The three Ms.
M1. A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the My Passport to India project. We're still waiting for all the money to come in via the mail, and we're praying that we'll meet the goal when it all arrives! Thank you, again, for your generosity.
M2. More than just MathTacular4 has been added to the MathTacular Family. We just launched the MathTacular Educational Kit for the Christmas season. This Manipulatives Kit is not going to be a permanent Sonlight item, but we are offering it now as an excellent gift for a friend or family member who may not homeschool and is looking for an excellent way to reinforce math concepts.
I just want to make sure this is absolutely clear: This Manipulatives Kit is a product Avyx created for a different market. This product is not part of the original MathTacular Tetralogy. Rather, it is an offshoot project aimed at getting the incredible educational benefit of MathTacular into homes which may not be inclined to homeschool.
M3. Malls. With the launch of the MathTacular Educational Kit, I was able to go check out one of the kiosks in a local mall. It's fun to see a product I originally created displayed in a mall.
MathTacular Sign
MathTacular Kit Display
I was even able to snag a MathTacular shirt and got a shot of the kit assembly:
MathTacular Shirt
That's it for this week. See you on Monday! ...hmm... the fourth M <smile>.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester
Reader, MathTacular is a supplement. It is not a full math program. Sorry, I did not mean to give that impression.
It sounds like the Kit is going to be a great fit for what you need. Enjoy! <smile>
Yes, it helps a lot, Luke, thanks.
We'd be getting it as a supplement for my youngest who learns in a way different way than my older boys. As I'm not sure yet what way that is (he's only K/5 yrs), I'm sort of shooting in the dark here.
I think I'm going to go with the MathTacular Kit, add in the Pattern Blocks Kit (with the pages/books), and then figure out what works and if we need more meat from the full MT DVDs. Since this Kit is geared for younger, and the DVDs go older, I think it's a good way to get our feet wet, test the waters, and figure out what on earth to do with this boy for math.
(I'll also be using Miquon -- but is MathTacular meant to be a stand-alone math program??? really?? I thought it was just a supplement...?)
Mrs. C, cookies get us all the time <smile>. May MathTacular4 be a huge help--and joy--for Elf!
<smile> I am, Tammy. I am. ...but I too never look at the things in the Kiosks. Here's hoping we can help more children discover unbelievably understandable math <smile>.
Reader, the MathTacular Kit is not nearly as thorough. It was created to get MathTacular into a broader market. There are 11ish-less activities. I haven't compared the Manipulatives Guide to the Instructions Sonlight sells, but they are probably about as robust. But it's all bundled together with the kit, and priced low. On the other hand, you get more when you buy all the pieces (hence, the higher price).
Personally--and maybe it's because it's my baby--if you're interested in getting the other MathTacular DVDs later, I'd start with MathTacular and purchasing the manipulatives you want. The consistency in artwork and the complete DVD is important to me.
But if you're looking for a fun manipulatives set... the MathTacular Kit has a lot of good stuff.
I like the "Original" MathTacular more... because it has more of my stuff in it. But I realize that price is an issue, and buying less of the manipulatives cuts down the cost. And the Manipulatives Guide is nice looking...
...does that help?
~Luke
Luke - one question. How does the MathTacular Kit compare to the Math Activities Guide and various manipulatives kits that SL sells already? I see it's a better price, but is it as thorough?
Weighing which to buy as we speak. I had Pattern Blocks Kit, Gram/Centimeter Cubes and Math/Activities Game/Instructions in my cart. Would LOVE to replace that with the MathTacular Activity Kit (and perhaps add in the Pattern Block cards...).
Suggestions? Thoughts?
How cool to find MathTacular at a local kiosk! I never see cool things at kiosks......'course I live where we don't even have malls so perhaps that's part of the problem because when we do go to malls I'm too busy looking at all the stores and don't notice the kiosks. All of that takes me back to.....how cool for you to see MathTacular at a kiosk! You must feel like a proud parent :-)
Blessings,
Tammy ~@~
Yeah! I just ordered my MathTacular 4 and am so excited about it! And to think it comes with a workbook AND works with word problems! Yayyy!
Elf is on grade level for mathematics but give him a word problem and he has a lot of trouble. Part autism, but still something we can use techniques and improve, yk?
AND. I have to tell you something. I had a great deal of trouble with the site erasing my stuff and having to relog on. Your customer service people helped me out and the problem was solved within five minutes.
And the um, problem was cookies on MY COMPUTER. My bad. :)