Off to an excellent start in math!

We chose Right Start Math, Level B for our 1st grade math curriculum. It was first recommended to me when we were considering a Montessori approach to early elementary learning. Our oldest son, "Turtle's" personality fit with Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education and we found that Right Start was recommended on the Simply Charlotte Mason website.

Both of my children love Right Start Math even though they have different learning styles-- the oldest is very hands on while the younger is more traditional.

Right now we are playing a game similar to Go Fish. The math curriculum came with a set of plain number cards for games. Each player starts with five cards and lays down pairs of cards that equal 10 (or higher numbers when they get more advanced). It is fun and great challenge!

Plan B-- homeschool supplements

We have chosen a wonderful homeschool curriculum and a few extra subjects which the kids love. But today has been one of those days and I was too sick to pull out the usual school materials. On days like today we use our supplemental books. The boys can look at the pages and figure out how to do it on their own. They get in some fun learning time and I can work on my own problem areas (health, house work, a fussy baby, etc.)

Kumon Math-- We finished the Telling Time book and have moved on to Counting Coins. The workbooks go really slow which is a great way to build a child's confidence. We often skip pages to avoid boredom and by the time my dear son has finish one of these workbooks he is very familiar with the material and ready to use it in every day life. This isn't a good primary curriculum because it takes several weeks to finish a workbook and the books only cover a single topic rather than a variety of math skills like our regular math book.

Usborne sticker books-- I picked up a couple of these on sale at a curriculum fair back in the summer. Today my oldest son chose the one about soldiers and learned a little history along with practice placing the small stickers carefully on the page.

Explode the Code-- This can be a stand alone reading curriculum but we use it to reinforce skills already learned in our regular book.

This adds up to about an hour of school that he would not have had today when I am too sick to talk (but obviously not too sick to type!)