Singapore Math and drill question.....

Allison TX · Post by **Allison TX** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:14 pm

I am thinking of changing one of my ds's to Singapore when we start Bigger. I did the placement test and he placed in 1 B. But when I look at the topics covered in 1 B, he's covered most of them already. I bought 1B and 2A last year at some point, so I took them out and after looking through them, 2A seems to be a better fit. But I'm usure because I've heard the Singapore placement tests are very accurate. I don't want to skip over something that he hasn't yet learned. He has been using Horizons Math, and is half way through the 2nd grade book. Math is not easy for him and he doesn't always understand the concepts. Any thoughts? Also, for those of you using Singapore, what, if anything, do you use to drill math facts? Is that written into the program? Thanks!

Allison

Tansy · Post by **Tansy** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:43 pm

Allison I'm giving you a free bump to the top of the board.

Ladies she needs a replies!

I used a window worksheet with pre printed math facts on it. She wrote her answer in the cut out box. We also used a box of princess flash cards her Aunti sent her. But she really didn't get them till we moved to a diffrent math program. but I digress

I love Singapore and wish I could use it.

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:13 pm

I'm sorry you haven't gotten any replies....I don't use Singapore but I'll give you a best guess...

You mentioned in your post that there are some concepts that he doesn't seem to understand....I'm guessing that some of the concepts that he was tested on with the placement test, he just didn't have mastered well enough to be placed in 2A. I think I would lean toward placing in 1B (if you're still wanting to switch) and just see if there is something in that level that he just doesn't seem to have down pat. He may really fly through that book, but you may also find out that there really was some concept that he needed more practice with.

I hope someone who actually uses Singapre will have a better answer for you.

Post by **Carrie** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:11 pm

Allison,

Sorry I didn't respond to your post right away. I missed it in the shuffle of the busy board these days! What a blessing though to have so many precious moms here.

As to your questions about Singapore, I would recommend that you start in 1B if that is where your kiddo placed. Since it doesn't sound like your little guy is a math lover, he'll need an adjustment and an "I can do this" period with his change-over to Singapore.

Singpore jumps a bit at the beginning of 2A, making it a tough place to begin, unless a student actually places there on the placement test.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Singpaore Primary Mathematics only goes up to 6A/6B before switching to a different program set-up. After 6A/6B, students are considered ready for Pre-Algebra.

You may want to finish out the year with 1B, if you already have the activities in your guide, so you're ready to start 2A, next school year. Just a thought.

For what it's worth, my very mathy second son is in third grade and doing the end of 2B right now. He probably could be farther along but I didn't want to make the mistake of rushing him like I did with my firstborn.

Blessings,
Carrie

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:17 pm

Hi Allison! So sorry we all missed this one, and thanks Tansy for the bump! O.k., after reading Carrie's post, I guess I'd do 1B, picking up with 2A and going back and doing the matching hands-on plans in Bigger... with it at whatever point you need to. As far as math facts, we did flash cards. I sorted out all of the 0's and just did those to begin with. Then, added the 1's, and so forth. This built his confidence and made it much easier to do. It also helped us focus on "tricks", like counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, etc.

Allison TX · Post by **Allison TX** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:41 pm

Thanks for the bump Tansy!

I really appreciate all the replies. I think you guys are right. I will go ahead and start him in 1B and see how it goes. My older son is great at math but this little guy really struggles with it. He finds the patterns, but doesn't understand the why's. Maybe going back a little will build his confidence and make him enjoy math a little more.

Thanks again!

Allison

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:56 pm

Sounds good, Allison! I'm so glad you have a peace about it, and I think you're right on with the the thought of building his confidence in math. We all know someone who thinks they're just terrible at math, and probably would not have even had that thought if they'd gone at the right pace with it. My hubbie struggled with math until college when he aced it! He just had to do math within mechanical engineering, and it made total sense!

Vicki · Post by **Vicki** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:05 pm

Allison, I don't know if this helps at all, but here's what we have been doing. Keep in mind that we're not using Singapore.

I have a set of linking cubes and also some of those colored round glass "stones" (I'm not sure that's really what they're called) from Dollar Tree. We do our math lesson, and usually at some point in the lesson these things are used as manipulatives. My little fellow has fun using them, and it sparks an interest to explore further when the lesson is over.

So...perhaps just kind of playing around with some "hands-on" things such as this would help make a light go on with your ds. Also, a yardstick makes a great number line for moving up and down with adding and subtracting, and it's fun to move a coin or plastic bear or colored stone or whatever to see where it "lands" after "jumping" along the line.

These kinds of things seem to be helping to cement the number facts with my dgs. Maybe just playing around with numbers will help your child to make some connections, and hopefully have success with the Singapore program.

I should add that just now my little guy is scattering the glass stones across the floor, and telling me, "Oh no! It's units on the loose!" He's making some fun connections.