Norah's math curriculum came in the mail the other day, only one business day after I placed the order. I was very impressed. I inspected everything right away and saw that the wooden case that holds her blocks was broken. I was disappointed. I called the company, ready for a fight, but they gave me no trouble, said they'd send a replacement immediately. I was speechless.
It feels like Christmas in our house right now. I love getting books delivered to my door. And, praise God, we have stayed on budget the last few months, saved several hundred dollars and we were able to pay for our supplies in cash. I could so easily justify putting home school supplies on a credit card. I've done it in the past. But, it feels even better to open the box and know it is paid for.
We chose Math U See over Saxon, after all. My sister in law swears by it and brought it when she visited for two weeks, so I studied it in detail. I think I will like the fact that this program uses repetition only when it's necessary. Norah won't be expected to do ten more problems of the same kind just to prove that she's know how to do them or because "It's good for her." Is it really? There is a place for drill in math, but I think it should be used sparingly, like when kids need to memorize their multiplication tables and whatnot.
I also like the fact that Norah can see and touch the math concepts she is being taught by using her unit blocks. Take a look at this page, for example. It shows you how to take twelve of your child's unit five blocks and build a clock face. Each single unit in the five represents one minute. Twelve units of five make up one hour or sixty minutes... The mystery of the clock's face is perfectly unraveled in a way that just about any four year old (or her thirty year old mom) can understand. It's brilliant!
Norah was ready to do her first lesson that day. I was planning to wait till after Labor Day to begin school when all the public schools do. But, I realize we don't have to wait. We home school so we can set our own schedule anyway. We might just go ahead and begin math right away!
It feels like Christmas in our house right now. I love getting books delivered to my door. And, praise God, we have stayed on budget the last few months, saved several hundred dollars and we were able to pay for our supplies in cash. I could so easily justify putting home school supplies on a credit card. I've done it in the past. But, it feels even better to open the box and know it is paid for.
We chose Math U See over Saxon, after all. My sister in law swears by it and brought it when she visited for two weeks, so I studied it in detail. I think I will like the fact that this program uses repetition only when it's necessary. Norah won't be expected to do ten more problems of the same kind just to prove that she's know how to do them or because "It's good for her." Is it really? There is a place for drill in math, but I think it should be used sparingly, like when kids need to memorize their multiplication tables and whatnot.
I also like the fact that Norah can see and touch the math concepts she is being taught by using her unit blocks. Take a look at this page, for example. It shows you how to take twelve of your child's unit five blocks and build a clock face. Each single unit in the five represents one minute. Twelve units of five make up one hour or sixty minutes... The mystery of the clock's face is perfectly unraveled in a way that just about any four year old (or her thirty year old mom) can understand. It's brilliant!
Norah was ready to do her first lesson that day. I was planning to wait till after Labor Day to begin school when all the public schools do. But, I realize we don't have to wait. We home school so we can set our own schedule anyway. We might just go ahead and begin math right away!
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