Scheduling NEM 1? (cross-post)

[LisaNY]

(I posted this on the k-8 board also)

 

We just began using NEM 1 after finishing Singapore 6B.

 

Since it is quite a different format from the Primary series, I could use some help w/daily scheduling. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thank you! :)

[Myrtle]

Have you checked with Jenny on the Singaporemath.com board?

 

They might even sell a daily schedule. I checked with sgbox and they did not.

[Nan in Mass]

I know I've seen a schedule for it someplace. I just checked the teacher's guide and the solution's guide and can't find it in either of those, so I think it must be on the internet someplace? Having two children to compare, I can tell you that the time needed to do a lesson can vary widely. Some lessons take two days. In general, I do it like PM: I correct the old lesson, read the lesson aloud to them, do the class activity with them, and then have them do about half the problem set. I hand-pick the problems sometimes, sometimes I just give the odds. If they got lots of that wrong, I have them do the evens the next day. My older one finishes a lesson each night, but repeats lots. My younger one repeats less, but doesn't do much at night, so he usually takes at least two days per lesson. I try to have them do all the revisions. The older one skips the challenge problems (no time) and problem solving, usually. The younger one spends a few days on them. Either way, it takes about a regular school year for the older one to finish a book, and the younger one is most likely going to finish NEM 1 a bit early this year. I really, really recommend the solutions guide and checking the problems carefully. It is even better to check each problem right after you finish it, but my younger one hates doing this. Not very helpful, probably, but if you are unable to come up with some sort of scheduling, you can probably just start doing it and keep doing it 5 days a week for at least an hour and you'll probably be ok.

-Nan

[Kendall]

I've been through NEM 1 with 2 children now, also after completing 6B. I think it would help for you to look at a more traditional textbook to compare how topics are covered. This will help you to see that you don't have to do a lesson a day. Or, here, I’ll give an example:

 

Foerster Algebra I covers in 5 sections; 1.7,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4 what NEM I covers in 2 sections;6.2,6.3. If you keep this in mind you can relax and not think you have to finish a lesson a day or in even 2 days.

 

I made the mistake with my oldest of having him do EVERY problem at first and it took him a long time to finish NEM 1(well over a year). My second son did half or less of the problems. I usually had him do one column and the next day the second column if he missed a lot on the first. Even/Odd doesn’t usually work very well but column 1/column 2 does work well. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the problem sets. I’m guessing this is what Nan did, too. We also do all revisions. I usually have to work through the Challenger with them, they spend a day doing whatever they can of the problem solving. With my younger son, some lessons have taken days, including finding him extra practice on easier problems, which he sometimes needs. I agree with just working for a set time every day. But, I understand that this doesn’t work for some children, so in that case I try to either keep them near to make sure they are working efficiently or I make my best guess of how much can be done in an hour and require anything not finished to be done in the evening.

 

I think too much of a schedule could be very frustrating and make it tempting to push them faster than they can go. I spent time before my first son used the book making a plan for how many days the book would take, that got thrown out the window in favor of actually doing what was needed to learn it. This is a hard textbook!

 

HTH,

Kendall

[LisaNY]

Thanks, Ladies! I will check w/Jenny about a schedule.

 

Nan, I agree that problems need to be checked right away. I learned that the hard way a few years ago. :rolleyes:

 

I see that the text is divided into chapters, and within each chapter are subdivisions. (i.e., chapter 1, section 1.1, which includes the lesson, class activity, & exercises, followed by section 1.2, etc.) When you say you did one lesson per day, did you mean one section?

 

Today, we tried to do section 1.1 and 1.2, but we could not finish it. We found some of those beginning problems with the missing numerals to be quite brain-numbing. Some of them were fun in a challenging sort of way, but some were not so fun. :confused: Anyway, my dd got a bit discouraged and is wondering if this text is going to be the right one. She did so well with the Primary series.

[Nan in Mass]

Yes, I did every other problem, not the odds, and by lesson, I meant a section. The first few chapters are a high level review of arithmetic and are pretty much harder than the rest of the book. I wouldn't fuss too much over it. Give things a try and then move on. You'll know when you get to the algebra. The first few algebra chapters cover LOTS of algebra all at once, so be aware that your child might need more practice in order to "remember all those little rules", as my son put it. This is the point at which we stopped, did Keys to Algebra 1-3, then redid those lessons again. It took extra practice before working with negative numbers, collecting up like terms, and doing the same thing to both sides of the equation became automatic. NEM did a nice job of explaining it (I thought), so I ran through that first, then did the Keys to. I agree with not scheduling it, now that I think about it. That way, you can accommodate your particular child.

HTH

-Nan

[KatKat]

My son is finishing Singapore 6B soon and is a bit on the young side. I already have the Keys to Algebra and since we are not in a hurry to get into formal Algebra, either NEM or another text, Would you recommend finishing all 10 Keys to Algebra before starting a regular Algebra course? Thank you

[LisaNY]

I've been through NEM 1 with 2 children now, also after completing 6B. I think it would help for you to look at a more traditional textbook to compare how topics are covered. This will help you to see that you don't have to do a lesson a day. Or, here, I’ll give an example:

 

Foerster Algebra I covers in 5 sections; 1.7,4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4 what NEM I covers in 2 sections;6.2,6.3. If you keep this in mind you can relax and not think you have to finish a lesson a day or in even 2 days.

 

I made the mistake with my oldest of having him do EVERY problem at first and it took him a long time to finish NEM 1(well over a year). My second son did half or less of the problems. I usually had him do one column and the next day the second column if he missed a lot on the first. Even/Odd doesn’t usually work very well but column 1/column 2 does work well. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the problem sets. I’m guessing this is what Nan did, too. We also do all revisions. I usually have to work through the Challenger with them, they spend a day doing whatever they can of the problem solving. With my younger son, some lessons have taken days, including finding him extra practice on easier problems, which he sometimes needs. I agree with just working for a set time every day. But, I understand that this doesn’t work for some children, so in that case I try to either keep them near to make sure they are working efficiently or I make my best guess of how much can be done in an hour and require anything not finished to be done in the evening.

 

I think too much of a schedule could be very frustrating and make it tempting to push them faster than they can go. I spent time before my first son used the book making a plan for how many days the book would take, that got thrown out the window in favor of actually doing what was needed to learn it. This is a hard textbook!

 

HTH,

Kendall

 

Kendall, thank you so much! This is very helpful! :)

[LisaNY]

Yes, I did every other problem, not the odds, and by lesson, I meant a section. The first few chapters are a high level review of arithmetic and are pretty much harder than the rest of the book. I wouldn't fuss too much over it. Give things a try and then move on. You'll know when you get to the algebra.

HTH

-Nan

 

Thanks for the reassurance, Nan. :)

[Nan in Mass]

No, I don't think so. I think it would be better to do Keys to as a drill while you did a regular course. Or do the first half of them, then work in the algebra book until you finish the book, then do the last half? I think it is better to get the explaination of how algebra works from a regular book. Keys to is rather formulaic. -Nan