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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Ray's Arithmetic Status Update

We are still using Ray’s Arithmetic as our math text, having just finished Term 2 of Ambleside‘s Year 2 with my newly 8 yodd.  We have completed addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and I am extremely pleased with dd’s understanding of the math processes involved.  She still needs drill to have fluency with the math facts, but we will continue to drill using Peggy Kaye’s Games for Math and our math wrap-ups as well as practicing with real-life situations whenever possible.

This year we have added a weekly lesson from Edward Zaccaro’s Primary Grade Challenge Math.  This excellent, living math book introduces concepts like fractions and decimals and percents that we otherwise wouldn’t reach for years, and it also adds an element of intellectual stimulation that arithmetic lacks.
One thing I would still like to do is to study the Manual of Methods that went with the original Ray’s Arithmetic (which differs substantially from the Parent-Teacher Guide by Ruth Beechick that comes with the Mott Media set).

I also regret not having been faithful in implementing the measurement exercises recommended by CM.  They are not hard to do, but I just didn’t make them a priority.  Picking those up again would be valuable, I believe.

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