I need Miquon Math help!!!

[BurgundyElephant]

I ordered the Miquon Math Orange Book to start to teach DD#1. Was I supposed to get the teacher book as well? The instructions are pretty lacking and surely can't have forgotten that much! Is there a "decoder" for this somewhere online?

We've also ordered the cuisenaire (sp?) rods and an intro book, but it hasn't come yet.

Thanks!

[mccelticmom]

We are using the orange book right now and I'll be honest...unless you are really creative, etc...you need the Lab Annotations...otherwise, you are really not going to understand the concept. Most pages are pretty straight forward, but the Lab book gives you *more* to think about and do on the pages.

I don't believe that there is anything on line to help you out. But I will be glad to answer or give you a little insight until you get your book.

If I were you, I'd ordered the Lab Annotations and the Rod's (oh, they are on the way)...let your child play with the rods until the book comes in...

BTW...I just realized what do you mean by intro book? As for Teacher's book do you mean First Grade Diary?

[BurgundyElephant]

I just feel so dumb... I saw all these posts on "what do you use to teach math" and people kept saying "The orange book and a set of rods!" Ao... I ordered the orange book and a set of Rods.

So, page A-1 - just a page with pictures of balls, some colored, some not. Is the point just to count the balls and have the child write how many there are?

Page A-2 - again, just more counting of objects? But trying to be tricky because they are different objects?

Page A-3 I would have them do counting of the different kinds, I guess.

Page A-5 just threw me for a loop. Are they supposed to draw 9 objects where it says 9? I'm probably over thinking this but you get the drift.

Later pages make more sense to me. If you think the Lab Annotations would help I will get it.

[Roar]

I think it is going to depend a lot on your kid. We had the lab sheet annotations but rarely looked at it. He's pick out a page and I'd ask "what do you think the goal is here?" and he'd usually be able to figure it out.

[riversprite_ca]

There is a yahoo group for users of Miquon math. I'll admit...i bought all the books and rods from a friend (for practically nothing) but we've only played with the rods so far!
(my guys aren't interested at this point)
Try checking out this group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/miquon-key/

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by BurgundyElephant

Later pages make more sense to me. If you think the Lab Annotations would help I will get it.

Definitely get the Lab Annotations. I skimmed most of the first half of it and it helped me see some of the crucial differences between Miquon and how number relationships and operations are otherwise taught. After that I referred to it only a handful of times, but it was still worth its weight in gold. For instance, from the Lab Annotations I learned how important it was to inititally refer to the multiplication symbol as "of", and subtraction as "difference" rather than "take away." These are the types of little details that make the whole program work well from a conceptual standpoint.

Miranda

[Linda on the move]

We've used Miquon off and on. I think the Lab Annotations are very helpful -- they give interesting ideas, suggests games, etc. It is just one book to go along with the whole Miquon series.

For the first few pages in the Orange book, it suggest many things including:

1. matching the number of objects with rods
2. make tally marks for the objects
3. match each item with a white rod, and then trade the white rods for a single rod of the same length
4. count the objects and match with a numeral card
5. questions to ask:
which set is the smallest?
which set is the largest?
has more than 3 things?
has twice as many as 2 things?


6. Play lotto -- holding up a rod and the child find the set it matches, continue until all set are matched.

7. for the pages that have more than one kind of thing in a set, ask how many of X, how many of Y, how many altogether? Are there more X than Y?

There are even more ideas in the Lab Annotations.

[mccelticmom]

BE - I logged off last night and didn't make it back....yeah, to what Linda on the move said.

Really, we do a lot of free play with the rods. So, if I were you, I'd let your daughter play with the rods until your Lab Annonations book comes in.