KBadd Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 My son is in 1st grade this year. He did Singapore Early Bird Math in K and is doing Singapore 1a US edition now. He really likes math - he never complains about it, gets the concepts quickly, and will happily work on it for quite a while. BUT... He has 2 younger brothers, ages 4 and 2, and I'm pregnant. (The 4yo is also doing Early Bird and loving it.) I'm not loving how Singapore is organized. I'm a big planner/organizer, and I think it's not quite check-the-box enough for me. And I haven't been utilizing the HIG like I know I should. I'm comfortable teaching math - I earned my degree in accounting so I love numbers :) I've just basically been glancing at the HIG and then explaining it my own way. I guess because of where our family is at I'd prefer something more straightforward to teach and as open-and-go as I can get. So... What other options should I look at? Or is Singapore so awesome I should just schedule it out better and implement the HIG concepts and games and such? Any advice on how to do that? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduemeche Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I am a checklist-type person and Saxon fits us really well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Math Mammoth is Asian-style math like Singapore but open-and-go, in a work-text format (textbook and workbook in one, no teacher guide because the teaching is on the page). It is flexible in that you can decide as you go along how many problems your student needs in a given lesson. As far as "straightforward" and teaching your own way, my caution would be to be careful not to skip directly to the algorithm, the "how" (procedure), until the "why" (concept) is understood. I haven't used Singapore much but for example in Math Mammoth, the teaching of the concept that ultimately leads up to the algorithm is important. I found it easy to compact (on the fly) that concept teaching in MM for a student who understands quickly, but I'd be reluctant to skip it entirely. It helps to spend a few minutes flipping through the entire book (of whatever program you use) so that you can see where the lessons are going and how the foundation is being built for the next step. The more familiar you are with your program and with the elementary sequence in general, the more confident you can be in your personal judgment about how and when to teach something. A curriculum is just a tool to use as you see fit, though it's wise to ascertain why a curriculum lays things out the way it does before you decide some portion is not worth your while. (ETA, I'd guess that's especially true of a topic such as number bonds in SM1.) Many programs are on the boring side at the first grade level. The more interesting ones, such as Miquon or Right Start, are more teacher-intensive. Different programs include varying emphasis on concepts and on procedures. FWIW, "straightforward" sounds as though you are looking for "traditional," which may lean a little more toward procedures. First grade is a good time to read a lot of discussions of the different types of math programs and sort through what your longer-term goals are for your child's math education so that, if you decide to switch, you find a good fit for both those goals and for the way your student learns best. Aspects that may be easy to overlook include depth and challenge, though how much a particular student needs may change over time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachingmomster Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 We have tried Singapore, Math Mammoth, and Life of Fred. All have different pros and cons. Does your son like to read? If so, maybe the Life of Fred option is good for your family right now because he can read the stories on his own (or, you read them together and discuss the math and then he can re-read them while you are tending to the other children). My son LOVED the Fred stories! We also supplemented with Singapore, sometimes taking a break from one or the other to keep from getting bored. I do agree with the previous poster. Look through them as much as you can. Only you know what will work for your family! Good luck with the math choice! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I haven't used the Singapore books except for the CWP, but I really like MiF which is Singapore based. I've never even purchased the TM, (ok, once but never needed it). I teach straight from the text and then my daughters have used the workbook. It's very open and go that way and super super straightforward. The pages are clean and easy to read (MM wasn't for us) and the textbook teaching is very incremental and easily understood. We've really enjoyed it. (Well...my oldest enjoyed it at first, but quickly outpaced it and was frustrated at the pace but she's very very mathy.) My youngest, especially, is getting a lot out of it. We've also used LoF which is fun, but somehow not enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 We used Singapore but bought it through My Father's World so that it came with the schedule and never even bought the teacher guide. I don't know how long that would have worked but it worked 1b-2a However, Singapore wasn't quite the right fit so we are using Math Mammoth this year. We really love it. It does not come with a schedule or teacher manual so you decide how many pages to do each day and everything is taught on the page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahM Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 We use Singapore and really like it (standards Ed.). I find it very open and go. Every lesson is spelled out for you. How to explain the concept, which problems to go over in the textbook, which pages to do in the workbook, games, etc. I don't find that I ever really need to "prepare" I just open skim over the lesson, get whatever manipulatives I may need, and begin. If it's a longer presentation I just keep the hig open and read each small portion present it, and keep doing that till the presentation part is over. I find it very open and go and user friendly. It even has which lessons should be competed which weeks, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBadd Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 We use Singapore and really like it (standards Ed.). I find it very open and go. Every lesson is spelled out for you. How to explain the concept, which problems to go over in the textbook, which pages to do in the workbook, games, etc. I don't find that I ever really need to "prepare" I just open skim over the lesson, get whatever manipulatives I may need, and begin. If it's a longer presentation I just keep the hig open and read each small portion present it, and keep doing that till the presentation part is over. I find it very open and go and user friendly. It even has which lessons should be competed which weeks, etc.Oh. My. Goodness. I just looked over the beginning of the HIG and found what I was looking for! It schedules the topics by week, with the corresponding TB and WB pages. I'm going to go hide now... I think not knowing if we were "on schedule" was bothering me. Plus I wasn't utilizing their teaching instructions/methods as much as I could, but my son's learning well and I will look at the HIG more closely in future. Sheesh, this mama needs to not stress out... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBadd Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 We have tried Singapore, Math Mammoth, and Life of Fred. All have different pros and cons. Does your son like to read? If so, maybe the Life of Fred option is good for your family right now because he can read the stories on his own (or, you read them together and discuss the math and then he can re-read them while you are tending to the other children). My son LOVED the Fred stories! We also supplemented with Singapore, sometimes taking a break from one or the other to keep from getting bored. I do agree with the previous poster. Look through them as much as you can. Only you know what will work for your family! Good luck with the math choice! :) I think he would love Life of Fred as a supplement. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahM Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Oh. My. Goodness. I just looked over the beginning of the HIG and found what I was looking for! It schedules the topics by week, with the corresponding TB and WB pages. I'm going to go hide now... I think not knowing if we were "on schedule" was bothering me. Plus I wasn't utilizing their teaching instructions/methods as much as I could, but my son's learning well and I will look at the HIG more closely in future. Sheesh, this mama needs to not stress out... I'm glad you found the schedule! I hope it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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