Supplementing Singapore??

Tagged: , , ,

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • March 20, 2011 at 8:47 pm
    jettlich
    Participant

    Thanks for advice in advance . . .

    We’ve been happily using Primary Mathematics (Singapore) for 2 full years now. I think things are going pretty well (I have a 2nd grader & a 1st grader), but my 2nd-grader is just not *getting* it on some things, and I believe it’s b/c she can’t SEE it. [for example, mental math of 99+58 and 124-98, places where you could make the high-90’s a 100 and do it mentall.] 

    We have and use wooden base-ten blocks, etc. But, I’m wondering if I should supplement our Singapore with RightStart Math since it’s so hands-on, or if that would be way to hard to do after we’re already 2 years into Singapore. I’ve wondered about Math-U-See as well. Both seem so expensive at the outset! I’ve considered other just workbook’y approaches, but those to me seem so “rote” and not aiming for understanding . . .

    March 20, 2011 at 8:59 pm
    alice
    Participant

    We just started using Singapore for 1st grade, and have done only a handfull of lessons so far.  But the one thought I had was, are you using the U.S. edition, and do you have the Home Instructor’s Guide that goes with it? The HIG has so much more in it, as far as activities and things to do to reinforce what is in the textbook and workbook.  I don’t think my kids would do so well if I wasn’t going slower and using the suggestions in the HIG.

    Hope you get some good answers here!

    March 21, 2011 at 12:46 am
    Heather
    Participant

    Before I would supplement Singapore with anything, I would take a look at other types of programs just to see if Singapore really fits your child in the first place.  What I mean by that is Singapore works great and is a fantastic program, just not for every child and every learning style.  I have an extremely visual learner and we were doing great up until the end of Singapre 2B and I had to reassess everything we were doing.  The struggles and tears continued daily and I finally decided to jump ship and go with another program altogether.  It has been smooth sailing since.

    I don’t mean to discourage you with Singapore, but just think it may not be that your child needs Singapore plus supplements, but maybe Singapore is just not the best fit.

    March 21, 2011 at 1:40 am
    jettlich
    Participant

    Thanks, Heather! I’m glad you said that. By philosophy we really want/wanted Singapore to work. But yes, consideration of the child’s learning style is of utmost importance.

    Do you mind if I ask . . . what curriculum did you end up going with?

    Our 1st grader seems to SEE everything in his head. A natural mental math guy. Our 2nd grader seems to need to see it happening many times in hands or in real life, and then she gets it. If she doesn’t have a visual on the harder stuff, she just wants a formula to plug in, but that shows me she’s opting for memory just to get it over, rather than for total understanding.

    I’d love anyone else’s ideas! Thanks!

    March 21, 2011 at 1:47 pm
    Heather
    Participant

    Yes, we went with Christian Light Education Sonrise Math.  I was nervous about changing programs for fear of skipping something, but it worked out fine.  If anything, I had to stop CLE to teach things like Calendar, Clocks, Place Value that was not covered by the time we quit Singapore, but other than that, we love it.  She is a visual learner and it has been neat to see how quickly she picks up what they’re teaching simply because she can “see” it now.

    Here is a link:

    http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4

    Hope this helps!!

    March 21, 2011 at 7:03 pm
    Marcee
    Member

    We also switched to CLP from Singapore. What an incredible program.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • The topic ‘Supplementing Singapore??’ is closed to new replies.