beyond/1st grade math

[kelli]

i am currently using horizons math with beyond. my son is in 1st grade. i had already purchased the workbooks before i realized the math activities carrie wrote coordinate with singapore. we are just about finished with the 1st grade horizons book though we are only on unti 16 in the guide. i am thinking of switching to singapore. our favorite part of math is the activities in the guide. i am so tempted to skip them since they don't coordinate with horizons. i intend to do them "when we have extra time", but we usually don't. he's not getting the hands-on that tie into the concepts.

have we missed too much of the foundations in singapore?
does bigger also have the math activities added by carrie like beyond?
what would you do?

thanks in advance for your insight and wisdom as you are all full of it

kelli

[dawntx]

Hey, Kelli, My thought is that since you are almost finished with Horizons, you could give your son the Singapore placement test and see where he fits or since you are only halfway through the guide, you could pick up with 1B and do the activities that go along with that? It may get you introduced to the "Singapore" math way even if it's review for your ds, I'm not sure that it would hurt- just reinforce- if you are interested in switching to singapore next year for Bigger!
We,too, love the hands on activities that Carrie has added in the guides and yes, there are activities in the Bigger guide as well- for 2A and 2B workbooks.

Blessings,
Dawn

[Mom2Monkeys]

If you wanted to switch to Singapore, you definitely would want to take the placement test. My dd switched from Horizons to SM. She placed in SM 2A after completing all of Horizons 2. I would start with Singapore 1A if you wanted to switch now, and just move quickly through it WITH the HOD activities. Then pick up 1B at a regular pace. You won't be behind if you start at 1A as kids in Singapore start 1A when they are 7.

If you don't want to switch , I would at least do the activities in the guide, even if they don't line up with Horizons.

[Candice]

Kelli,

A friend of mine completed a 1st grade math program with her grade 1 son and then decided to switch to Singapore. She decided to go ahead and start with 1A despite already completing another grade 1 math program. She felt it was best so that they could start at the beginning with the Singapore way of doing math. Her son went through 1A and 1B rather quickly but, she is glad she started where she did.
Just some food for thought.

Candice

[lmercon]

I agree with the others about starting at 1A. It is a different way of thinking about math and the foundation would be very good to have. Like the other poster said, you could move more quickly through it if your child picks it up quickly.

[Jen in Va]

I agree about starting with 1A. The kids will pick up the Singapore way pretty quickly, especially if you are starting young, but the real need is for you to get the foundation in the way Singapore works, unless you were raised under this type of math, which would be very unusual if you grew up in the States. I love Carrie's activities and use them with my 7 yo (in Beyond--unit 19 or so, but ahead in math), but I also invested in the Home Instructor's Guide available through Sonlight or the Singapore site. They have been very helpful for me, as a non-mathy child of 1960s-early 70s 'new math,' to see how Singapore works. These guides are not a must, but helpful as a supplement.

[my3sons]

You've already gotten some great advice here that I'll second. Singapore is considered advanced, so starting with 1A wouldn't be a step back. However, you could easily give the free Singapore placement test to fine-tune placement, just click on "placement" at this link:
http://www.singaporemath.com

We've loved the HOD hands-on math activities paired with Singapore up through 2B. I think they are short, fun, and encourage the mental math Singapore is strong in already. My ds is now in 4A and doing awesome with Singapore math. Our other ds is in 2B and doing great with that as well. The 2 of them are day and night from each other, so I think the HOD hands-on and the Singapore together build an excellent foundation for doing well in math. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[kelli]

thanks so much ladies! i will give him the placement test first. i will plan on cruising through 1a and 1b as paired with the hod guide and activities. then we'll be ready to go with bigger in the fall.

too late to switch over my 5th grader??

kelli