Winging it with Singapore - Pacing ??

[Daisy]

Can I assume the pacing is typically 1 exercise per day in Singapore math? I'm using 1B and 2B with my kiddos. I went ahead and bought the textbooks since I won't get the HOD TM until late April.

So follow the textbook, doing one exercise from the workbook each day??

That looks right but I'm just wanting to make sure. And do you think it would be a big deal to move faster than that with my DD (2B) if she catches on? Or should I just keep it slow and easy?

I think my kids are going to breath such a sigh of relief with this.

[dale1088]

I started my dd in 2A when I pulled her from ps 3rd grade in December. She flew through the first part doing 3 or 4 exercises per day until we got to regrouping and we slowed waayyyyyyy down. It was a concept they didn't teach in ps yet. So I think so long as your dc are catching on, whatever pace you like is fine. My dd doesn't like math, so once we kind of "catch up" to where she should be with the guides, I will let her go at a 1 ex per day pace. I think it's fine. I do sometimes throw in some other workbook pages on time and money because I don't want her to forget, so you can always mix it up. And then there's the dreaded memorizing of math facts that we work on. Trying to get her to like flash cards, but she doesn't. *sigh*

[Daisy]

She has her math facts memorized (all four computations) so maybe I'll just let her go. I want her to really work on doing mental math. I want her to understand what she is doing & why versus just filling in blanks. Guess we'll just see how it goes.

[netpea]

We mostly do one exercise a day unless it's a long one like the review ones, then we split it over two days.

[Patience]

I just started using Singapore about a week or so ago. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but the lessons were only taking them about 5 minutes, so I decided to do it by time, rather than lesson. I set the timer for 20 minutes, and the idea is that they give a good effort for that length of time on math. Most of it is stuff they have already had, so I haven't yet run into problems or where they are needing me to teach too much. But for now, this is working for me.

[Daisy]

Awesome idea, Patience! I think we'll do that.

[Carrie]

Ladies,

You're doing a great job of sharing what's working for you here! I'll just chime in to say that iIf you do have the HOD guides for the level of Singapore you're using, then I'd encourage you to follow that schedule if at all possible. It will keep you steadily moving forward without having you get to the more difficult concepts too quickly.

Next, if you don't have the HOD guide for the Singapore level you're using, I'd really encourage you to make sure to ALWAYS do the textbook lesson first with your child to make sure you introduce Singapore's way of solving problems. You don't have to do every problem in the textbook, but do make sure to take that time to sit with your kiddos and go over it, catching any unique differences in the Singapore method. Then, you can turn them loose on the corresponding workbook pages.

Next, I'll mention that Singapore has a great ebb and flow in its design, so it will have a series of lessons that are easier (and thus are much shorter) and then moves into a series of lessons that are much more difficult. I'd still encourage you to keep to the lesson a day (and no more than 2 lessons a day) no matter how short the math session seems to be. This will give you the needed ebb and flow in Singapore's math design (rather than leaving kiddos with the "every day is the same" feeling in math).

Singapore lessons can be very short and still be very significant in the way they teach the concepts. In the past I've heard from moms who have just turned their kiddos loose with the workbook (ignoring the textbook lessons) and found they were done with the whole workbook in a very short time. Yet, as they eventually went up in levels, their kiddos were missing the needed problem-solving skills that come with the textbook instruction or hands-on lessons and that come with maturity. Enjoy the journey!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Daisy]

Thanks, Carrie, sounds like a plan. I'm hoping to buy Bigger ASAP so soon we'll have the HOD lesson plans for at least 2B.

The look on my son's face when he saw the Singapore workbook was priceless. He still remembers Earlybird and was so happy to be back to Singapore. My daughter is a little more reserved but I think she is just worried. She's at that stage where her confidence about a subject is often just an important as her actual ability.

[Patience]

This is very helpful, Carrie. Thank you for sharing these insights and experiences.