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How important is it to be/end on "grade" level for Singapore?


Trilliumlady
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DD9 is in third. We started Saxon in K-2 finishing third level I think last year. She is SM Standards this year and doing ok but not sailing through. I had been planning on finishing 2B this semester and going straight into 3A over the summer to try to get her a bit more "on track" with grade level. I am wondering if it would be more beneficial to do the Intensive Practice and CWP level 2 books over the summer instead and start 3A next school year.

How important is it to be "on track" for finishing appropriately with SM? What would you wise ladies recommend?

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If I were in your shoes, I would go straight into 3A over the summer.    The IP and CWP books are really cool books if you have a child who is advanced and need more math at a deeper level, but I wouldn't suggest using them with a child who is working a grade level behind in math.   At this point you would be better served getting your daughter up to grade level.   The 3rd grade books review the inforamtion from the second grade book and build on it.  So I would go through the Singapore books as quickly as possible making sure that she REALLY understands the stuff, but not wasting time.  At this point, I would only hang out on a topic and supplement if the child showed weakness in understanding.  (ETA:  You will be able to tell if there is a weakness in any topic when you have her do the reviews.)

 

To answer your question---How important is it to be at grade level in Singapore?   You don't need to feel stressed or anything.   Many children don't move through *every* subject at grade level.   And Singapore does touch on some advanced topics in each book...but not a year's worth of material.  So I would move on making it a goal to eventually finish 4B before the start of 5th grade....if I were you that is.   :)     Good luck!

Edited by TheAttachedMama
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I feel that math, and reading are subjects that students can very much back slide on during long vacations. Even if we didn't school year round I would insist on doing both those things, to some degree during the summer.

 

Eldest did Singapore during the summer, even though he was on or ahead of grade level.

Youngest does Singapore during the summer, even though he is on, or behind grade Level.

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I delayed starting formal math, and so my oldest is a little more than a year behind "grade level" in SM. I have chosen to prioritize working through IP and CWP (which we do a semester behind, so we do IP 4a alongside the 4B tb/wb) over getting caught up. It's not that I don't try to get caught up (because I do - we do math over the summers so we can finish SM 6 before the start of 7th grade), but that we'd get caught up a lot faster if I didn't put half our math time toward IP/CWP. (We do two math sessions a day, one IP/CWP and the other tb/wb.) But while I feel occasional angst over being "behind" ;), I think that the way that IP pushes dd10 to think deeper and extend what she has learned in the tb is extremely valuable.

 

Dd10 has generally found the tb/wb to be easy, but she has to struggle with some of the IP problems - wrestling with IP problems pushes her to her limits, and stretches them. When we started, dd found it hard to explain her work with two-step problems, but now she finds two-step and even most three-step problems a piece of cake. And she's learned to cope better with frustration - she's less likely to melt down at the first sign of difficulties, and when she does melt down, they tend to be small ones, easily working through with a spot of help, instead of huge, math-session-ending ones. She might be "behind" grade level, but I think the contribution of IP/CWP is of greater value wrt to building a strong, solid, deep math foundation, than is dropping them in order to catch up to grade level faster. (I've done a decent bit of soul searching over it, as it *does* bother me that my smart, capable girl is "behind" because of my choices, but each time I've concluded that doing IP is worth the time, is worth being "behind" for.)

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Singapore is a little ahead of other programs, so it's OK to be a little behind.

 

When we started homeschooling my son was a half year behind in math because his public school switched programs midyear to adopt a Common Core aligned program. He ended up doing the first half of third grade math twice that year. We started Singapore a half year behind. This year (6th grade) we completed 5B and 6A, and we are right on track to finish 6B sometime in May. 6A and 6B are pretty short and can easily be completed in a semester. (I heard year 6 is a testing year in Singapore, which accounts for the shortness of the books. Short books leave a lot of time for review)

 

6A and 6B cover a lot of pre algebra topics, so even if we were still behind in the Singapore sequence, we wouldn't really be behind by US standards.

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I don't think it's all that important. To me, the important thing is to consistently work at a level that challenges them while also ensuring that they have a firm grasp on the material. Some kids just don't understand math as easily and SM is a challenging program.

 

My oldest is in 7th and finished 6B today. We will start MM 7 tomorrow (provided it arrives by then, it was supposed to be here today). That will have her ready for Algebra 1 by 9th (which is fine with me) with time to spare if we need to review anything. Next DD is in 5th and struggles a bit with math. She's finished 4A but we're reviewing some topics with the EP book. I'm looking for a different curriculum for her. Next DD is in 4th. She does well in math but struggles with reading so we've been putting most of our focus there. She'll finish 4A by the end of this month probably so we should finish out the school year a decent way through 4B. DS is in 2nd (but young for his grade with a Nov birthday). He is in 2A and should have it done by the end of the school year. He understands it all and can do it quickly but is very active with a short attention span so I keep it really short. (Today took less than 10 minutes to do a lesson.) The younger two are both good at math and I think we can probably speed things up in the future but for now short math lessons work better and allow us to spend more time on phonics and reading. They should easily be able to start Algebra 1 by 9th which is fine with me.

