Miquon users - math lab logistics

[cmarango]

I am planning on using a Singapore/RightStart combo for my dd and I would like to throw in some Miquon (math lab style) for some fun, mostly self-directed learning.

For any who have done something remotely similar to this before, how did you go about it?

Do you just have the materials constantly available for when the mood strikes your dc or do you schedule it for a particular time?

Thanks,
Christina

[Spock]

I didn't/don't consistently use Miquon in a math lab format. I do have cuisenaire rods (and MUS blocks) available at all times. I used to have geoboards and pattern blocks as well, when my older two were little. I also have 100 blocks and a 1000 cube from a base 10 set that is compatible with cuisenaire rods.

For Miquon, I have basically allowed my children to do any page in the book they are working on, in any order. If they find they need something from an earlier page to do a page they want, they go back and do that page first. Once in a while I let them do pages from the next book in the series if they were doing a topic they especially liked. I also added in games and activities from the Lab Annotations and First Grade Diary. (I often planned these out and scheduled them, just so I would remember to do them.)

Now that I am combining Miquon with Singapore, I alternate Singapore days and Miquon days. Since my youngest is in the 2nd grade Miquon books but not quite finished with the first grade Singapore books, I am doing Miquon twice a week and Singapore three times a week with him. When he starts 2nd grade I will probably go to alternate days with each book. (For a while we were doing both books every day, but that led to an hour a day of math, which turned out to be too much for my 1st and 3rd graders when added to language and reading in both English and Spanish, plus science, history, and art/music.)