Bedtime Math

I stumbled across Bedtime Math while reading the It's Working for Me Blog, and was intrigued by the name. Bedtime math, what in the world could that be?

Each day there is a new word math problem presented and three challenge levels: Wee Ones (preK), Little Ones (K-2nd) and Big Kids (2nd +). Obviously those grades are approximate and you can choose whichever problem(s) would be a good fit for your child.

They also offer a free PDF calendar that you can add your own stickers too, to show which days your child completed the problem.

I think Blue might really enjoy this and the word problems are on fun topics and don't feel too "school-y".

Living Math Books

LivingMath has some wonderful living math book lists, everything from early concepts to geometry to spacial ideas. From their site:

This site is dedicated to sharing resources for learning, exploring and enjoying math in a dynamic and holistic manner, for all ages.

They also have a Yahoo groups page LivingMathForum,which I plan on joining. I can't wait to delve into this site and Yahoo group and will report back!

First Homeschool Purchase

I just made my first homeschool curriculum purchase last night! I am so excited that I finally got up the nerve to just do it. I bought RightStart Deluxe Level A, and the Deluxe A-B Add On. Who knows how long shipping will take to get to Alaska but I won't start looking for it for another several weeks.

Blue is in 2 day a week co-op preschool but will be increasing to 3 day a week next fall. I don't know how much math we will get to but I wanted to start reading the text. This way I can discuss math with him in our everyday life using their terminology and concepts.

I am so curious if he will be a mathy kid. He loves puzzles and Lego's and seems to have an engineering type of personality. I figure if this isn't a good program for him it will work for Red or Yellow. That is one nice thing about having more than one child, if you mess up on a curriculum choice you have more shots at having someone like it.

Math for Preschooler

I have been researching math programs for my preschooler and have finally decided on RightStart Mathematics. I love how it works with many different types of learners since I have no idea at this point how my children learn, and want a program that will hopefully work for all three. I also like that it can be started before children are able to write well since I hope to start the concepts used in it soon.

Blue is starting to be interested in counting and numbers and I would like to help him by using the concepts used in RightStart, from their website "the beginning level math lessons are best started at age 5, or even sooner, before the child develops a reliance on counting strategies. An early start also helps the child understand quantities based around 5s and 10s."So even though I probably won't start doing the lessons yet I would like to personally review it so I can help Blue use their counting process.

Growing up I did not particularly like math but during college I learned to love it! Had I not been worried about my GPA I would have continued Calculus and who knows where I would have stopped :-) I really want my children to enjoy mathematics and be able to go as far with it as they would like.

Has anyone used RightStart with a 3 1/2 year old? Did you actually do the lessons or just the games and the counting process used in the curriculum?