[What do you do when child has difficulty with word problems in SM?]

I guess I agree with your husband.  Maybe instead of moving up through Singapore, you might want to try Beast Academy for a while?

 

Yes, looking forward to Beast Academy. Hopefully that will keep him interested. Thanks for the input!

 

It's not clear to me how your ds is doing the program.

 

If he's doing it on his own, I'd spend more time teaching him to to them &/or actually do them alongside him. So you work them on a whiteboard or sheet of paper beside him and talk about how you do it. Do several lessons of them together & only gradually wean him off by letting him try one (esp if you get a couple in a row where the 2nd is essentially exactly the same as the one you just worked together)

 

 If he's still not getting it after numerous demo's and watching you do them. then I'd put it aside for a couple months & try again later. 

 

I explain/present to him the lesson at the beginning of each chapter. After that, he is on his own including answering the word problems. When DS was in Kindergarten, his teacher taught him SM 1A and 1B. At the time, he didn't read well, so she sat with him and read to him the entire book. He became dependent on someone reading to him that when he moved on to 1st grade and had to go to 2nd grade math in a regular classroom setting it became an issue. Since then, we all made a conscientious effort to make him do the workbook independently. I guess I've been a little too concerned with him doing the work independently, I didn't realize 5A would be a big leap for him. I will give your suggestion a try-- work with him more closely on a problem or two then let him do a few similar ones on his own.  

 

FAN math by Singapore focuses on word problems alone in a very systemic way. There is clear instruction.

If it's important to you, you could use those books going back to the grade where you think he wasn't quite solid in word problems. They are relatively small books, so you can make progress through them with little time.

 

There is a big jump in word problem difficulty in 5, and the comprehension might be the stick point.

 

Not familiar with this at all, will check it out. Thanks!

 

This book explains how to do word problems the Singapore way: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1934026964/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1463777030&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=bar+modeling&dpPl=1&dpID=51gCnz88NEL&ref=plSrch

 

When my daughter was working through Singapore 4 and 5, we kept a word problem notebook (spiral graph paper notebook). Every time a new type of word problem came up, we would copy it into the notebook on its own page, draw pretty diagrams, label neatly, show work, and write the answer(s) in a complete sentence. This collection of word problems became a reference that she could pull out if she needed to remember how to set up a problem.

 

Word problems in Singapore start to be worked using the

bar method starting in level 3. I would go back to the chapter where the method is introduced and start pulling out word problems for him to work. Have him do one with you every day before he does the rest of his math work.

 

This book look interesting! I'll definitely check it out. I wish DS was as diligent. He tries to rush through his work most of the time. It's definitely another area we're trying to work on. Would like to implement a similar method with him one day. 

 

 

I agree with the hubby. Just guessing, but it sounds like he's plugging and chugging with the numbers and when it comes to applying the knowledge he gets stuck. Maybe go through what he has learned to see if he understands the concept, not just how to get the answer. Knowing algorithms will only take you so far.

 

2nd vote for the hubby. :) Not sure if he's just plugging in though. I can see it with the Saxon problems he gets at school where plugging in could allow him to get by. I think it's harder to do it with SM where some of the math problems are very different from the examples and still require him to understand what he's doing.  Some of the questions on the assessments are very different too. I can see it on some, so I do see your point, but I'm not sure he's just plugging in all the time. I think he still understands a lot of it, just not at a very deep, complicated level though. I may have to take a closer look at his work though to be absolutely sure.  

 

If you think it is a problem, why not go back to CWP3? Calculations part should be easy for him now, and he will be able to concentrate on problem solving aspect. We use CWP3 after finishing BA3.

 

 

CWP3?

[What do you do when child has difficulty with word problems in SM?]

I've been after schooling ds7. He switched schools this year and found himself bored with Saxon 3 so I continued with Singapore Math at home (which is what he was studying in his former school). In the beginning I was just planning on supplementing and going with the flow with the school and give him Singapore Math 3A-3B. Surprisingly, he breezed through SM 3A and 3B, and eventually through SM 4A and 4B. He loved doing the workbooks so much that even on early Saturday and Sunday mornings when I would go to his bedroom, I'd find him already awake and working on them on his own.  I think it took him about 5 months to complete 3rd and 4th grade. Now that we're on to Singapore Math 5A, he seems to slow down a bit and sometimes even a little less interested. Generally, he does well in the beginning of the chapters when it's all numbers, but when it comes time to doing the word problems, this is where he slows down and loses interest.  He can do the easy straightforward type of word problems, but has a really tough time with the challenging ones.  Although he's always been pretty advanced in math, he is an average reader and he has the  comprehension skills of a 2nd grader.  To give him a break and keep him interested, I moved on to the next chapter, which in this case is introduction to algebra, and he really loves it and doesn't want to go to back now to doing the word problems on fractions. I think he will also enjoy the next few chapters on multiplication and division of decimals. 

