tiffanie,
I'm also going to paste a few of my responses from some previous Singapore threads below that may be of some help as well.
Here's the first one:
I don't believe in a one-size fits all approach to math, however I do think Singapore comes much closer in meeting that goal than most. Many programs such as Math-U-See, Rod and Staff, ABeka, and Saxon go the drill, drill, drill route in order to get kiddos to have the concepts down pat. Singapore takes a different approach, with fewer problems that are of a higher level. At times, some students may need some extra practice on concepts to cement what Singapore provides. However, at our house we haven't found the need to supplement yet. We also know that it is easier to add additional practice or flashcard drills than it is to add higher-level thinking or more mental math.
The early years of Singapore are for exposure, not mastery in every area. Singapore comes back to those concepts steadily building on the foundation laid within the previous books to bring the child to a mastery level. Many kiddos find they get to "know" their facts just by going through the Singapore program year after year. Others kiddos may need some additional help in practicing their facts.
Here's the next one:
The activities written within our manuals are your teacher's guide for the younger years. As you get into the levels of Singapore from 3A on up, the Textbook/Workbook combination becomes your teaching time. Once you get to 5A/5B and 6A/6B, we will include the Home Instructor's Manuals available from Singapore (not the Teacher's Guides). These provide some additional practice and instruction for those more difficult upper levels of Singapore, which we feel is needed at those upper levels at least some of the time.
I just wanted to mention that if you're doing Earlybird 2A/2B with LHFHG, you will want to use the hands-on activities within LHFGH that go along with Earlybird 2A/2B. These make a huge difference in how well your child will understand the Singapore math and will also give you the needed practice that you are wanting. It is a huge help to have the hands-on lessons. I would not rush your kindergartner ahead, because you'll only find you'll need to slow down and fill-in later when it gets more difficult at the upper levels.
As far as the 1A/1B goes, the Beyond guide's activities really do help cement the concepts if you have a hands-on learner. It's also a good idea to follow the pace we have set up in the Teacher's Guide for the short, bite-sized lessons so your kiddos don't go too fast through the Singapore workbooks and miss cementing the concepts.
In Singapore 1A/1B if you don't get the Beyond guide for the hands-on lessons, it will be important for you to use manipulatives so your little honey can "see" the concepts and "manipulate" them. So, instead of thinking your little sweetie needs to master her facts in 1st grade, you'd instead see 16 + 3 as a chance to lay out 16 bears or blocks and then add 3 more, counting on from 16 on up to 19 to get the answer. There's no need to memorize the facts in first grade in order to understand the process. The facts will come much easier if you wait until your little honey is in second grade or even third grade, as it will make more sense then.
It helps me when assessing progress to think of the early years of math as an exploration and an introduction, with the mastery of the material coming later. We want to get kiddos thinking mathematically and learning how math is used all around us. The getting the right answer is only one part of math, and you can expect your kiddos to be making mistakes when they're first learning about something. Most teachers in school do not grade kiddos assignments when a new concept has been introduced. The kiddos need time to explore it and to grasp it first. Often that new concept may go in and out of their mind several times within the next few years, and at first they may not seem like they remember it. But, each time they revisit it through the years they get a little more secure in their understanding and file away a little more about it. Think of math as a process that takes time to mature into understanding and applying. Slow, steady bite-sized pacing will reap big rewards over time.
And one more:
As far as Singapore goes, it does use a different sequence of exploring math concepts from most other programs. It will go further with exploring a concept than is traditional. So while a traditional scope and sequence for first grade math wouldn't teach 16 + 3 until the child has learned to do double digit addition, Singapore will teach it along with counting on from single digit numbers. It is taught as a natural extension of single digit addition, rather than bogging down the child in teaching the method or rules of double-digit addition first. Singapore will do this with all of its concepts. It will let the child think to figure out harder answers, as a natural extension of the lesson, rather than teaching the method first and then having kiddos follow that method to do the problems.
For those of us who learned math as a series of rules or steps you follow to get the answer, rather than as a thinking process you discover to learn "how" to find the answer, it can be interesting to do math the Singapore way. I learned math by the rules and steps. I must admit that Singapore has shown me how to think about math in a whole new way. It has been interesting to watch my sons come up with the answers without me always having to tell them, "This is how you do it first".
If you take a look at any good math program, especially those from long-ago, you'll notice a combination of procedure and thinking. My grandpa had an 8th grade education and lived to be 94. He was very adept at math and finances and never had any difficulty functioning in the world of today. Yet, kiddos are graduating every day who can not count money or make change, even though they have been drilled and drilled on how to add and subtract.
Singapore does a good job of combining exploration with the process of learning new concepts. It strives to help kiddos learn to think mathematically. There is definitely a place for computation and for memorization too, which I have heard that some people add to Singapore once and awhile. We've not found the need to add anything yet. I tend to err on the side of giving kiddos every opportunity to learn their facts on their own through the math program. Then there is usually only a few facts remaining to be drilled once they get to second or third grade. In this way, kiddos can see math as more than a memorization excercise. They can actually learn how to find the answer when they may not automatically know it.
Blessings,
Carrie
Although we did go through it a little quickly at first, we always did the actual lesson, and I'm really trying now to only have her do one lesson a day. She is really understanding math and she loves it! Also, she is learning her facts and I have NEVER drilled her on it. Not once. She has surprised me by knowing right off the top of her head what 4+4 was, what 2+ just about any number is, and so much more. I think Singapore (with Carrie's hands on lessons, of course!