Creative Mathematics, headed by Kim Sutton, is a leading educational consulting company that has provided instructional materials and teacher training workshops for over 30 years.
The 10 Block Planning Schedule for Math Fact Fluency is a tool for achieving the goal of automaticity with the basic facts of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The 10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency breaks computational strategies down by grade level and gives homeschool moms (and dads) a suggested daily activity to teach and review specific math facts. The program includes a rich variety of learning experiences including music, math tools, games, activities and more.
Kim Sutton’s 10 Block program is a great supplement for any math curriculum – and it’s a wonderful intervention tool as well.
I had the pleasure of receiving and reviewing their 10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency product, Grades K – 6.
Creative Mathematics Product Review – How do you use the 10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency?
With this program, there is a three step model for teaching basic fact fluency. It includes:
1) teach for understanding of each operation using two models
2) teach the computational strategies
3) practice, practice practice! 🙂
Each practice block starts with a pre-assessment to determine the need for practicing a particular computational strategy.
Each computational strategy has ten practice options (so, you spend two weeks on each strategy). That said, each strategy may take fewer or more than ten practice sessions, depending on how your child performs on the activities and on the assessments. How much time you spend on a strategy is your call – it’s up to you as the parent-teacher.
A post-assessment is given at the end of ten practice sessions or when you determine your child is ready. This is true for all grades except kindergarten (no assessments are given in kindergarten).
Here are the books for K-6 – notice that you don’t have to buy a new book every year. That’s nice!
Each book comes with two music CDs: a grade specific collection of math songs and a Random Number CD (numbers are read in intervals) – the Random Number CD is pretty cool – and can be used in a variety of ways (check out the video below for more info about this CD).
Below are pics from the 10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency, Grade 3 book.
(For this review, I’m going to focus on Book 3 – all the books are super.)
More Pics from Book 3
And EVEN MORE pics from Book 3 – I usually don’t include this many pics in a review – but these books deserve the extra attention. 🙂
Yep, EVEN MORE!
This is the Last Batch 🙂
Each book is user-friendly, with everything you need at your fingertips.
Here are pics of the manipulatives for Grades K-2 and 3-6
Creative Mathematics Product Review – More Info about the Materials/Lessons
Once you determine what skill you’ll be addressing, you start with a song. I LOVE the songs – as do my kids. They’re catchy – I especially like the tune to We’re Counting by Two. BTW – there are 34 songs on the CD Songs for Grade 3.
Following each song is a drill, game or activity to practice the computational strategy. There are four icons used throughout the book – the icon assists the parent-teacher in identifying what kind of experience kids will have for the day. For instance, the headphone icon determines that students will hear numbers from the Random Number CD while the game icon determines a game will be played for the block.
Visuals are an integral part of this program. The number line pictured above is very important. It’s used at the kindergarten level for skip counting practice and it is used throughout every grade level leading to divisibility rules and factoring. Other visuals include Picturing Odds and Evens, a Concentration Board, Addition Tables, a Multiplication Table, a Number Properties Checklist, and more.
I love the Random Number CD, which is an integral part of the program. It’s downright genius!
Here is a Random Number Demo Video, FYI
For more demo videos, you can click here.
10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency Review – what I like about this product
- It’s classroom tested – and it works.
- The sheer quantity of stuff you get is pretty amazing.
- The kids and I love the manipulatives!
- The dice games are fun. My kids want to play them over and over again. (I’m not sure they know they’re learning – but they are!)
- The visual teaching tools are super.
- We love the music! The tunes are catchy and educational – prefect for home and in the car.
- This program works well for all types of learners. My kids have different learning styles and both do well with 10 Block.
- Plus, my kids enjoy this program (probably due to the fun activities and music). Enjoying the program – and wanting to do it – well, that’s a major plus.
- 10 Block can grow with your kids K – Grade 6. I like a product that can do this as it’s good for the kids (consistency) – and I don’t have to shop a new math program every year. So really, it’s a win-win for everyone.
- I appreciate the training – this includes online, explanations in the books, explanations on the Random CD and more.
- Once you have the training and you know how to use the program, it’s super easy to use – with no teacher planning required. Each manual has all the components necessary to implement the program.
- The spiral teacher books are super. The content is great, you can make copies of the worksheets as necessary, and I like the wipe-able cover and the CD flap in the front of the book (I know that’s a pretty minor thing, but sometimes minor things make all the difference in the world). 🙂
- As the parent, I can determine when to move forward and when to stay longer on a math strategy.
- It’s not time-intensive! Ten minutes a day tops. We can do that! 🙂
- It’s brand new and up-to-date. This product came out in 2017. New is always nice.
How to Order the 10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency Program
When homeschoolers order, they receive a 10 Block book, tool kit, number line, and online training for $149 plus shipping.
For info about ordering the10 Block Schedule for Math Fact Fluency curriculum, you can call 1-800-841-5193.
And below, you can peruse a Creative Mathematics catalog, FYI –
Did you like this Creative Mathematics product review? We really enjoyed writing it for you. You can check out our other reviews here: https://www.howtohomeschool.net/curriculum-reviews
- Creative Mathematics Product Review
