math

Eggy Numbers App Review

May 29, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

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Alex and the girls love this new math app! {The girls mostly help Alex.}

Eggy Numbers

Ages 3+

Counting Skills
Number recognition
For the iPad and iPhone

$2.99 in the app store

by MathSeeds and Reading Eggs

We love the Australian accent! You can choose British or American too. But the ocean theme just works with the Australian voice.

There are two sections: Numbers and Counting Activities. Within the Numbers section there are multiple activities like dot-to-dot, drawing, copying, or recognition. Within the Counting section, the child can play games: Count with Buddy, Number Ring, Number Dominoes. 7 games total.

Alex loves the comments that Buddy gives after correct moves: “Congratulations! Excellent! You’ve got it! Awesome! Great job!” If Alex doesn’t do so well, Buddy says, “Bad luck! Tap the screen to try again.”

I love how the dot-to-dot gets a little more difficult each time, but not so much that it’s frustrating.

Alex got so excited to earn acorns and get critters and crack open the eggs!

Kate helped Alex with the counting. It had two actions: counting certain ocean creatures from a sea of 10 different animals. She had to tell him when he had enough.

Kate helps Alex find the right animal and drag the correct quantity to the number.

Alex loved the tracing and copying numbers activities.

Look at that proud boy!

Alex loved telling his sisters that this was his app, but he sure welcomed their help. The app has enough various activities to keep Alex occupied without getting frustrated or bored. The reward of words, acorns, and critters is wonderful. Alex worked for a long time for the motivation of cracking eggs and getting more critters!

I love the fun learning taking place. The tracing is just sensitive enough to make him try without giving up that it’s too hard (like some other apps we’ve used recently.) The difficulty settings on low are perfect for Alex right now. He just turned 3 in April.

Features:

For the iPad and iPhone.
Suitable for children aged 3+.
Learn to identify, write and count numbers 1 to 10.
7 highly interactive games.
3 difficulties to choose from.
Highly instructive handwriting games commit numbers to memory.
Counting activities develop the basic numeracy skills essential for future math development.
Fun rewards to earn including 138 golden acorns and 18 critters to hatch and collect.
Choose between 3 accents – US, UK, and Australian.
Eggy Numbers is brought to you by the makers of Reading Eggs – a team of educators with more than 25 years of experience in early childhood education.

We love this app! Get your copy today. Perfect fun learning.

Filed Under: math, Preschool, technology Tagged With: app, appschool, counting, iPad, iPhone, numbers, preschool, technology

Math Monday

April 22, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 3 Comments

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Both Tori and Kate agreed to complete 2-3 lessons and be done with Singapore math this school year!

184971: Singapore Math: Primary Math Workbook 1B US Edition

Singapore Math: Primary Math Workbook 1B US Edition
By Singaporemath.com Inc

Singapore Primary Math Workbooks are consumable and should be used in conjunction with the textbooks. Containing the exercises the student does independently, workbooks provide the practice essential to skill mastery. A variety of exercises are presented, from pictorial to abstract. This workbook accompanies Primary Math Textbook 1B US Edition. 176 pages, softcover.

Tori uses some Montessori beads to help with place values. I also made some color-coded number cards to help with place value.

A visual learner, Tori was struggling with completing the subtraction lesson without the beads and number cards. After I showed her the “picture,” she aced the lesson.

Kate started out doing fine without the beads, but she wanted to do the fun stuff too.

Both girls were super excited to complete their Singapore 1B workbooks.

We’ll continue to use Life of Fred and mathbooking and get new 2nd grade Singapore math books next fall!

185008: Singapore Math: Primary Math Workbook 2A US Edition

Singapore Math: Primary Math Workbook 2A US Edition
By Singaporemath.com Inc

Filed Under: math Tagged With: end of year, girls, place value, Singapore, workbooks

Just Another Math Monday

March 25, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

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Kate is working on money pages from TouchMath. We’re slowly making our way through this unit so they understand it. I have some fun projects to share after Easter!

We’re also finishing up Singapore math. I plan to buy the next level workbooks since the girls love it so much!

I printed out these fun shamrock grid coloring pages on abcteach.com and the girls did really well after I explained how to work the grid system. They only made a couple mistakes which are quite visible and easily corrected!

I found it fascinating how differently the girls completed their pages. Kate drew lines at the right diagonal and then went back to fill them in before moving to the next line. Tori did each block before moving on.

I wrote numbers 1-10 on eggs and printed out some number cards and ordinal number cards with ordinal words. Tori matched up the 3 part cards and eggs! Get your Ordinal Eggs at Currclick!

