Math Drillin' {Wrap-Ups}

My beautiful girls, making palm trees out of strawberry tops. They can't resist strawberries, EVER, and I got nagged into buying them the last time we were at Costco.

Since we're about five months into school (1st grade) I figured it was about time to do a review on a few of our favorite things so far. This year has been a real learning experience for all of us for a few different reasons.
1. We've gone from having sounder-outers to voracious readers. (YAY!!!!)
2. Moving made school at first a bit challenging. Homeschooling also made moving easier, however, so I'm thankful for that!! I'd say we skipped about 6 weeks total over the first 2.5 months of school, if that makes sense. We just fit it in on days that we could, and sometimes we had to stop halfway through because things would come up. It was somewhat hit and miss there for a while. So, we've had a bit of catching up to do, for my standards. The girls have worked really really hard, and we're now on track to finish about the middle of June. Thankfully they're still working pretty hard, so I'm thinking/hoping we might actually finish 1st grade around the middle of May, even with a few weeks of vacation thrown in there.
3. I've been making a solid attempt at getting them used to working independently. This has been slow going at times, but seems to be coming along really well. I certainly am there for them always, but I want them to be able to work without me nagging them through it.

 So, these math drills came with the curriculum that we bought this year. And, I am SO glad they did. At first they really presented a challenge, because even though I was in love with them, the kids didn't care for them that much (As time goes by, I am realizing that my kids are NOT kinesthetic learners.) so it's taken me a little bit to figure out how to get them to use them to the best advantage, and happily. I think we've finally figured it out, and I'm so glad.

Originally when we started using them, since the kids hated them, it ended up being more of a discipline thing... and I HATED that I felt compelled to do this because I NEVER EVER EVER EVER want math to be used as a discipline. EVER!!!! I hated math as a kid, and my number one goal for homeschooling is to create kids that aren't intimidated by math, are comfortable with it, and even just maybe, love it. I'm somewhat slowly realizing that love can only come with a solid foundation of knowing, without hesitation, their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts, off the top of their heads. So my primary math goal this year is to have two kids that can, without hesitation or effort, add and subtract 1-10 quickly and easily.

So, their math curriculum last year was Horizon Math... and they got a good intro to addition and subtraction skills out of it... excellent, actually. BUT, they hate-hate-hated doing math. This year when I ordered Timberdoodle's Core Curriculum they changed the math program to be three workbooks and the wrap-ups--yes, THREE WORKBOOKS!!! (Even for my workbook lovin' self, that's a bit excessive.) They were:

1. Jump At Home Math (A really cool concept, just hasn't worked for my kids.-I wish I'd gotten them the second grade book instead of the first, I think that would have helped a lot. The first grade book would be great for Kindergarten.)
2. Mathematical Reasoning (A great intro to math facts, and also using math in real life, as well as algebra, geometry, logic, deductive reasoning, etc. A really fun book, if a bit expensive. I recommend. I would say it's a supplement though, not a core math book.)
3. Daily Word Problems (a great concept, and reasonable good book as a supplement.)
and,
4. Drilling addition and subtraction with wrap-ups. (They also have about a bajillion other ones, including fractions, multiplication and division.)

When we started this it seemed a little excessive, but as time went by, and their little shoulders deflated every time I pulled math out, I realized this was NOT going to work. I was failing in my attempt to help them enjoy it, and the huge stack of books was sucking the fun right out of it. So, we had to re-evaluate. And we talked about it, and reformatted our days. They LOVE the Mathematical Reasoning book, and can easily go through 6 pages a day. Brianna begs to do it. The Jump Math book was way too easy for them, and seemed to be when they would deflate the most, so that one had to go. And, I think that the Daily word problems are useful, so I wanted them to keep doing those. Except it was killing their spirits to have this big old stack of books in front of them every day, even though with the Daily Word Problems they were only doing one relatively easy problem in the book, it was mentally overwhelming to have that stack.

So, I changed it up so they do between 4 and 6 pages of the Mathematical Reasoning four days a week, and then one day we do The Daily Word Problems book. Except we usually do about two weeks worth of work when we do it... 10 word problems is not that hard. And, I have them fit the wrap ups in while I'm working with the other kid on reading or whatever, and about two to three days a week we sit down with the wrap-ups as our sole focus together and drill with the timer... and they try to beat their own times, NOT each other's, as competition between them is a recipe for disaster around here.

(Side Note: I LOVE workbooks. Nothing makes me happier than a workbook. This year the curriculum was super heavy on the workbooks... and I'll talk more about this later as I do a few more school posts. But, I've realized that while my children don't mind workbooks, this curriculum has been too workbook heavy for them. So, I've had to do a lot of adjusting as the year has gone by to make sure they're getting all the important pieces without feeling overwhelmed by workbooks. I am SO SO thankful for Timberdoodle's Core Curriculum choices, and all I've learned from them, but next year I'm putting together my own curriculum... Eeek! Anyway, I would highly recommend their packages, especially to new homeschooling moms. They are well laid out, all-inclusive, and the charting is done for you so you immediately know what needs to get done every week to accomplish a year in 36 weeks.)

They were being particularly goofy on this day. It's always nice to have happy kids when we're doing school.

 So, the wrap-ups are a stack of 10 plastic pieces with one number on one side, and then each piece is a PLUS 1-10, or SUBTRACT 1-10 piece. The possible answers are on the other side. So, the child takes the string, starts on the left, subtracts or adds the number, and wraps the string to the answer on the right.

Thinking...

 When they are done, they can check their work with the raised plastic "lines" on the back of the wrap up.

 Success!

 Fist PUMP-YEAH!

I keep track of each kid's time per wrap-ups, and we usually focus on four at a time, or so. Since we haven't been doing it this way this long, right now we're keeping track of their times for +1, +2, +3, -1, -2, -3, and we're independently working on +/-4, +/-5, +/-6 without timers.  They are pretty fast at +/-1, both around 25 seconds a piece. I think after they get to the point of 20 seconds per number we'll move them up a digit and time them for 2, 3, 4, and keep at it like that.

Their favorite part is after they are done then I go through them all 1-10 for them, and THEY time ME! They haven't beat me yet on any numbers, but I hope they do soon. That will be a proud day. :-)

These would be great not just for home schooled kids, but also for drilling math facts for ANY kid. They're a piece of cake to use in the car also. Additionally, an added bonus has been how it has helped them with their fine motor skills as well. I have one child who's a little more challenged by that, and one that is really good at all fine-motor things, and my challenged one had a hard time with this at first. Her fine motor skills  have significantly improved as we have used these.

Stay tuned for just a few more school-stuff reviews!