Math to follow Singapore 1B for 4 year old

[Gabrielsyme]

My four year old will finish Singapore 1B in the first few weeks of school (we start in September) and I'm looking for something to follow. I'd rather he didn't just move on to 2A because his sister is currently doing 2 and I think she would feel like she was behind if he were in the same year (she's not, she's a year ahead but I'm sure some of you can relate.) I'm looking for something fairly structured because that's his style so another curriculum rather than a "relaxed math" approach. We do lots of relaxed math games, etc... in daily life but he'll want a math workbook to do while his sister works in Singapore. Really wish Beast Academy had the earlier primary grades because I think a first grade Beast would  be perfect for him. Lots of review but different strengths than Singapore. Not an option though so anyone out there have suggestions for us? It doesn't have to be perfect! Just something to fill a gap.

[nansk]

You can do year 1 of CIMT MEP. The arithmetic will be the same as Singapore, but MEP uses a game/logic-based approach which will be interesting.

[Eagle]

What about Miquon?

[Gabrielsyme]

I have Miquon Orange and find it to be kind of odd. Anyone else feel this way? 

[Crimson Wife]

Singapore Intensive Practice and Challenging Word Problems. Critical Thinking Press Math Analogies Beginnings. Ed Zaccarro Primary Grade Challenge Math.

[Crimson Wife]

I have Miquon Orange and find it to be kind of odd. Anyone else feel this way? 

 

Nope, you're not alone. I have a kid who would've LOVED Miquon if I could ever have figured out how to teach it. Another curriculum that I feel this way about is CSMP.

 

ETA: He's now doing Elements of Mathematics online and he tries to talk to me about what he's doing but I can't follow along at all. I have no idea what he's learning since I never studied "modular operations" but he seems to be very much enjoying it. I feel confident that EMF is a solid enough program so if he's happy, I'm happy.

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by Crimson Wife

[Cake and Pi]

My 4yo loves MEP.

[Jackie]

Math Mammoth? It teaches in similar ways to Singapore, so as the parent you wouldn't feel as though you're directing two completely different approaches.

[Crimson Wife]

Math Mammoth? It teaches in similar ways to Singapore, so as the parent you wouldn't feel as though you're directing two completely different approaches.

 

I would actually put the on-level student in MM (since it is more incremental) and have the "mathy" one do Singapore. But I think it makes sense to add in IP and CWP before switching either student.

 

[nansk]

I would actually put the on-level student in MM (since it is more incremental) and have the "mathy" one do Singapore. But I think it makes sense to add in IP and CWP before switching either student.

 

Yes, this is another good suggestion.

 

OP, my dd and I also enjoyed Miquon and CSMP. But if you want a straightforward workbook with TG, MEP is your best bet.

[Gabrielsyme2]

OP here. For some reason my phone made me sign in as my husband so I made his username almost the same as my own. I have Math Mammoth too (we've tried all kinds of things to stretch and break up Singapore for DD) and I didn't love love it. MEP looks like he might really like it and it definately comes at the material from a different angle so it might build strengths in places We've missed so far. I think I'll try that and add in some Of my husband's old Calculadder worksheets for a change of pace (he loves a huge set of problems that are all the same.) I really like Singapore for DD who is "mathy" in her own right and it works well for her brother I just want to stagger things a bit so that they're not in the same books because she is prone to perfectionism and feeling overwhelmed by the idea of hard work though she could fly through if she just let go and relaxed. We spent a month with Calculadder last spring drilling the 1-5 times tables and got them eventually but it was not a happy time. I've only brought them up casually over the summer but last night she just explained (and demonstrated) to me how she now knows the rest through 12s. Sigh. I sometimes wonder wheather switching to BA would make or break her.

[Jackie]

I would actually put the on-level student in MM (since it is more incremental) and have the "mathy" one do Singapore. But I think it makes sense to add in IP and CWP before switching either student.

 

Hadn't thought about it, but I agree with this reversal of my original suggestion. In part because Math Mammoth is pretty easy for a mathy student to accelerate through, which is going to put the mathy kid way ahead grade-wise without getting the same depth that would be included in IP and CWP.

[Jackie]

OP here. For some reason my phone made me sign in as my husband so I made his username almost the same as my own. I have Math Mammoth too (we've tried all kinds of things to stretch and break up Singapore for DD) and I didn't love love it. MEP looks like he might really like it and it definately comes at the material from a different angle so it might build strengths in places We've missed so far. I think I'll try that and add in some Of my husband's old Calculadder worksheets for a change of pace (he loves a huge set of problems that are all the same.) I really like Singapore for DD who is "mathy" in her own right and it works well for her brother I just want to stagger things a bit so that they're not in the same books because she is prone to perfectionism and feeling overwhelmed by the idea of hard work though she could fly through if she just let go and relaxed. We spent a month with Calculadder last spring drilling the 1-5 times tables and got them eventually but it was not a happy time. I've only brought them up casually over the summer but last night she just explained (and demonstrated) to me how she now knows the rest through 12s. Sigh. I sometimes wonder wheather switching to BA would make or break her.

