Primary Mathematics 1B Help

[rcfmben]

Hello,

I've never posted so I hope I am doing this correctly! My oldest is finishing up Beyond this year and I consider her to be in first grade. We are using Singapore Math (U.S. Edition, finishing up 1B). Math scares me to put it bluntly. Early on I struggled with math and that struggle followed me all through college. Early on I "skated by" without really mastering fundamental concepts (like place value and how that makes mental math possible). I am seeing some of the same struggles with my daughter. Here is where I really don't feel confident. Is she where she needs to be? Do we need to look into a math tutor? What skills need to be mastered before moving on? To help gauge how ready she is to start the next Singapore textbooks (I already have them) I looked through them. I was a tad overwhelmed! There is a few review pages and suddenly the hundreds place is added and your student is adding/subtracting numbers with three digits. If she is having trouble adding double digits do we need to repeat the textbook we're on?

She gets the concept. She can easily identify the ones and tens places. She is a very visual learner and relies heavily on that to solve math problems. For instance, "Sally had 12 balls. She has 4 more balls than Anthony. How many balls does Anthony have?" She easily writes her sentence correctly (12-4=). When it comes time to solve that I feel she should be able to count backwards from 12 to get the answer at this point since we've been essentially working on this all year. To solve she will either: a) draw ten circles and cross 4 out and count the remaining ones b) Use her unifix cubes (she knows to grab a connected group of 10 and 2 ones and then will take away four) c) draw unifix cubes (again, she does the ten and ones correctly) d) write out a number line and use that. Of course as the workbook progressed the problems became things like 36-13, 60+6, etc...I have tried every way I know how to point out how you are basically just adding the ones and then the tens to get the answer. There is no need for cubes in solving problems like this, especially something like 60+6.

I looked for some guidance on Singapore's site and didn't come across anything helpful, but I did notice they have a teacher's guide. I always order our books right from the HOD website and the teacher's guide is not listed. I am wondering if this is because Carrie Austin doesn't like it for some reason? In my case (struggling with math myself to some degree) would the teacher's guides be a good investment? I know for the next guide (the name escapes me at the moment-the one after Beyond) it says the textbook is not necessary b/c there are activities in the guide that accomplish the same thing the textbook would. Again, given that this is an area of some difficulty would adding the textbook be wise for extra help and practice or would that be "overkill"? I should also mention every single other concept covered in the books (fractions, graphing, time, multiplication, greater than and less than, etc...she is spot on and has zero trouble). I hope this all makes sense! I am grateful for any and all input! Thanks a bunch! -Faryn

[StephanieU]

First, one thing to remember is that Singapore and some other homeschool math curriculums are advanced. With Singapore, students are ready for either Pre-Algebra or Algebra 1 after 6B. So, if you do one level a year, your daughter would be doing either Pre-Algebra or Algebra 1 in 7th grade! The honors path is normally Algebra 1 in 8th grade, and the standard track is Algebra 1 in 9th grade. So, you have 1-2 years of flexibility to slow down if you need to! You might find you need to slow down with the HOD guides as well (Bigger is a step up as we are learning!), but even if you don't need to slow down everything else, it is okay to slow down the math when needed.
Before getting a tutor, I would concentrate on filling the gaps you have with your daughter's math curriculum. You can find videos online that will help with Singapore's methods, or you can go with generic sites like Khan Academy. I would probably suggest you working through a workbook ahead of your daughter so you can see where the lessons are going AND solidify your understanding of math.
Then work at your daughters pace for math. If you see her really struggling with major concepts like place value, spend a few days just working on that. Singapore does review topics like you have seen, so mastery isn't necessary most of the time, but things like place value are very critical for real understanding later on.
As for the specific examples, I would lean towards letting her use the unifex cubes like Base 10 pieces (or purchase/make some). For 60-6, she would start with 6 sticks of 10. Then, she would break 6 pieces off of one stick, leaving 5 full sticks and 4 left or 54. For adding multipdigit numbers like 34+25, you would have 3 sticks and 4 units plus 2 sticks and 5 units. That is 5 sticks and 9 units or 59. As she uses the pieces, she will see how she can do it without the pieces before long.
Another option instead of totally redoing level 1B would be to purchase Extra Practice for Primary Math U.S. Edition 1. This workbook is a supplement to 1A and 1B with similar problems so you can do more practice. It might be just what you need to add to Singapore to solidify things a little more for both of you!

[rcfmben]

Thank you so much! That is SO helpful! I had no idea there was extra practice workbooks and I was wondering if maybe I was pushing her too much and going through the guides too fast. I will be adding another child to our homeschooling mix this year and know that some things are going to have to change in order to adjust to that and give both children the time they need (while keeping the toddler busy of course). I'm going to try and check out some threads on schedules. I have wondered if splitting up one day into two would be helpful as far as being able to feel like we're not rushing through just to complete the day's task. We don't typically take the entire summer off so we have plenty of time to do that. Then again, I've read lots about how the day's tasks flow together so I know some are not a fan of splitting it up. Hmmm....Lots to consider. I really, really appreciate the help with the math tho! THANK YOU!!!!

[StephanieU]

We are doing Bigger half speed right now. It is going well half speed!
Here is how we are doing it:
Math, spelling, and cursive daily
Then we do history, rotating box (history activity, geography, art, vocabulary, and timeline), poetry, and Bible one day.
Then we do hymns, science, and grammar the next.
For storytime and reading, we are doing 20 days of storytime then 20 days of DITHOR books. I have my daughter read some of the grammar and Bible, so I am not worried about not doing a formal reading program daily (plus her favorite things to do are read and look at books). We tried doing reading one day and storytime one day, but it was harder to keep up with the stories. Plus we check out the audio books from the library, so keeping them for 8 weeks wasn't always possible.

[rcfmben]

Thank you! I can't believe I haven't thought to post on here before. You've been so helpful!