rjperez1 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I have 5 dc. My two oldest are 4th and 5th grade. I am wondering how much time you Singapore users spend on math with kids this age. I know my 1st grader will need me for reading and math, one on one. Can my olders be mostly independent with this program? I know this math is highly acclaimed and worth the effort. However, I only have so many hours in a day to teach, train, cook, clean, etc. I was comparing Saxon and the DIVE program for ease of use and effectiveness. I know Saxon and the DIVE would be mostly independent, but I don't like the cluttered layout of the book, and I appreciate the visuals in the Singapore Program. So...would Singapore be doable as an independent thing, and if not, how much time would I need per student each day? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjperez1 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Going to the store, gonna check back later! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 It varies greatly. I don't see this program as being independent. I think other people would recommend Math Mammoth for being more independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 No, I don't think SM is designed to be done independently. If I needed an independent math program, I'd go for Teaching Textbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Answers will vary, but here's how we're doing. We did 1A/B in about 20-30 minutes a day. Sometimes a lesson took less than 10 minutes to complete with the HIG/TB/WB. Halfway through 1B, we added the extras (IP/CWP), which then increased our math to 40-50 minutes a day. I'd say 5-10 minutes were spent on me being there teaching the lesson, with the rest being independent work. I heard of a few families in which their children do it all completely independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 If you're looking for a good program that the kids can work on independently, CLE Math is a good one. www.clp.org We use SM + Miquon and we spend about an hour on math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 my son has just finished year 5. It isn't what I consider independent. I spend about... 15 or 20 mins in one on one time..some days less though. In that time, I might introduce a new concept or a new step in what we are doing, and I have him work the problems in the text book in front of me while I watch. I have him do that until it is clear that he understands what is being asked of him. Some days he tells me he doesn't need to do more than one or two. Other times we do a few more. Rarely do we need to work all of them. Maybe never. Then he goes and does an exercise on his own. We have a routine where he gives me his answers as he goes along (calls them out) but that is his preference. YMMV. It is possible that a student could read the text book and then work out the example problems and check the answers and then do the exercise on his or her own. I personally would want to be very available to the student in case there was difficulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I don't really know how much time we spend on math. My schedule says 45min, but we never follow the schedule, lol. For us, SM has been...well, not completely independent, but...I don't seem to be needed often. Ideally, it goes like this: we do the textbook section together orally or on the whiteboard. Then kid does corresponding wb exercise on his own. I'm here for questions, but oldest almost never has any. This morning, I spent an hour or less on math, & I had 3 kids working at the same time. One only asked if he could skip a certain kind of problem (writing numbers out as words), I was writing problems on the whiteboard for another, & reading the instructions to the littlest. If it hadn't been for the whiteboard, we could have been done much sooner. As it was, we did a week's worth of whiteboard work today, so that means I wasn't needed for that kid (other than questions) for the whole week prior. (I just forgot to do the textbook, & imo, if they already understand the concept, the tb can be just as well used as a kind of check-up to make sure they're understanding.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 We average five min of mom time, twenty minutes of kid time, throughout all years. Five days a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeemama Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 For my 4th grader, I spend about 10-15 minutes going over the lessons in the textbook (using a whiteboard) then she'll do the corresponding pages in the workbook on her own followed by a page or two from the CWP book (which is from the level and usually on a different topic). This independent part of math takes her 20- 30 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 We did three books last year (so younger did 3A, 3B, and 4A and older did 4A, 4B, and 5A). Most days they spent around an hour on math. We did the textbook together, like the previous poster some days we did many problems, some days only a couple, and we rarely (maybe never) did all of them. Most days this probably took 15 min a kid. Then they work out of IP. Some days this can be mostly independant, but other days it is really hard and we have to work on it together (those challenging sections in here are tough!). Also they do a page or two of CWP this is usually independant. Then I need to check thier work and they need to fix the wrong ones and I check once again going over any that are wrong still with them. Most days the text and IP part of our day is 45 min or so and between going back and forth on text lessons and checking answers, I am usually busy almost all of that time, but I am able to help two kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjperez1 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Wow! This is great! Thanks for the details. I want to be able to work with my 6yo and 4yo on their math and reading. I loved RSM B,C,&D, but I found Ihad no time or energy left to teach the littles after doing SWR and RSM w/ my olders. I know that SM and Saxon are top rated programs. Not sure about MM and TT, although I have looked at both. I'm not sure that the last two are as good as the first two-at least not time tested. I'm not really into computer graphics for our main math lesson. I've read on this forum that MM rivals Singapore in effectiveness with the same type mathematical thinking. Again, just hasn't been recieved the same worldwide rating, yet. CLE souds great, but does it promote mathematical thinking? I want to do a bit with the olders-don't like getting out of touch with their work and progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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