Scared of Singapore... help

[Michaeljenn]

I am really scared to use Singapore... Teaching math is not my strong suit, and Singapore does not really have a good Teachers Manual and I am afraid that I will just feel lost! The first few levels look pretty simple to teach, but when you get to levels 4-6, it just looks scary! Any advice? I don't know what to do about math!! My kiddo's were in PS last year, and will be homeschooled this fall,and I just really need some hand holding with math... It also appears that Singapore does not have tons of review! Advice?

BTW.. I will have a 2nd grader and a 4th grader. Both were very strong in math, making high A's on their report cards. My daughter only missed 1 question on the dreaded STAR test.

Thanks in advance.... And so excited to use Beyond and Preparing!!!

[MelInKansas]

Do you know what level(s) of Singapore they place in? That will effect my advice. If your kids catch onto math easily and like it already then I think half your battle is won. Is your DH comfortable with math? Really my 3rd grader (will be 4th in the fall) who is doing Preparing does it mostly on her own now. She does the textbook work and the workbook work. She catches onto math easily. My 2nd grader does not get it as easily and I have had to work with her more. My DH now checks over my oldest's math and talks to her about it in the evenings. So, I don't think you need to make it as hard as you are making it. Your 2nd grader who will be doing Beyond, if they place higher than 1A/1B you may want to consider getting the Bigger Hearts guide in order to have hands-on activities and more guidance for that kiddo's math. Carrie has it written right into the guide and I did find that a lot easier to use than the Singapore textbooks, personally.

[Bethben]

You may not want to start your 4th grader in Singapore and chose a more traditional program. A lot of people who give their children the placement test find that their child tests low only because Singapore teaches math a little differently. If you start in the beginning and teach the levels up to the 4-6 levels, it all makes sense. I think it's a hard program to jump into. You can always chose another math and not feel guilty about it. Singapore is an excellent program, it's just not for everyone.

Beth

[Michaeljenn]

I have not given a placement test yet, but will do that today. I am looking at Rod and Staff Math as well... My husband and 14yo are both really strong at math. My 14yo tutors younger kids at her Christian School when needed. She uses Saxon and loves it, and thinks I should just use Saxon, but I am leaning towards R&S now, and then switching to Saxon after 8th grade. hmmmm decisions, decisions!

[Bethben]

I am using Saxon for my 3rd and 4th children. My 3rd grader needed more review than Singapore allowed. He doesn't always get the concept the first time around either, so the spiral thing works really well for him. My Kindergartener/1st grader really needed to have something she knew easily each day so that she wouldn't be discouraged. She just needed to feel successful each day and not have new stuff every time she sat down. I did use Singapore for my 2nd child and he has an amazing math ability. I did switch to Saxon for him in Algebra because he kept forgetting concepts.

Beth

[lmercon]

There is a home educator's guide that I found helpful in the upper levels. It's worth the small price tag imho.

[my3sons]

There are many reasons HOD chose Singapore Math to carry - all good ones proven true through the years to me! We have enjoyed using Singapore Math all the way through. We found it prepared our ds so well for high school math. I think it does have review, just not in the traditional way. It reviews concepts using multi-step, multi-skill word problems. This 'forced' our dc to THINK about which methods to use to solve a problem. It sounds like you have strong math students. The HIG guides can be used as helps for parents whenever needed. Certainly for your younger student, I'd try Singapore. For your older student, I'd see what the placement test reveals. Often times, strong math students prefer Singapore Math. It appeals to the way they naturally think. Here are a few threads to ponder...
Singapore Math (why Carrie picked it and my top reasons for using it)

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4271&p=31537#p31537
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=112

In Christ,
Julie

[Nealewill]

My younger 2 kids are strong in math and they love Singapore. My oldest is not so strong in math but that is why she needs Singapore LOL. As for review, the only "review" that some people have added in is solidification of math facts. You could do that with flash cards easily. Or you could do games - my iPad has an app my kids love. I also have the RightStart math card games and my kids have played tons of those and they love them. Those games do a great job at helping kids get faster at their facts. I think if you teach your kids to think 95% of the time, even if it involved manipulatives and drawings, then that is more precious than review, review, review. The beauty of learning to think about things helps them when they can no longer continue to just memorize their way through. I used a different math program before finding Singapore but it was Asian math based. To me - Asian math is a fantastic way to learn math because it keeps the kids thinking. And for me, I want them thinking. And Singapore does have review days built in but not as frequently as other programs. And with Singapore, it isn't necessarily mastery based before moving on. So most of these topics are covered year after year. If they struggled in a lower year with something, you just keep moving and then the next year they will probably get it just fine! Also, with Singapore, the level does not correspond with the grade. So be sure to check the placement chart. In addition, you only need to finish up through 6b before moving into high school algebra. So hopefully that helps when you think about where to place your child.