Would a diversion for the younger student work? Switch to living math books like Penrose and Sir Cumference and the Time-Life I Love Math books? Then when your daughter is a bit further ahead in math, move your son into the next level including the IP and CWP?

[Tumbatoo]

What about Life of Fred? It would introduce some new topics while not necessarily jumping ahead.

[pkbab5]

I second IP and CWP, and Miquon.  My mathy kid really enjoyed taking a break from Singapore over the summer and doing Miquon.  We didn't do the pages in order - I bought the first 3 books and pulled out pages to make little "units".  My kid also really likes Dreambox (online, you can also play on the iPad), which is very visual like Singapore, and self-paced so you can accelerate easily.

[Ad astra]

We did Singapore Primary for lesson, MM for independent review and (during the summer) IP and CWP for challenge. Not a big fan of LoF.

[hellen]

No matter what, he is going to surpass her at some point. Now is the time to start preparing her for it. Point out that we all have different strengths. Reward effort. That sort of thing.

[Tsutsie]

I would do whatever is best for this kid (and every kid), even if it is 2A. Having him do something sub-optimal when what you have been doing is clearly working, or purposefully stalling him, makes no sense.

 

When my kids were younger, I explained their gifts are like that of different trees. The one gives us apples, the other oranges - we like both equally and enjoy the differences and variety.

[Tsutsie]

I would do whatever is best for this kid (and every kid), even if it is 2A. Having him do something sub-optimal when what you have been doing is clearly working, or purposefully stalling him, makes no sense.

 

When my kids were younger, I explained their gifts are like that of different trees. The one gives us apples, the other oranges - we like both equally and enjoy the differences and variety.

[Job121]

I'd say Math Mammoth. You don't have to buy the whole book series. Just pick out the topics you'd like to supplement. Singapore Intensive practice is a good choice too.

[Crimson Wife]

I would do whatever is best for this kid (and every kid), even if it is 2A. Having him do something sub-optimal when what you have been doing is clearly working, or purposefully stalling him, makes no sense.

 

Adding the "Intensive Practice" books is not purposefully stalling him IMHO but going "deeper" in math rather than faster. Teaching a child how to tackle challenging problems is going to prepare him/her for success in STEM disciplines later on. My DS wants to be a biomedical engineer when he grows up and all the work he's done in Singapore IP, MEP, Beast Academy/Art of Problem Solving, and Elements of Mathematics has really helped build his problem-solving skills much more than if I had just allowed him to zip through an easy math program.

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by Crimson Wife

[4KookieKids]

Adding the "Intensive Practice" books is not purposefully stalling him IMHO but going "deeper" in math rather than faster. Teaching a child how to tackle challenging problems is going to prepare him/her for success in STEM disciplines later on. My DS wants to be a biomedical engineer when he grows up and all the work he's done in Singapore IP, MEP, Beast Academy/Art of Problem Solving, and Elements of Mathematics has really helped build his problem-solving skills much more than if I had just allowed him to zip through an easy math program.

 

I agree with this. I've been surprised at how my oldest responded to CWP when I added it in. He has a tendency to rush that I didn't notice and makes a lot of careless mistakes that didn't occur when the problems had fewer steps and were more straight-forward. I'm glad for the opportunity to work on that now when the content is still straight-forward for him (he just finished 3B but is doing the level 2 CWP). It's very challenging for him to slow down and be thorough and actually write out multiple steps instead of trying to do 5 steps in his head (super easy when it was two or three, so why stop there, right?) lol. And it's also exposing his impatience with / inability to deal with being "wrong," and that's another thing I'm glad to work on now, even though I could be letting him go through the normal books faster. He does not respond well to correcting mistakes at all and wants to throw in the towel and start crying immediately whenever he gets something wrong... :P Silly smart kids.

[SoCal_Bear]

+1 on IP and CWP. I would also consider Fan-math Express Speed Maths as well for mental math. This is a supplement for Singapore Math.  

[StephanieZ]

I did Miquon in parallel (not trying to coordinate) along with SM while my kids were that age. It did help keep the math-brain busy while they are so young while slowing down the acceleration apt to happen with super-mathy little ones. My kids pre-dated Beast (so sad to have missed that . . . maybe someday with grandkids!) . . . or else I'd definitely have wanted to check that out, as I love, love, love AoPS. 

 

Another trick is to incorporate a book of SM Intensive Practices periodically. I did that every couple levels (2? 4?) -- did the level of SM they just finished, but did the IP over a couple months. Kept their brains learning and didn't make us move on just yet. (I generally chose to do that when it seemed like there were still one or two concepts from the finished level that could use more reinforcement.)

 

And, of course, the games are great. I loved the Peggy Kaye "Games" books. Great for practicing facts, too, which is important when using SM. (Triangle flash cards, etc, are also helpful in this. We did 5 min of math drill each day until all the facts were mastered.)

 

FWIW, my kids flew through SM and Miquon and my youngest finished both by, oh, about 3rd grade, and moved right on to AoPS Pre-A (the first year it was out), and hasn't slowed down a bit. Math seems to be something that some kids can progress through rapidly at an early age with no harm done. I tried in various ways to slow them down here and there, but in retrospect, I don't think any harm came from their acceleration.