MUS at the homeschool convention. HOWEVER, I didn't realize all of the wonderfully fun math activities that Carrie had put in LHFHG that went along with the Singapore, we have done a few of the activities but they didn't line up with what we were doing in school. We have decided to get Singapore for next year to go along with the activities in Beyond

[MomtoJGJE]

This post makes me realize that I need to actually be using the hands on stuff in the book to make it stick for them. I've just been doing the workbooks and skipping the hands on in the manual. oops......

[my3sons]

This post makes me realize that I need to actually be using the hands on stuff in the book to make it stick for them. I've just been doing the workbooks and skipping the hands on in the manual. oops......

I'm so glad you realized this and posted it for any others who may be inadvertently doing the same. You are so right here, the hands-on activities are necessary, as they show the process behind the paperwork of the workbooks. Later, when math gets much harder (as it is for my oldest now in 4B), they fall back on that hands-on work, not to do it hands-on anymore, but instead to do it mentally while remembering the hands-on. Hope that makes sense - anyway, good realization, and I'm excited for you to see how much doing the hands-on makes the workbook easier and retained better.

In Christ,
Julie