[Bethben]

Can you share the math facts ap? I am looking for something to practice math facts over the summer.

Beth

[Michaeljenn]

Thank you for the replies! Thank you for the links as well... that sent me on a long bunny trail of threads!! LOL I went to Mardel last night and just sat and looked at the Teachers Guides and the other levels of Singapore. After really investigating Singapore, I think I am going to give it a try. I have printed out the placement tests and will be testing my children soon. I so appreciate all of your responses, it has made me really think! I really liked the HIG's and how they really give lots of games and suggestions! Just what I needed. Again, thank yo so much!

[Nealewill]

The math apps I have that the kids use are:

Multiplication + by The App Gate. I will say though, I am having trouble getting it on my phone with the search feature. But this is free. And excellent.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/multipl ... 41121?mt=8

The other ones I used are the apps by AppTutor. They have several. Long Addition, Rounding, Long Multiplication and a bunch more. They are all free. And I love the interactiveness of them.
http://apptutorapps.com/

Both have served their purposes for different uses. My kids are pretty mathy too. So they also use techniques like:

2x9=18; so 4x9 = (2x9)x2=36 (which is the 18+18)
they do the same thing for 8s, it is 2x2x2. For 6s and 9s, they know the 3s pretty well. For 5s, they know that 2x5=10 so they break something like 5x8 into 10x4. if it was 5x9, then they would say 10x4+5. They do a lot of this stuff. These tricks help with the review and answering faster. 7s are really the only thing I never found tricks for. Those are straight memorization when you are trying to get faster.

And again (I may have mentioned it) my kids love the wrap ups. I have found that my kids had no issues with addition and subtraction. And they didn't have issues with division either. But they needed to get faster at multiplication to complete division faster. So that is why most of my focus has been on multiplication.

[acsnmama]

There have been times I've thought Singapore was more difficult for ME. However, for my kids, they love it and my son who is entering level 3 has been thriving in Singapore! My daughter is 5 and just completed the Singapore Essentials A & B books and I think they're great! That's AWESOME that you could take a look at the books in the store, no local stores here carry Singapore Math, so I was unable to do that, but I really think you may have a different outlook on the program once you get to using it. I wish I had been taught that way, someone told me that I would be good at mental math if I had actually memorized math facts, but I beg to differ. While memorization is a key, picturing math in your head is another story! I have learned techniques since working with my son even in the lowest levels of Singapore! I don't know whether I should be embarrassed or not! I feel like it really would have transformed my experience in school. It's worth a try!

[Nealewill]

I wanted to mention really quickly, especially after reading acsnmama comments, I do think the mental math and understanding are the true important things with math. And I think Singapore definitely does that! I only give my kids extra practice with multiplication specifically because as they get older, they just move faster with their math assignments if they can come to the math fact more quickly rather than skip counting to try and figure it out. I definitely think if your only focus is memorization, then your kids are going to struggle. So I just wanted to add that since my previous post was all about how I help my kids memorize their math facts. And I only start having them work on memorizing these facts once they get to level 3A. That is because in that level, they are doing a lot more with multiplication and knowing the facts helps move your day faster.

[Gwenny]

When my daughter was in 3B, I let her sit with a multiplication chart in front of her to do her math problems. (it's a big square with the multiplication tables on it-up to 10X10) She knew how to multiply, she was just slow getting to the answer. She quickly learned most of her facts just by being able to check the chart and it sped up her work and wasn't so frustrating-she could focus on the whole problem instead of getting bogged down in the multiplying. I might've done it in 3A if I'd thought of it sooner-can't remember what's in there.

[Gwenny]

Actually the chart goes to 12x12.