Rubeus wanted to help! Silly lovey kitty.

Kate matched up all the cards and eggs super quickly!

I plan to have Alex match up the numbers on the eggs with the numbers on the cards. And I may just have him count Starburst jelly beans and match up the numbers on the eggs. yummy fun! {I know they’re full of chemicals, but it’s only a couple times a year we fill up on candy!}

And I have some fun math games for the girls planned with the eggs this week! such as…{Check out this Instagram pic from my friend!}

Thank you for joining me on this Another Math Monday.

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more updates on our learning journey.

Filed Under: Elementary, math Tagged With: coloring, counting, Easter, egg, graph, grid, money, ordinal

Math Monday

March 18, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 4 Comments

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While I was setting up and organizing, the little kids played with some magnet puzzle books (called Magnix)…Tori has the farm animal counting. I had forgotten we even had these and the kids were pretty excited to start their day with “toys”!

We have 6 math equations every day, based on the calendar. So, for March 6, the girls wrote out:

5+1=6
1+5=6
3+3=6
8-2=6
7-1=6
6-0=6

…or a similar variation on this. It’s just extra math practice.

We’re still enjoying our TouchMath. Did you see my Touchmath review? We’re working on the money unit right now. The girls beg to use the computer game! My dad sent the kids these fun coin banks that digitally count change and those are a big hit!

Katie and Tori really likes these Shamrock Place Value puzzles. I liked that they’re free!

We’re finishing up our Singapore math and still going strong with Life of Fred Butterflies. We play math games and the girls love to play with Kumon math workbooks or fun workbooks from the Target Dollar Spot in their free time.

Filed Under: math Tagged With: calendar, coins, counting, maths, money, place value

Touchmath Review

March 11, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

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We are pretty excited about TouchMath Second Grade!

logo photo touchlogo_zps5760f524.jpg

This is an innovative math program that serves all learning styles: visual , auditory, digital (writers), and kinesthetic learners. I am so very impressed that they have a division for students with learning differences!

TouchMath 2nd Grade consists of 4 modules. Modules A, B, and C are primarily addition and subtraction. Module D teaches units on time, money, measurement, data, and geometry! Each unit has a progress monitoring chart with each lesson listed. This is a great planning tool!

At the beginning of each module and unit are lists and explanations of Content Overview, State Standards, Objectives, Prerequisites, Vocabulary, Materials, and Instructional Strategies. I love having all this information at my fingertips to help me teach math!

Kate (almost 6) completed her assignments, though she is never as excited about math time as Tori and I are. She did love the computer games (Tutor Software) and playing with the manipulatives during her free time though!

I think this is an example of how the different learning styles prefer different subjects and/or teaching styles. Kate is very visual, verbal, and artistic. Allowed the freedom to explore, she used the manipulatives in her own special way during her free time.

Tori (just turning 7) just loved it! She loved the touching, visual appeal, working with the Base Ten counters and Touch numerals, number cards, the Flipcards…and how it all applied to her math worksheets (which is the real curriculum).

Tori is an auditory/visual, right-brained learner. Being my compliant and cautious child, she completed her assignments during math time but rarely spent her free time exploring the manipulatives on her own.

Why is this math program different?

The student must touch the number card or numeral at certain points that count out its value. They memorize this, but it’s more than just blind memorizing. They really internalize this concept and comprehend what the number means.

Once that touch counting is learned, then addition and subtraction is that much easier to master. You touch count up for adding and down for subtracting. Multiplication is grouping and you have the Base Ten counters to further show the values.

TouchMath appeals to all learners with its multi-sensory approach!

visual (the students sees the cards, numerals, counters)
auditory (the student speaks the equation aloud and count up or down and repeat equation with the answer)
digital (the student reads the equations and write or draw the answers)
kinesthetic (the student touches the numerals and/or counts the Base Ten dots)

Why we like TouchMath…

It is traditional in that it has all the necessary mathematical concepts covered in their scope and sequence to give my kids a good maths foundation.
It is fun and colorful and engaging for all types of learners.
It has a good balance of repetition and practice (a spiral approach) with teaching to mastery. My girls didn’t get bored with doing many, many pages on one concept before moving on to the next lesson.

As soon as we opened the box, Kate started with her Touch Points on the Number Cards. She just naturally knew what to do!

These are perforated and can be used like flashcards, but we left it as a poster.

Tori practices the TouchMath Tutor with her Number Cards for help. The girls loved the US geography base for the games. They both especially love the Base Ten Place Values game.

