?Cusinair rods generaly Miquon particularly

[Fairy4tmama]

I am considering writing the numbers on our cusinair rods. Does any one have any reasons not to write the numbers that I might want to consider. Or like wise has any one done this who has some BTDT advice.

[MyLittleWonders]

I wrote numbers on a few of each size (we have two sets mixed together - one was a set for "one" person and one was a set with enough rods for 2-3 people). I read a lot that said not to do it, but for us, it worked very well. It helped us (my boys and I) better visual the general lengths and yet we have a bunch that have no numbers on them, so they are still very flexible for using for fractions, etc. I don't regret doing it at all, and the numbers do not prevent them being used for values other than the "assigned" values. (I used a thin point permanent marker and wrote the value in the corners of the rods - I think on the darker rods I used a silver permanent marker. They are starting to wear off now, but we don't even tend to look at the values anymore as we have internalized it pretty well.)

[Fairy4tmama]

Thanks MLW , I seem to vaguely remember reading something about not putting the # on but my gut says ds1 and I need them.

[Callimom]

I personally wouldn't.

All my kids started to recognize the size by the colour fairly quickly. Miranda has some games for that I think.

But more importantly we don't always use the 10 to represent 10 for example. It might be 1 and the 1 units are 0.10 or 1/10th. Alternately the 5 might represent 5000 or the 4 is 1/2 of something.

AS you go on with Miquon the value of the rods becomes less concrete. Assigning them a "number" might hamper that process.

hth
Karen

[Fairy4tmama]

Thanks for your input as well, Karen. I will to look into games for recognizing size by color. Ds is very intuitive when it comes to numbers he can already add subtract and divide double digit #s. The rods just don't seem to mean anything to him. How vital do think the rods are to miquon? It seems to me like they are an absolute part of the curriculum and that we will have to find a way to use them if we want to continue on with miquon.

[Jennifer Z]

I stacked them up, took a picture, then wrote "1", "2", "3"..."10" on the picture over each corresponding rod and hung the picture high up so that it was behind them when I sat across from them at the table. That way I could see it to reference it but it wasn't in their direct line of sight.

[Fairy4tmama]

Thanks JZ that is great idea. Why out of the line of site of DC?

[Jennifer Z]

Originally Posted by Fairy4tmama

Thanks JZ that is great idea. Why out of the line of site of DC?

Out of their line of sight so that they learn the relationships between the rods more strongly. The numbers are a cheat for me so that I can help direct easier when they are struggling, but they do eventually learn how they relate to each other, it is just harder for the adults to remember the relationships.

[Fairy4tmama]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Z

The numbers are a cheat for me so that I can help direct easier when they are struggling, but they do eventually learn how they relate to each other, it is just harder for the adults to remember the relationships.

interesting, thanks!

[Jennifer Z]

Originally Posted by Fairy4tmama

Thanks for your input as well, Karen. I will to look into games for recognizing size by color. Ds is very intuitive when it comes to numbers he can already add subtract and divide double digit #s. The rods just don't seem to mean anything to him. How vital do think the rods are to miquon? It seems to me like they are an absolute part of the curriculum and that we will have to find a way to use them if we want to continue on with miquon.

I think it is like anything else in learning...for some kids, the rods are integral to helping them understand because they are very visual spatial or kinetic and need hands on manipulatives to really understand the foundations and relationships. Other kids learn in other ways.

My oldest, for instance, really doesn't learn anything with auditory clues at all. Telling a story is pretty much pointless without visual supports. Other kids don't need any visuals and are able to remember what they hear, but don't really process visual information intuitively and need a lot of verbal explanations of visual learning materials. Miquon seems to play to the strengths of kids who need the hands on, visual spatial supports to understand. Although I do think Miquon is particularly flexible to use with any learning style, more than a lot of other curriculum styles.

Miquon is great for us because both the adults and the child (and we suspect the younger one, although I haven't started formal curriculum with her yet) are all very visual spatial. None of us are good at rote learning, and we don't do well at memorizing, but once we understand the foundations, we can process the information and work the problems. (essentially, in higher math, we can't remember the formulas very well, but we can create them as needed because we get what the process behind it is). You don't NEED to understand the formulas to be able to plug the numbers in and work the problems, but IMO, it does allow you to go to a higher level in math. However, you don't, by any means, need to understand that level of math to be able to function in most fields that aren't heavily math based.

You might look at Singapore math too. We do both programs. Miquon plays to his strengths to learn the material, but Singapore prepares him for being able to work more traditional looking problems so that he can take tests. He is autistic and needs that explicit bridge to understand how to do things like take tests and work problems laid out in a more traditional manner.

[craft_media_hero]

Oh, no! Don't write on them, they're so pretty!

Plus the rods can be used to represent fractions and other numbers, representing simple algebra problems, if they're value is "open" to being changed by not having a value written on them.

I would say give it more time with free play and your dc will begin to better intuit the value of each.

[Dar]

I'm with the not-writing group... or maybe you could write with a grease pencl or something temporary for certain activities, and then wipe it off later. As people have said, though, the rods don't always represent the length of each in centimeters... so, for example, you might want to try to figure out what the light green one represents if the blue one = 3... and if you have "3" written on the light green one it will be confusing.

[Fairy4tmama]

Thank you all so much for you different ideas on this topic I have found it all immensely helpful.

Craftmedia hero- its funny DS has played with the rods, mostly as an extension of building with unit blocks or tanigrams. He does not seem to relate to them as math manipulatives the way he does with his abacus and counters (ie as representing a numerical value).

After reading every ones replies I think that I am the one who needs the "cheat". Dar's post in particular helped me see the rods as variables rather than counters. It just happens that where we are at right now with miquon the rods represent there centimeter value. So it has occured to me that the way to help ds use the rods when indicated on a page is to say "If red is 3 and white is one how would you use these to solve the equations?". I have tried just giving him the rods and paper with out any type of information hoping he would discover their use in regard to miquon but it is just not happening. He pushes the rods aside and works with out them. Not necessarily a bad thing but I really do see value in working with the rods and would at least like to give him some exposure to them as a tool. If in the end he decides that he doesn't want to use them for math that's fine we'll just keep on making pictures and structures with them

So I think in the end I am not going to write on them but rather take a picture of them lined up next to each other and/or put the in to a tackle box where thery are separated in to separate bins for each.

Thanks