Math U See was one of the options that came with our Bookshark Level A curriculum. I selected Math U See because of the manipulatives and the focus on understanding. Math U See is comprised of three parts – a workbook, a video (DVD), and the manipulatives. While I already own a Spielgaben I never use, I loved that this program came with manipulatives. I enjoyed even more that they make skip counting and adding easier by utilizing groups of integers. For example, instead of counting 5 or 6 individual cubes, you can grab a 5- or 6-block and be on your merry way.

In addition to the manipulatives themselves, I also liked that the workbook utilizes the manipulatives to help students correlate the two pieces together. There’s no abstract math going on here. What I didn’t love was the need to watch the instructional DVD before a lesson (ain’t nobody got time for that) and the workbooks were lifeless. There was a lot of coloring necessary to complete the workbooks, and because Math U See utilizes the mastery approach, my learner became bored and frustrated quickly. Because I didn’t want to inadvertently miss something, I didn’t want to skip ahead to a new section. It just felt like we were headed down the path I’d traveled before. So I hopped off at the nearest exit.

What first drew me to Singapore Math was that the workbooks were colorful. Yep, you read that right. I’m just keepin’ it real. At this point in our journey, I didn’t realize there was any other way to learn math (beyond counting and measuring). We were so bored with Math U See and I hadn’t quite found my footing as a home educator yet, so colorful workbooks received a big thumbs up from me.

The Dimensions Math program consists of a Teacher’s Guide, a Textbook and a Workbook. The Textbook follows the Teacher’s Guide, and is more like a workbook than any textbook you might remember from the 90’s. The workbook is insane repetition of what’s learned in the Textbook. Ad nauseum. This is because Singapore Math also uses the mastery approach. Looking it back over for this blog, I had her do some of the sheets just to make our end of year review easier. She was So. Bored. And I can’t blame her. Now – if I didn’t have the anxiety about “missing something,” I could just zoom ahead in the workbook. But I do, and it doesn’t feel comfortable to me.

Wild Math seemed very simplistic to me at first, and I was a bit put off by it. Unlike the reading program, there isn’t a packet of activities for enrichment each week. This; however, ended up being the best thing ever for us. Wild Math appears to use some combination of a mastery and spiral approach, and instead of the same boring workbook situation, the learner is spending a lot of time moving their body, learning outside and on the go. The Wild Math program is simple, which ended up being exactly why I love it.

In addition to the simplicity, Wild Math seems more like a guide than a check-the-boxes curriculum, and feels more flexible in skipping around based on interest and ability. Because it is a cheaper program, I don’t feel the same guilt in skipping around or switching out activities. Each week, I print off the corresponding sheet and check off the things as we do them. This week we worked on skip counting. I’m not even sure what the activity was that was planned. We started with tens, and my learner nailed fives with a fun spinoff of hopscotch. She was tuckered by the end, and after three rounds was able to skip count by 5’s to 100. All in all, Wild Math is the gentlest of the options we’ve tried, and I have been made into a convert. I don’t foresee myself using anything else for the primary years.

Sleeping Queens is a very fun game that has arguably had the biggest impact on my first grader’s math skills. Sleeping Queens can be adapted for many math levels. It utilizes recognizing numbers and forming math equations (1-10) to awaken queens. The math equations can be addition, subtraction. or some basic multiplication / division. The winner is the first person to gather five queens (counting) or 50 points (addition using 5, 10, 15 and 20). Even our two and four-year-old enjoy playing with us, though we allow them handicaps (no one can steal their queens) and provide a lot of support.

Sleeping Queens 2

Sleeping Queens 2 is the next in the series. And in this one, the queens are rescuing the kings. This one uses a lot more strategy, but, in my humble opinion, is a lot more fun. It follows the same principle as the original Sleeping Queens, but math equations (1-10) awaken Rescue Companions, and matching number awaken queens that have been put to sleep by the Sleeping Willows. This will make sense when you play it.

Being in the kitchen with my kids makes me realize that the spiral approach might just be the best way to teach math and science. Why? Because every time we bake, one of my children is ready for a different explanation of what we’re doing. It also allows me to target multiple different stages of learning. For example, my toddler can work on sorting colored muffin cups. My middle can work on counting, and my oldest and I can discuss fractions. She’s only 6, so that means our conversations are “hey, this says 1/2, how many do we need to make a whole?” She isn’t ready for adding fractions, but she can understand that if you see 1/4, it means you need four of them to make the whole. This is the spiral method at work – exposing, then revisiting with deeper explanations as they’re ready.