I purchased a big 'ol set of Cuisenaire Rods off of eBay at the beginning of the year because I thought I might use the Miquon math curriculum, BUT I decided that Miquon was going to be too confusing for me to teach, and heaven knows that I have enough trouble with math without having to use a confusing curriculum to try to teach it to another person! SO, I gathered up my Miquon books that I had purchased, along with the rods, took a picture of them, and got all set to sell them on eBay.Then, I relized that they would be PERFECT to use to reinforce the idea of place value, which is where we are in Horizons! You see, the rods are manufactured so that they are fractions of each other...for example, 10 white rods equals one orange rod. So, yesterday, I got out a whole bunch of the littlest rods and 5 or 6 of the orange rods and was able to show Bear that if we have five sets of 10, we have 50 in all...so if we have 5 tens and 3 ones, we have 53...well, it all makes sense in my head, even though it doesn't seem to make much sense as I try to read what I just wrote! And she seemed to grasp the concept a little better than just trying to do it on paper. Plus, there's the added bonus in that she loves anything that she can do with her hands!
So, while the rest of the books are currently listed on eBay, the rods are staying here!
2 comments:
Good for you!
One of the greatest things that I bought when we started homeschooling were the little colored coins. We use them for everything. It does help them to have something concrete to touch and see!!!
I did this very thing....with the same thinking! Now we have found lots of ways to use them.
My youngest is now enjoying them... and it has helped her visualize exactly what you are saying (and yes... It makes sense to me...)
Nice blog----thanks for your message!
Did I read you are in St. Louis?
Nice to meet you, Neighbor!
Great HS ideas too.
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