tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6014947282990240755.post8760064080375640859..comments2023-05-26T04:20:37.175-05:00Comments on Lifestyle Logic: Singapore MathLynnettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13525674966210815169noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6014947282990240755.post-73508674135210173642010-11-23T10:54:31.525-06:002010-11-23T10:54:31.525-06:00Thanks for the info about the abacus. I've bee...Thanks for the info about the abacus. I've been highly intrigued as I knew you and some others have been using it. I've been hearing lots of good things about Right Start Math, too. I think our next set of math materials will be an abacus and some other stuff from their site!Lynnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13525674966210815169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6014947282990240755.post-61469985268132581012010-11-09T08:10:01.535-06:002010-11-09T08:10:01.535-06:00I use the abacus almost daily with Madeline for Ri...I use the abacus almost daily with Madeline for RightStart Math level B. The way the RightStart abacus is set up (which is different than both a traditional Asian abacus and the abacus you might see at Ikea or in a toy catalog), it is an excellent tool for visualizing quantities and for encouraging using strategies other than counting to find the answers to math problems. <br /><br />If you are curious about it, you can read more on these two pages at the RightStart site: <br /><br />http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=333<br />http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=315<br /><br />I have told other friends that were curious about RightStart but already had a math program or didn't want to invest in the cost of RightStart to either check out just buying the Math Games kit or just the Abacus (which comes with an activity book that teaches how to use it). I think you could gain a lot of the benefits of RightStart by just doing one of those things. RightStart even has a Yahoo group where people buy/sell used items pretty often. <br /><br />LOL...I should get paid to promote them or something! ;-) I guess I have just been amazed at how fast Madeline is learned (and granted, I think she has some natural math ability...but the fact that using the abacus she can add two 4 digit numbers is just amazing! I know that isn't my skill as a teacher -- it is just laid out in the program). <br /><br />I think my mental math skills have even improved as we have used the program because I have seen lots of strategies that I never was taught and never thought of. Of course, a lot of the strategies I get excited about, Tony tells me that he has used all his life to do math without being taught them! I guess that just shows how smart he really is. :-)Kirsten Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02302096789207269026noreply@blogger.com