Tori practices addition with her Number cards to help her remember where to touch and count. She touches the numbers with the point of her pencil.

Tori has her Base Ten and Number Cards to help with this page (addition and subtraction).

Kate draws in her Base Ten dots on her page to show the math work (addition and subtraction).

Even Alex loves the Touch Numerals and Base Ten! We’ll start teaching him with it soon! He’s only almost 3. He used the Base Ten as counters and matched them up to the numbers like the cards!

Here’s a video that explains the TouchMath subtraction method. I think it’s brilliant! It has really helped my girls visualize the equations by touching and saying the numbers.

Tori touches and says this subtraction equation on the Flipcard. It’s multi-level learning. She remembers since she must say it and touch it.

The 2nd grade curriculum consists of 4 module downloads at $59.95 each.

Optional manipulatives and extras:

Number Cards are $24 for a 10-pack.
The Flipcard packs are $19 each and there are 12 sets that correspond to 2nd grade.
Touch Numerals with Base Ten are $99.
TouchMath Tutor is $99.

My kids absolutely love the Touch Numerals and use them with all their math assignments now, and even make up games with them on their own. Check out this post where we’re using the money pages. We’re very excited about how this innovative program helps us succeed with math.

Filed Under: math, Schoolhouse Review Crew Tagged With: auditory, kinesthetic, learning, math, multi-sensory, second grade, special needs, styles, touch, visual

A+ Tutorsoft Math Review

February 20, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

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The girls enjoyed “playing math games” on A+ Tutorsoft, Inc. We received a Premium Edition A+ Interactive MATH CD for 1st grade. It includes multimedia lessons and Interactive Q&A. You can print worksheets and view a textbook on the CD ROM. There are lesson plans (just a checklist, really) and exams with solutions guides too. It’s certainly a comprehensive maths program. It retails for $124.99. Check for an amazing coupon code at the end though!

Parents/Teachers set up a login for each student so their progress is tracked. You can also just log in without any tracking. There is also a parent login where you can change settings, like remove the solution guides! Thankfully, that’s not an issue with my girls at this time.

The girls enjoyed going through the program. They listened to the lessons and did the Interactive Q&A. They were excited to do it and enjoyed it. It was really easy for them and they could navigate easily through the lesson without much help. There is no teacher or parent involvement needed. The narrator does all the teaching and then the Q&A evaluates. Done. Each lesson is just a few minutes. The Q&A was 6-12 questions.

Katie chose to do the fractions unit.

$pizza fractions$

Tori wanted to do the money unit.

The visuals in the lessons are wonderful. The girls understood the narrator and liked being able to type in the numbers to answer some questions. Tor retained many of the details about coins and taught them to her little brother (age 2!): “Two coins are bumpy on the sides and two are smooth.” Katie liked the pizza fractions. We all liked the little frog where we typed in the answers.

Here’s a screenshot that shows all the options in the toolbar and the units in red down the left side. Chapters are in green.

The time unit was excellent. This unit covered calendars and clocks extensively. There’s even a chapter about seasons. And now the girls randomly being counting seconds One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, etc…hilarious! So, I have to watch it when I tell them, “Just a second, dear…”

The last two units are very basic geometry (mostly shapes) and algebra. I love this advanced math intro! Great for critical thinking.

My only concern is during the Interactive Q&A for fractions, several answers are: “D. All of the above.” This really threw Kate for a loop because as soon as she saw a right answer in A she would pick it without even looking at the other choices. Why more than one right answer for a first grader? And perhaps this is just lack of experience on our part that we don’t do testing and quizzing like this. Ever.

Because later on, the girls got to actually type in answers to the questions, so at least they aren’t all multiple choice. They were more successful when they could answer on their own. Overall, I don’t feel they were being tested well for real comprehension of the material. But if the student gets an answer incorrect, the narrator reteaches the concept immediately and extensively, and that’s great. But overall, the question section is very low level thinking, in my opinion. But I’m not a great advocate for tests. I prefer to see mastery and I can do that with interacting with my children while they do their lessons instead of having them do multiple choice worksheets and exams. Just for the record: my husband disagrees and thinks there’s a place for these though.

The program allows you to print off worksheets and cumulative exams and you can view a whole textbook online too. The girls did well enough with the worksheets. I made them read through the questions and answer them and they weren’t happy about it. The worksheets were almost like tests, all multiple choice. It extends the lesson some. It wasn’t so necessary for Kate with the fractions since the pages were so similar to the online questions and she aced it. Tori needed a little bit of help with recognizing coins and value, so I have to admit that the worksheets were helpful for her to review the material.

