This review from the afterthoughts blog helped convince me that it was worth a try.
So, I printed it off, and we've been doing a lesson every week. We're learning shorter vs taller, distances, shapes, and colours. It seems too easy for K, actually, but I'm afraid to jump over half a year. What if I miss some important step and cripple her mathematical ability forever?
Maybe, when I'm a veteran homeschooler, I'll have the confidence to skip, but for now, we are just breezing through. Hopefully K doesn't get bored and hate math because of my fear of missing something.
One issue that I have is that the math is as much work for me as it is for K. I had this idea that math should be set up so that you progress from problem to problem in a very natural, intuitive way. MEP is designed for teachers with a classroom full of learners, so it instructs me to "praise, question student 1, then student 2," etc. If MEP is like this all the way up through the grades, I might look for something else.
I think we would do better with a small amount of instruction at the beginning of each lesson, and then letting K work through things without constant feedback and what-to-do-next cues from teacher mom. Don't misunderstand me. I do the complete engagement thing with reading, because that's what you need at this stage in reading, but I just think it's not necessary for math. Plus, K is pretty independent, so hovering doesn't appeal to her, either.
Maybe you could do every other lesson instead of jumping over half a year. You can see, then, if you might be missing anything essential, right? I *like* MEP from what I've seen of it, but it's not for everyone. SA likes digging his teeth into things and learning all about them all at once, and MEP doesn't really allow for that at all.
ReplyDeleteOh, I like that. Im going to try that.
ReplyDelete