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It doesn't matter to me at all. Have you ever looked at the scope of math k-6? Arithmetic, adding a place value each year, fractions, decimals, percentages, and some sundry topics like geometry, money, time... the book is not a mystical boss of all math truth!

 

It's not about the number on the book, it's about the understanding. What would be the point of rushing forward, only to have to remediate later?

 

Consistent steps is what matters. My dd (6th) is working through books with 5,6 & algebra on the covers. My ds (4th) is mainly doing BA3, but all over the place (2-6) on Khan. My other ds (1st) is nearly finished with his first grade books, but we still play with K/early 1st stuff.

We regularly break for problem solving and puzzles. Dd is still on track for algebra 1 sometime in 7th probably...

 

You sound like you're doing fine!

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I think "on track" really depends on where you want to be at the end of the sequence. Personally, I wouldn't push to "catch up" so that the books match her grade level. Some people skip SM 6, although I found it beneficial. However, SM 6 is mostly review and so we accelerated through both A and B books in one semester. If you continue on with Dimensions, by the time you finish 8B you supposedly have completed the equivalent of Algebra I and some geometry topics. So depending on long term goals, you could finish 8B at the end of grade 9 and still be on track with many high school freshmen - or even ahead, considering that part of geometry will have also been covered. 

 

We use the textbook and workbook only and I have found that to be plenty of work for both of my kids. I tried the CWP book once, and found the problems to be too challenging. I wouldn't recommend it unless your student is advanced in math and needs additional challenge. If what she needs is extra practice, I think Singapore has an additional workbook geared towards that. Although if you are doing all of the practice/review sets in the book, that is an awful lot of practice right there!!

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To clarify a bit, my reason for considering the second grade IP and CWP for solidification of what she has been doing this year.

Also, for those who have used Standards 2 and 3 is there a large jump in material and needed knowledge or is at least part of the year a gentler approach? I.e. Review or relook at what we have done in 2?

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I don't worry that much about the grade levels on the book as long as we are moving forward and making progress. I have two advanced students and one average math student. The average student is finishing 5th grade and will end the year with 5A, so will start 5B in 6th grade. 

 

We always do some Math in the summer. I really like the IP and CWP books and think the time spent using them is worth it. 

 

I don't use Standards but the US edition has always begun with a review of sorts. They begin with familiar topics but go deeper. So for example, my daughter is beginning the 3A US edition and the first chapter is on place value again. But it's going up to the 10,000s now. Then next chapter is addition and subtraction again but with bigger numbers. So it provides a review while also introducing other skills. 

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I think you can go from Singapore 6B even straight into algebra 1.  But even allowing a year for a prealgebra of some kind, you could finish 6B at the end of 7th and do prealgebra and start Algebra 1 at the latest in 9th grade.  If getting through Calculus is really important to you then you would want to start Algebra 1 by mid 8th grade at the latest.  My 1st and 2nd finished Algebra 1 mid 9th and all of their math courses then ran January to December.  Then their senior year 2nd semester they took Calculus at a CC. 

 

 

 

 

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To clarify a bit, my reason for considering the second grade IP and CWP for solidification of what she has been doing this year.

Also, for those who have used Standards 2 and 3 is there a large jump in material and needed knowledge or is at least part of the year a gentler approach? I.e. Review or relook at what we have done in 2?

 

In my opinion, at least for my kid who is strong (but not brilliant) in math, 3A was a beast. It was definitely the most challenging semester yet and we finished over a month "late." 3B though is an easy breeze and even after starting late we're going to finish over a month early. I think if the child is really solid on the times tables through 12 and really understands the relationship between multiplication and division, it will help a lot. Without those things, 3A will be horrendous and take forever. There's adding and subtracting numbers up to 4 digits with multiple regrouping or borrowing per problem. Long division is introduced, with up to three digit dividends, and multiplication of three digit numbers with regrouping. I told her she was officially in "big kid math."

 

I find Singapore, so far, front loads the year with the really heavy, difficult concepts, and then the second semester is all, Money! Time! Geometry! Super easy stuff. 

Edited by Sk8ermaiden
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 I think if the child is really solid on the times tables through 12 and really understands the relationship between multiplication and division, it will help a lot. Without those things, 3B will be horrendous and take forever. 

 

I was just about to say the same thing.  Kids who don't know their math facts THOROUGHLY before 4th grade are going to struggle.  It just becomes too much to hold your place in a problem and go to the side to figure out a fact, and then go back.  Things like factoring are so easy if you know the facts, but otherwise are just a bear.  

 

It's worth running a separate "subject" from math focusing on math facts during 2nd or 3rd grade to get those down!  I called it "fact fluency" so my kids wouldn't think they were getting double math.  :)

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We took three weeks off of math last year to learn the times tables through 6, and then before the school year started, spent time learning the rest. She's needed to recall dozens of them a day almost every day this year in math and I can't imagine how painful it would be if she'd had to figure each one out. 

 

 

Edited by Sk8ermaiden
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