I am very happy with my decision to purchase RightStart Math for my boys. They are doing really well with the manipulatives! It has been so much fun to get more insight into Ethan's brain and how it works. Ethan is they type of kid that you find yourself thinking, "What is going on inside that kid's head?" when you watch him for any length of time! He was speaking in complete sentences between 12 and 14 months. He knew all his colors in English and Spanish before he was two. He could count to 15 in English, Spanish, and German before he was two and a half. People would come up to me at church after working in the nursery and comment on how they couldn't believe what he knew! They would just sit and quiz him for fun! Now, lest you think he is too amazing, he has some major gaps, too. For example, he cannot for the life of him label things, "First, second, third..." or understand that nap is a short sleep in the middle of the day and not the same as night time after which comes a new day. Even the fact that we wear pj's for one and not the other doesn't help. He has absolutely no concept of yesterday and limited concept of tomorrow.
Anyway, I've gotten way off topic here... What I was getting at was that this program really stretches his thinking and gives me great insight into why the gaps exist where they do and what is really going on in there! Such as, he can do addition and subtraction word problems in his head with no problem, but really struggles with ordinal counting. Now I know better what to work on with him. Plus, he LOVES it. He wants to do "my math" as often as I will let him. Since he is only three, I am not doing it with him every day, but since starting it with him, I am already noticing an improvement in his small motor skills, which were way behind before we started. He has also learned left from right finally. 
(please ignore the basket of laundry behind Ethan!)
Any math program that is greeted with this kind of enthusiasm is a keeper! His brother loves it, too, even though the lessons we are doing now are still very easy for him.
5 comments:
These conversations about home schooling have blessed me. Look how well you know your kids, Johanna, because you're their mom and their teacher. No matter how hard one may try, a teacher with even only 20 kids in a class can't know each child like you know yours. You homeschooling girls are doing a great job! (Now I'd better get busy and write those science lesson plans for Ella and Sarah!)
That's awesome, Johanna. I am so glad you like it. It was very interesting to read all the things you have gleaned about the kids. How neat. It's cool how different they are even though they have the same genes.
English, Spanish and German? We can't even get Rachel to name a color correctly. For a while I thought she was color blind. Del thinks she just like the attention it gets her to annoy us with not knowing any of her colors except for PEACH, which she always gets right.
I really liked this post. I agree with Grandma, I think it's so wonderful that you are able to know your boys so well. And Joanna, I think it's so funny that Rachel knows the color peach the best. Because it's such a "girly" color. I think it's so funny how colors other than what's found in the rainbow confuses men. They're so cute :)
I am totally digging these homeschool posts. And taking notes for the future!
The look on his face says it all! I think it is cool to be able to teach your kids and they are learning from you!
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