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Hi!

I bought LHFHG last year with every intention to use it for my dd's Kindergarten year, but ended up only doing the Kindergarten options with her (right side of plans). We did Earlybird Math 2A/2B, the R&S Workbooks, Handwriting "K", and Reading Made Easy. I spent a LOT of time with my older boys this past year getting used to homeschooling and so I set Little Hearts aside to use this coming fall with all of the 1st grade options.

I know most everything that I need to order, but have one question about the Math plans for Singapore 1A/1B. I noticed that in the alternate plans at the back of the guide, the math is planned out using the Textbooks. We loved the hands on math activities for the Earlybird math books. My concern is that my dd is going to miss out on all of the hands on activities this coming year. For those who have used the Little Hearts guide for 1st grade, how was it just using the Textbooks? Are there hands-on activities planned in the Singapore textbooks? If not, do you think that I should buy the Beyond guide just for the math plans?

Thank you for your help!

Tracy

Just finished our first year of homeschooling!
ds 9 and 11, used Bigger last year - made it all the way to Unit 21! Planning to have ds 9 finish Bigger 1/2 pace and use extensions, and ds 11 start Preparing.
And dd 5, looking forward to starting LHFHG very soon.

I used LHFHG for first grade and used Beyond for the hands on math activities. I think it is well worth it to go ahead and get the Beyond TM to have the hands on activities. You'll be using the full guide the following year anyway so it's useful in more ways than one.

At first I purchased the Primary Math workbooks and textbooks 1A/1B to use with LHFHG this year. There are no hands-on activities scheduled in the textbooks... there are pictures that illustrate the concepts.

I later got the Beyond guide for the hands-on activities - which are great! At first I tried using both the textbooks and the hands-on activities, but found that the textbook was really unnecessary after using the hand-on activities from Beyond. An added bonus of having the Beyond guide is that the Emerging Reader schedule is in that guide also. If you have an up-and-coming reader, it's a good thing to have on hand.

I say, get the Beyond guide and only the 1A/1B workbooks. You really don't need the textbooks if you use the hands-on activities.

You could also get the teacher's manual from Singapore for 1A and 1B. That also has hands-on activities.

Tracy,

The ladies are doing such a terrific job of helping you with your questions! I agree that if you desire hands-on activities for 1A/1B, then getting the Beyond manual, which includes the activities we've written to go with the 1A/1B workbooks is the best way to go. In that way, you won't need the 1A/1B textbooks, which will help offset the cost of Beyond.

There are Home Instructor's Guides published by Sonlight that have hands-on activities as well, but we naturally prefer what we have written in our guides better! We feel that the activities we've written are more in keeping with the original Singapore philosophy, adding just the right amount of hands-on to make the math lessons meaningful without adding so much that we are rewriting the program.

We also steer clear of the Teacher's Guides that are available, as these were added in the U.S. as well and are very classroom oriented and pricey. We do not find the activities within them very practical for the homeschool setting.

As always you can go whatever route you feel is best for math, but as this is the HOD Board, I just wanted to pop-in and clarify what path we recommend for our customers to take as far as math instruction goes. It is the path that we have done Singapore with two of our children so far with excellent results!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you! I think I am going to go ahead and get the Beyond guide. I wasn't sure if it was worth spending the extra money, but now I've decided. And if I don't get the textbooks, or the Home Instructor guides, then it does offset the cost a little!

Tracy