About Singapore....

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:21 pm

We are using Math U See- Alpha right now for my 7 yr old son. He hates it and says he hates math in general, which I know most kids do. I am getting my HOD order ready and was looking at the singapore samples on their website and had a few questions for those of you that use it, especially 2nd grade and up.
One of the things that i liked about it was that it is colorful and doesn't have a lot on each page. MUS has a page full of problems w/ no color.(Not a huge amt though.) DS looks at the MUS page like it has 1,000 problems on it or something.
What I am wonderering is , is it enough for them to memorize the facts well? My son does not remember facts easily, though he usually knows how to find out the answer. (MUS teaches little tricks that I like.)
I'd really like to know your opinion on this because if it is not a harder program and does teach mastery of basic fact tables, then i will consider switching because of the format.
Does it "teach the teacher how to teach" for those of us (ME!!!) who have a hard time teaching math?
Another thing, my library carries all but a few of the emerging readers so I think I am going to only oreder the ones they do not have. Over approximately how many days are the books used? I am guessing not very long so getting them from the library is no big deal.
You all are so helpful on this board. Thanks a lot.

Big ((HUGS))!!!
Kelly
p.s. See, pretty soon I will be done with all of these questions and will be posting about what a great time we are having with HOD like you all! I will be a true HODie, not just a wannabe

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:41 pm

Hi Kelly (and I already think of you as a fellow HODie, by the way)!

I am not sure which HOD guide(s) you are looking at, but the hands-on math activities that are written in the guides are great! I think your ds would really like them - they involve snacks, cards, movement - all the things kids love - and they really cement the math skills. In Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, there are hands-on activities for Singapore 1A/1B. In Bigger Hearts..., there are hands-on activities for Singapore 2A/2B. If you can do the level with the activities, that would be great.

As you already said, Singapore is colorful and brief. I also like the mental math "tricks" Singapore teaches. It does not drill basic math facts, but it has so much mental math that the facts just seem to stick anyway. I added flashcards when we did Beyond's math, but I think I wouldn't have needed to. I haven't yet for multiplication/division in Bigger..., and my ds knows those well already. If you do decide to do flashcards, I found it best to do one "family" at a time, like the 0's only; then the 1's only; then the 0's and 1's only; then the 2's; then the 0's, 1's, and 2's only, etc. That worked well for us with addition and subtraction.

As far as the Emerging Readers, you could easily utilize your library! You may find you just want to own them though because your child may want to read them again and again - they're so excited to be reading! You could always just see which ones really click and then just buy those later for your reading shelf too. Either the library or owning them would work just fine! You'll probably want the longer books though - like the Bible and the Nature Reader. Those take longer than the usual time a library will lend books for - and they're just really neat to have! HTH

In Christ,
Julie

Tansy · Post by **Tansy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:10 pm

Well we used singapore kindergarden and 1a 1b but my dd started hating math more an more and the lack of consistancy from day to day messed her up (raisins couldn't add the same as marshmallows you know) she is very concrete. So after 2 years with singapore we left for M.U.S. life has been much much easier. Singapore was to much head math she didn't get the tricks and concepts (tho i learned a lot)

Have you been doing every sheet? Or once the child shows mastery move on? My dd and I spent 6 weeks on unit 3 but only 12 days on units 4-7. she hated unit 3 but now loves math again.. the black and white one sheet is great for her. All the colorful images distracted her and having to do 3 pages of Math is so unfair!!! she would rather do 100 problems on one page than 6 on 3.... she really doesn't get math at all... does she..

What works for my kid may not work for yours ... What is so great about HS is that we can change it if its not working! yippie!!! So try the singapore it might just be the right fit for you.

blessedmomof4 · Post by **blessedmomof4** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:38 am

If you try Singapore, makw sure your chld takes the placement test from their website, since he is coming from a different program. Success in Singapore Math depends partly on correct placement. My 3rd grader came from different program and placed in Primary 2A at the beginning of this school year.

Motherjoy · Post by **Motherjoy** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 8:10 am

Singapore does not teach the teacher to teach. The tips that Demme gives in his DVDs are amazing. I enjoyed math in school, but I didn't really learn beyond going through the motions. When I watched the demo DVD I actually learned something I didn't know.

We're big MUS fans. We've done SIngapore too, for two years, and we liked it too. BUt MUS is what we'll be using for the rest of our homeschool.

blessedmomof4 · Post by **blessedmomof4** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:51 am

By the way, for the early levels of Singapore US Edition, Carrie has written wonderful, quick, hands-on activities that help make teaching the concepts very easy, in the daily lessons for Little Hearts (Earlybird 2A and 2B), Beyond(Primary 1A and 1B), and Bigger(2A and 2B), meaning all you need for those levels is the workbooks for the child.

For 3A/3B in Bigger (and soon 4A/4B in Preparing), she has provided a daily assignment schedule for the textbooks and workbooks in the appendix. By level 3A, the child should be moving to learning independently-the illustrations in the textbooks and workbooks are very self-explanatory and kid-friendly.

As for how to teach, there are home instructor's manuals available through Singapore Math's site, like this one( 2 per grade level )
http://www.singaporemath.com/Primary_Ma ... mhig3a.htm

but if you use Carrie's guides, I don't think they'd be necessary until after Primary 2B, if at all. I am using Primary 2A/ 2A and 3A/3B, and have not found a need for a teacher guide (and I'm NOT a math person, LOL) I did, however, purchase the combined 1A through 3B answer key
http://www.singaporemath.com/Pri_Math_A ... mak1-3.htm

just for ease of checking work. Here is a link to the placement tests:
http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm

Correct placement is essential-coming from another program, most kids will place in a level not "matching" their grade. (My girls are 3rd and 4th and came from Making Math Meaningful by Cornerstone).

Another note-since the books seem deceptively simple, it's easy to assign too much daily for the concepts to really sink in-I love how Carrie's schedules keep me on track.

Post by **Carrie** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:57 am

Kelly (It looks like Lourdes and I were posting at the same time, saying the same thing!)

,

If your son really dislikes your current math program than it is probably time for a switch. Math is not one of those "one-size fits all subjects!" There are many good math programs out there and many different ways to meet your child's needs in math.

If moms have found a fit that their children (and they as a teacher) can keep up with and enjoy, we advise not to switch. However, if you are experiencing frustration and sadness, we recommend trying something else for math. Here is a previous post as to why we chose to use Singapore:

http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=112

Since your 7 year old is still pretty young, if you switched to Singapore now you would be able to use the lessons that we have written into our guides to go along with Singapore. We have hands on lessons 3 or more times a week in "Little Hearts...", "Beyond..." and "Bigger...". So, that compensates for Singapore's lack of hands-on in the early years. We tell you exactly how to guide your child through the short hands-on lessons to make the workbook practice in Singapore flow better.

Here's a link to the placment test for Singapore:
http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm

We have also used Math-U-See and did not find it to be a good fit for our oldest son. So, I can understand your frustration. Sometimes kiddos just aren't math lovers, and they will not LOVE any math program. But, we can try to minimize their frustration by matching their needs with a program that suits them better overall.

Blessings,
Carrie