Singapore Math - HELP!

[NewBJ]

Good Evening - I need some help on Singapore Math. My 7-year old is in Bigger half-time and she is doing okay in math but did I miss in math 1a and 1b the memorization of the basic 1 to 20 addition and subtraction facts? I don't know what grade I was in but I remember those time tests they had us do to drill those math facts into our heads. We haven't had to do that in Singapore Math yet. Doesn't she need those basic facts memorized before getting into the adding and subtracting hundreds and such? And if I do need to stop what we're doing and go back and get those numbers memorized, what would you recommend? And also, why do they state the problem in horizontal fashion instead of vertical? My husband did math with her last week and thought it was crazy they were going horizontal and so of course taught her to change it to vertical. What is Singapore Math's thinking behind this? Any advice/wisdom/insight is appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Bethany

[countrymom]

Singapore math takes a refreshingly different approach to math and I would advise you to check out the thread below and scroll down to the 3 "Singapore Math" links, as Carrie does a much better job of explaining it than I would.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6248
I will say that we are just finishing 2B with our oldest, having been with Singapore from the beginning and I am pleased with his math understanding. We have not spent 10 seconds drilling or memorizing, yet he can complete the problems. Does he have all of the facts memorized? No, but he does understand the concepts and can easily decided whether to add, subtract, multiply, or divide for a story problem. He applies his knowledge to solve the problems where he doesn't have a fact memorized yet, and that is just so valuable. I was on the fence for drilling when we hit multiplication but our first day of working with "4's" he wrote down the answer to 4 x 6 very quickly. I asked him how he got that because I knew he didn't know it and he responded, "because 6 + 6 is 12 and 12 + 12 is 24." I am not going to replace that kind of reasoning with drilling. He is also continually picking up more facts as he does the assignments and I think like so many other Charlotte Mason techniques, this is what Carrie refers to as a "slow burn" method. I am others will chime in that can add more to the conversation, but the thread above will give you a start.

[pjdobro]

Singapore doesn't have dc memorize facts like a typical ps program. Instead it focuses on how to solve a problem and often in many different ways. It helps dc figure out how to mentally combine numbers quickly instead of having to memorize them. For instance instead of learning the math fact that 9+6=15, they will teach dc that problem can be looked at as 9+1+5 so that becomes easy as 10+5 is 15. It's little techniques like this that are interwoven throughout the program that help dc learn to manipulate numbers in their head quickly. Through that and continually using the facts, the facts are learned. It was probably sometime around 2A or 2B that I found my dc had their addition/subtraction facts down pat and could do them quickly. We didn't worry about drilling them, they came naturally along with use. We did add in some multiplication memorization later on, but it probably wasn't necessary. Again Singapore teaches ways to figure out multiplication facts easily without having to memorize. I'm sure that my dc would have done fine without memorizing the multiplication tables but coming from a ps background myself, I felt a bit unsure about it and was impatient to wait for the facts to sink in.

As far as the way the problems are written, I think it usually has a purpose. Sometimes it might be to expose the dc to looking at problems constructed different ways. It's possible that the problems were intended more to be solved mentally versus writing them out and doing the whole borrowing/carrying thing. Singapore teaches various ways of regrouping numbers mentally so often the problems can be solved quickly without having to put the pencil to page and doing the problem the long way. These are great methods to learn and writing the problem horizontally can encourage dc to think that way instead of just doing the problem the routine way.

Singapore math probably isn't the way that you were taught math if you were taught it in ps like I was years ago. I have found Singapore math to be a very solid program that teaches math in the way in which I wished I would have been taught. It really teaches mathematical thinking which is something I pretty much developed on my own being taught math the routine way. I think many dc don't ever come to that way of thinking when taught the traditional formulaic approach to math but being a math loving person, I tended to think beyond the problem. I always wanted to know "why" something worked the way it worked so on my own I figured it out. I love that Singapore teaches the why so all dc can have a deeper understanding of math and understand the concepts not just learn a process. It's a really solid program, and I'm so glad that Carrie picked it and convinced me years ago to give it a try. We're on our last year of primary mathematics, and I feel my dc have a very solid mathematical background as we move forward to higher math.