I am having my younger son practice is math skills, handwriting and getting to review Neat Numbers & One Page A Day 2 Digit Multiplication Practice by Channie's Visual Handwriting & Math workbooks.
We got these in the mail and I was immediately excited to get this started with my son.
While this is meant for preschool and younger school-aged children, for Neat Numbers and the One a Day 2 digit multiplication is meant for 2-3rd graders, my son, who happens to be on the spectrum of autism, struggles with his handwriting skills. Now this could be due to a number of factors, that may or may not have to do with him being on the spectrum or his ADHD, but I suspect that many children have a difficult time with handwriting.
Handwriting has been something that has been taken out of the classroom so much in the new way that schools do things, but I firmly believe that this is something that will backfire not only on the school system but on the kids. And more importantly, be able to impact the kids learning and ability to communicate later in life. Even those that think that computers will always be around, forget that there is a chance that we won't always have computers. It takes me back, actually, to a show called Revolution, where all the of the United States lost power and it was like we were back in civil war times. And while people say it won't happen, also can't predict the future. Plus, while that is and sounds outlandish, it doesn't shine over the fact that handwriting is still an important skill.
Being able to handwrite well, and write and rewrite things is actually an important skill. It also helps kids and adults remember what they are learning. So there is cognitive reasons to teach handwriting that a computer just can't do.
When we got this, I was excited because it will help build his skills.
For Neat Numbers, it helps him fulfil the requirements for his handwriting that he is supposed to do every day. It is set up in the same fashion as it would be if he were practising the alphabet. The reason why this is important, even as kids get older, is because they need to be able to do well on their handwriting and their numbers. We don't often associate the two but I can say that there are times when my son will write a 1 (one) and I will think that it is a 7 (seven). Hence, why he needs to practice writing.
As he was practising to write his numbers outs, and we did this daily, it helped him slow down just a little bit. As he was able to slow down, he could not only see how to write the numbers correctly, he would see the lines he was making and correct them. More importantly, it got him kinetically learning how to do write his numbers.
For One Page a Day, the idea, which I love, stems from when I was growing up that I don't see used as much in the classrooms from what work my other children have brought home. It's the idea that they get math problems, in this case, multiplication, to be able to practice daily. That is how we are able to memorise numbers easier.
With this One Page a Day, on top of practising math skills, knowing the ones and the tens columns, it also teaches them HOW to write a multiplication problem, HOW to carry number correctly, and How to write the answer correctly. It's more than just getting the answer right.
Like I put before, I noticed that when he wrote his ones, he was unintentionally making it look like a 7. So it was easier to go back and forth between the two books to show him how to write the number he was writing more clearly so people could read it.
So, while the age guidelines are lower, I found this VERY helpful for my 3rd grader to be able to do.
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