Singapore math is here!

Most of our order from Singapore Math.

The counting cubes that have become a big hit.













Charlie and the counting cubes (or, how I get lunch made!)

Lunchtime.











Casey and his Pre-K workbook.












Casey shuffling his Capital Letters cards.








We got our order from Singapore math, and it is alot of great stuff! We got Textbooks and workbooks for Mickey and Greta, and several Science programs with workbooks, as well as a Word problems math book for both of them, and 2 teacher's guides. We got a little plastic clock, 100 number cubes, blank dice, a measuring tape and a hundreds chart.

So far the kids both like the work--no tears at all. Mickey's first 2 lessons were about measuring things that are one meter long, and some place-value types of things, one, tens, hundreds and thousands and some review about carrying in addition. His science was about what is alive and what is not, and one about the external parts of the body.

Greta's math was about place value also, and really getting the grasp of "What value does the "8" in the number 598,300 have?" (Eight thousand) and so forth. She had to arrange some numbers in order as well. This was all review but that is good, so she doesn't fear the new book. The very next lesson is something she doesn't know, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Her science was really neat, it was all about matter--how do we know something is matter? If it has mass and takes up space. Is heat matter? Is light matter? Is shadow matter? How do we measure mass? --Stuff like that. She liked it alot. I am glad I got them separate science stuff as his is WAY too easy for her and hers is pretty "out there" for him. With them being three years/grades apart in age, I am lucky that I can apply as much two-kid lessons as I do with the Five In A Row and the upcoming plans we have to do a reading symposium with our adult friends soon.

The number cubes, which we haven't used as we are "supposed to" yet, are a really nice toy. Charlie is flying by me as I type this, with his little "airplane" he made out them. They snap together and are really cool. Much easier to open and shut than Lego, but not too babyish. You know what-- I take that back--we did do a place value thing with them, and Mickey used them to prove some subtraction idea to me. He was wrong, but it was better that the cubes told him that than me--he laughed good naturedly when 11 minus 4 was NOT 8 as shown by the cubes, but of course it was in fact, 7. He was like "Oh." and then we laughed. I used to have certain little numbers facts that often messed me up--and my husband swears that he doesn't know his 7's times tables and hates the 7's... Strange how our minds work.

Casey and I have been working on all sorts of fun stuff, he is now writing several letters and wanting to make us all notes and signs. SO much deja vu of Greta and Mickey at 4 years old, and so funny to me how differently they all got to the points that they were "at" academically at 4. He can make A, M, C, U, X, and O very clearly and so he makes a ton of letters to me that are elaborately taped up and stamped and stapled and inside is a tiny piece of paper that says MAMA MAMA DAD OUOUAOAOA inside it. Yes I save them all. We have alot of fun things for this age, and many mornings we play with woodkins or magnet balls, and sometimes we do little workbook-y types of stuff.

More updates on Singapore Math and Science as we get more into it. We have to take back our Owl Moon and our gazillion other books to the library today. I need to order the next one ASAP but we have another secret freebie--somehow I never noticed that The Tale Of Peter Rabbit is one of the featured books in our series. I love Beatrix Potter of course but was surprised that this "little kid book" was featured, when Greta immediately came to its defense and said that I would be very surprised at how many secret things there are to study in Peter Rabbit. I am excited to tackle this book from a different angle. Next week for sure!