 

I think one of the strengths of SM is the word problems so I don't necessarily want to do away with them, but what do I do if the word problems seem to be too much at this point? Do I slow down the math and keep going through the problems over and over and over again until he gets them? Do I skip around in the book? Do I switch math programs ( I did order Beast Academy books recently... still waiting for them to arrive in the mail)? What are your expectations from a young child doing the word problems in SM as they move up? I don't want to turn him off, he seems to still enjoy it (just not so much the challenging word problems) but at the same time I am worried about him having gaps or not getting the most out of SM.  My husband, who is a little more tough on him on math, thinks that he shouldn't be advanced if he cannot get the word problems. He thinks it's pretty meaningless to move him up when he hasn't mastered them. Curious to know what some parents here think and have done with their kids. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Can anyone recommend a public school in Dallas for slightly advanced kids?]

Having lived in DFW most of my life and taught in the area for 9 years there are lots of pros and cons about many of the districts. Garland, Irving, Richardson, Carrollton Farmers Branch, and Dallas have GT programs that cater better to a student like yours, but they don't have the best reputations overall. Southlake Carroll, Grapevine, and Coppell have good general reputations, but may not be large enough to accommodate your children. Plano, Frisco, McKinnney, and Lewisville have good reputations, but those reputations may not be deserved for various reasons.

You might be better off looking for a private school like St. Mark's, Hockaday, Greenhill, or Jesuit. There are also some cottage schools and university model scoops like Corem Deo and Lucas Christian Academy.

If you want a truly individualized curriculum that caters to your child your best bet would be to homeschool. There are a ton of homeschool groups and activities to fill any gaps you think you may have teaching.

 

Wow thanks for the info, AggieMama! I have never heard of Corem Deo or Lucas Christian, they seem like interesting options. I didn't even realize there were these types of schools. I don't think we have them here where we live. I already spent some time checking out their websites and will definitely continue to look at these schools more closely. I think my only concern is that is seems very heavy on religion -- we're Catholics and don't mind going to a Christian school but I'm worried that we might not fit in. 

 

Will also check out the GTs you mentioned. I've only looked at Garland and Dallas ISD before. Are there any general reasons why you think the GTs don't have good reputations?

 

I've looked at some websites of the public schools you mentioned but it's difficult to determine how different they are from one another. In my research, however, the Plano, Garland and Highland Park schools seem to set themselves apart, either because they're ranked or have been getting rave reviews online. Just curious, why did you leave off Highland Park from your list? Do you think it's not worthy of its reputation? Out of all the public schools, is there one that stands out for you, if strong academics is the only factor to consider? 

 

I'm thinking we'll try out for the GTs (maybe next year since we're probably too late to apply this year) so we'll homeschool for a year or so. If we don't get into the GTs we may continue to homeschool (or look into privates).  In case none of that works out, I'd like to make sure we live in a district with a great public school system in place. 

[Can anyone recommend a public school in Dallas for slightly advanced kids?]

My family is thinking of moving to Dallas this summer (or end of the year). We've been searching for a school that would be a good fit for our kids but haven't quite found the right one so I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that might be able to steer us in the right direction.

 

A little bit about my kids... They are currently in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. My kindergarten is an all around A student, he has skipped math grades and currently goes to 2nd grade math at school. He is also advanced in reading, and is currently at end of 2nd grade level right now. My 2nd grader, is generally an average/above average student, but does exceptionally well in math. When he was in Kindergarten, he was lucky to have had a teacher discover his abilities in math. She differentiated her lessons for him and taught him 1st grade math in the classroom and recommended him for 2nd grade math the next year. Since then, we have switched schools and since his new school follows an advanced curriculum, he is able to take 3rd grade math. At home, he is close to finishing up 5th grade math.

 

We're lucky to have found teachers and schools that try to accommodate kids and their levels in math and reading. However, now that I've been searching for new schools, I've found that it's pretty difficult to find a school that would make similar accommodations and differentiate their lessons either within the classroom or by accelerating kids by subject. I don't expect the school to keep up with my kids at all times given that they do more work at home. However, I'm hoping to at least find a school where they wouldn't have to repeat what they've already officially done in school, esp in math. I know, for sure, my 5 year old would probably not do well sitting in a classroom if he had to repeat 1st or 2nd grade math (as it is, he is bored in his 2nd grade math class and the teacher has had to give him extra work to make sure he is occupied). My 2nd grader is well behaved and will probably tolerate it but I would really be sad for both of them if they aren't a bit challenged in their classes.

 

We're open to sending them to private schools but given that the schools are very selective and 1st and 3rd grades aren't entry points, we want a good solid public school backup.

 

I know my question is very specific and not sure if this is even the right place for it but thought I'd give this forum a try anyway. I am contemplating homeschooling the kids but not sure I have the stamina and patience to get through it so a public school as backup would still be nice to have.

 

Thanks in advance!