Cuisenaire Rods and Miquon Math

When it came time to think about helping my 4-year-old prepare for kindergarten, I thought back to my own kindergarten experiences and what I enjoyed. Three things came to mind, one of which was cuisenaire rods. Of course, I didn't remember they were called cuisenaire rods. I had to do several google searches before I finally found what those color coded sticks that measured between 1 and 10 cm each were called.

Once I knew what they were called, I searched for cuisenaire rods on Amazon.  This lead me to the Miquon math curriculum. I was already intent on buying cuisenaire rods, but when I found a math program specifically designed to use with the rods, I was thrilled. I had been researching many different math programs for young children, but after reading reviews about Miquon on several different sites, I decided it was the curriculum I wanted.

I purchased the full-three year curriculum, all three teachers guides and a set of cuisenaire rods. For the last month, my son and I have been sitting down about twice a week with the Orange Book and the Cuisenaire rods, learning how to add and sequence. This week, we've started to learn subtraction. The visual aspect of the rods makes math concepts easy to grasp and my son is able to figure equations out on his own, once he's given direction.

If you decide to buy this, don't skimp.  The worksheets do not have any directions on them. You need the three teaching guides to go with the curriculum. They are: First Grade Diary, Notes to Teachers, and Lab Sheet Annotations. These books not only give suggestions of what is effective, but also what is ineffective when teaching math.  There are also suggestions of other activities you can do with completed worksheets. I think these added activities make the learning experience richer. The added bonus is my son and I are having a fun time together learning something new.

Some reviewers object to the fact that the workbooks are printed in black and white, instead of the brightly colored workpages children have come to expect.  Don't worry. The cuisenaire rods are brightly colored and they are covering the black and white pages while the computations are being done. In my opinion, colored pages would detract from the rods - which are really the main point of this learning method.

Bottom line: This method is time intensive and requires parental involvement. You cannot just hand the workbook and rods to the child and expect them to figure math out.  However, for about $90 you get three years of curriculum. Miquon and cuisenaire rods also makes mathematical concepts so easy, even a four-year-old can do first grade math.