Singapore Math Supplements...

[butterfly113]

Well, I'm going against my grain and switching. I'm actually excited about it! I had considered switching to Singapore Math next year when we begin HOD, yet was truly on the fence. DS has been working a grade level ahead in math and doing very well. HOWEVER, God opened my eyes to some things the past couple of weeks. DS is not really being challenged with his current curriculum even though it is a grade level ahead... so he is not really thinking 'deeply' to do his work. Second of all, we hit a brick wall with fractions this week, and he is in a fog. And the TM I have has me in a fog! There is very little explanation.... SO... Singapore here we come! Thus....
For those of you that do use Singapore for your Math with HOD, do you use strictly the Home Instructor Guide, Text and Wkbk... or do you also supplement with other things? If you are supplementing, what are you using? Challenging word problems? Extra Practice? Intense Practice? Has anyone heard of the iExcel or Math Express Speed Maths offered on the Singapore site? What about other publishers... please share! I'm all ears! ;0)

[butterfly113]

[Kathleen]

I switched to Singapore this year (only my oldest is doing math so far), and we're just now finishing up 2B. We're using Bigger, so we've also been enjoying the hands-on activities 2 or 3 times a week that Carrie has written in the guide. I can't remember which level you're going into, but if it's 2B or lower, I'd highly reccommend getting the HOD guide that has coordinating hands-on activities for it. (I can post these if you want me to.) Starting with 3A, HOD reccommends that you use the textbook with the workbook, but not the Home Instructor Guide. So, I'm not planning on that. We aren't doing any "extras" either.

My ds was in a place similar to yours in that we were cruising along in math, he does well with it, he wasn't really being challenged...and Singapore got him thinking right away. He is thriving with it. I hope you have just as great of an experience!

Kathleen

[dolphingirl]

I use a combo of the Workbook and Intensive Practice from my son in 3B. There was actually a thread about this several weeks ago, so you may want to do some looking. The general concensus is that the workbook is plenty. I agree, it would be fine on its own. However, particularly if your son is quite "mathy" as it sounds like he is, I think Intensive Practice has wonderful exercises that cause the child to really apply their math knowledge in challenging new ways. In general, what I do is that if we're working on a concept that is brand new to my son and it is somewhat challenging for him, then we stick to the workbook. However, if the topic is pretty easy or I can tell that he's grasping it super quickly and the workbook lesson is quite simple, then I will just give him Intensive Practice to do or a combination of workbook and IP. We don't end up doing both books in their entirety, but most of each book gets used and they're priced fairly low for math books. I also like assigning pages in either book that we may have skipped initially and use them as a quick review weeks or months after we've done that unit as a review of that concept. I've seen some of the other supplements, such as Challenging Word Problems, in person. While they look interesting, it's just one thing (word problems) while the Intensive Practice has a broad range of all types of higher level thinking exercises, including many word problems. Hope this helps!
Kristin