$fractions$

There is a progress tracking chart that parents can track student grades (it’s not automatic; you have to input it manually) and print certificates of accomplishments.

This program is great as a supplement to our regular math program. It doesn’t cover the material extensively enough or suit our learning and teaching styles to be our primary math program. The girls really enjoyed doing math on the computer. They considered it a game and it certainly was fun for them.

A+ Tutorsoft is offering a 50% OFF Special Promotion through the end of MARCH.

The coupon code is: SPOFFER50

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Filed Under: math, Schoolhouse Review Crew Tagged With: computer, fractions, math, money, technology

Another Math Monday

January 28, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

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We had trouble last time we had word problems. The girls read them and didn’t know whether to add or subtract. So now the girls have this handy dandy chart in their math journals to help them decipher the words in context.

My SIL pinned this math symbols chart. Perfect!

I thought the girls would like this pattern activity (scroll down to box#8). I admit I lost way too much perusing her site and subsequent links and downloading all these fun mathtivities for later!

The girls loved making these Zero the Hero posters.

Princess dresses help Kate do her best during school time.

Then, we watched Schoolhouse Rock DVDs.

Filed Under: Elementary, math Tagged With: math, mathbooking, notebooking, patterns, place value

Middle School is Tough

January 9, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

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I need to a better job showcasing Liz and her schooling. Middle school isn’t all cute and craft-laden. It’s lots more work than what the littles do. And it doesn’t make for fun pictures.

Except when I get wide-eyed leave-me-alone stares.

Liz loves notebooking with PowerPoint and Notebooking Publisher. yay for technology!

Visit NotebookingPages.com to learn more about their memberships
and their new web-app, The Notebooking Publisher™

I snapped a pic of Liz’s DNA strand. She’s going through Apologia General Science. She does most of the experiments with Dad, so there aren’t usually any pictures since I’m not involved.

Liz is enjoying Tapestry of Grace. We’ll learn about her namesake Elizabeth I next week!

She continues to adore Life of Fred math. She is now on Elementary Physics, a pre-algebra book.

Some of Liz’s favorite things…

Her aStore

Filed Under: Charlotte Mason, Classical, daughters, history, math, Middle School, notebooking, science, Tapestry of Grace, technology Tagged With: Apologia, Charlotte Mason, classical, daughter, math, middle school, notebooking, science, technology

Math Monday

January 7, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

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Nursery Rhyme math to coincide with our nursery rhyme readings in history! Most nursery rhymes originated during the Middle Ages and Renaissance to help teach lessons to children.

I got this journal free from a TpT shop. She must’ve taken it down now. She has lots of other fun printables though!

We talked the math problems through and they helped me figure it out. I wrote it on the board and they copied it on their papers.

This one is Humpty Dumpty’s men. Five men…how many fingers did they have to help Humpty Dumpty?

The finished page…drawing…words…equation

Music Math!

Dad taught the count of the musical notes and helped them through counting their notes on these fun math pages.

8th notes…counting by twos. they enjoyed having something different in math.

Check it out here…Early Math with Mozart!

Filed Under: Classical, Daddy Time, Elementary, math, music, notebooking, Tapestry of Grace Tagged With: dad, math, music, notebooking, nursery rhymes

Math (and history) Monday

December 10, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 3 Comments

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We completed Life of Fred Apples. Our Singapore math unit is about telling time. I found some supplemental materials for them. The pack we worked on the last couple days is from School Express. You can sign up for emails and get a unit each week. I rarely use them, but this one seemed fun. They’re mostly puzzles and busy work.
wow, I think Katie was excited to do this time pack!

A fun fact sheet about time. We all giggled about the statement: “You can’t hear or smell time.” We tried!

Katie filling in our school day schedule. I wrote the items on our board after we discussed the order of our day and the girls copied it at the appropriate times on their pages.

Tori’s copy of our general school day schedule. Look how much free time if they complete their work!

Cross curricular activity: decoding letters for Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Unit 2 history. We read a Max Lucado story and completed the puzzle for the symbolic Bible verse represented in the story.

The girls really enjoyed the puzzle and begged me to find more code games for them!

Then we read Musicians of the Sun for history and had to dance and make music. Music is math. Winking smile

Just look at the gorgeous colors and fun shapes in this book! Art is math too. Winking smile

The girls pretended they were characters from the book, making a rainbow.

Alex heard the cacophony and ran to join us!

It was loud, obnoxious, gave me a momentary headache, but the kids loved it and will certainly remember this book!