Finished Singapore Earlybird. Now what?

[Lady Q]

My K'er son just finished Singapore Earlybird (a month into the school year. Hmm, maybe doing math all summer wasn't a hot idea?). I have Miquon Orange which we did a little bit of during the spring, but he didn't look very thrilled when I pulled it out yesterday. We have lots of manipulatives, but I can't see myself using only those for the rest of the year. I don't want to jump to the next level of Singapore just yet, either. Any suggestions for what we can do that would be a bridge between now and his first grade year?

 

Thanks!

 

~Rabia

[claire up north]

We did A Beka K.

[~Kirsten~]

Bumping! :D

 

We have the exact issue here (right down to the lack of enthusiasm with Miquon), so I'm definitely curious.

[kalanamak]

I moved onto Sing 1A but hit a wall a little into 1B, and I slowed way down, did simple word problems, skip counting, card games, got some 3D models of shapes and yakked about them, did simple dice games, and mooched along slowly as able. When I got to the end of 1B, in April of 1st grade, I got several math board games like Sum Swamp, used Wrap-ups and flash cards for math facts, etc. and started tip toeing into 2A.

 

This end-of-first grade gambit backfired a bit....I post so others can be forewarned (if you have child like mine). He oh-so-innocently just couldn't get his math facts. I must have repeated 7+7 is 14, so 7+8 is..........? several thousand times (okay, dozens and dozens). I finally (gulp) raised my voice and brought my hand down with a swat on the table and announced he WOULD know his math facts from now on, and it was the end of nothing but games.

 

He knew them. He has been fine with them since that moment. He was stringing me along for more games. So, I keep working through the text and workbook, using the reinforcements from the HIG, and ALSO play the games my son loves, like Go Fish for addends that make 10.

 

I say move forward, but don't push. And do the fun stuff even if your child is chewing through the books fine. :D

[MissKNG]

My K'er son just finished Singapore Earlybird (a month into the school year. Hmm, maybe doing math all summer wasn't a hot idea?). Any suggestions for what we can do that would be a bridge between now and his first grade year?

 

Thanks!

 

~Rabia

 

 

Good thread! We did the same thing over the summer and are almost done with Level A and Level B probably will make it to the beginning of the year...hopefully. And I don't want to start 1st grade yet as dd isn't writing yet. I am hoping for more responses to your post!!

 

I do have two cents to toss in: Critical Thinking Company Math Reasoning Level A is what we are using as a supplement to the SM and it does have new and harder concepts than the SM EB.

 

http://www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?code=p&id=06906

 

Off the top of my head: positional stuff like 1st - 4th or 5th, even/odd, fractions

 

It does have "easy" stuff too but it also has harder stuff.

Edited September 19, 2009 by MissKNG

[iwka]

You can easily go to 1A and add as you go in between (i.e. when starting addition, do addition games for drill) and stretch it. I would rather do this then "do" smth in between. My oldest did 1A-2B alternating with Miquon but I did mot do it again with the others...

[hmschooling]

If you do move on to primary (which I don't suggest at this age really!) I would keep it very hands on with concrete objects.

 

I would suggest just doing lots of math games, board games (let him keep score), real life math at home, chores, stores, etc. I've shared these on here before and they've been a great hit for many moms of youngers for math. Scroll to the bottom of the first post and you can download the math file for many, many ideas for teaching math without a text for this age. I would borrow from the lirbrary Ruth Beechick's An Easy Start in Arithmetic or The 3 R's, too.

[EKS]

RightStart.

[Lady Q]

 

I do have two cents to toss in: Critical Thinking Company Math Reasoning Level A is what we are using as a supplement to the SM and it does have new and harder concepts than the SM EB.

 

http://www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?code=p&id=06906

 

Off the top of my head: positional stuff like 1st - 4th or 5th, even/odd, fractions

 

It does have "easy" stuff too but it also has harder stuff.

 

That book does look pretty good. A bit pricey, though.

 

I already have Miquon Orange and Shiller Math (I'm embarrassed to admit that I ended up with three math curriculums already!) and I've been eyeing MEP, too. Has anyone used MEP successfully as a supplement? How did you make it work?

 

Which games would you recommend for K-first grade? We have the usual Chutes & Ladders, War, Go Fish, etc. What other ones are good for teaching math skills?

 

Thanks everyone!

[Guest]

We will also be doing Abeka K the second half of this year.

[PenKase]

I second RightStart!!! We went straight from Singapore EB to RS Level A. We have both loved working through RS and I especially love the gentle way the games have helped my dd (almost 6) with math facts. We are now about 10 lessons away from finishing A and will probably go on to Level B. We will probably go back to SM after Level B.

[StephanieZ]

My K'er son just finished Singapore Earlybird (a month into the school year. Hmm, maybe doing math all summer wasn't a hot idea?). I have Miquon Orange which we did a little bit of during the spring, but he didn't look very thrilled when I pulled it out yesterday. We have lots of manipulatives, but I can't see myself using only those for the rest of the year. I don't want to jump to the next level of Singapore just yet, either. Any suggestions for what we can do that would be a bridge between now and his first grade year?

 

Thanks!

 

~Rabia

 

Personally, I would go with the Miquon for now.

 

I'd also buy the Singapore 1 along with perhaps either Intensive Practice s 1 or Challenging Word Problems 1. I'd let him know that once he was done with Miquon Orange, he could start Singapore 1.

 

My kids like Miquon well enough but they do like it much better when I let the choose their own "pages" to do each day (which is the intent of the program).

 

I'd tell him he needs to do two Miquon pages a day -- any pages. . . This might take 2 minutes or might take 30 minutes, depending on the pages he chooses.

 

My dc usually love the fractions pages, the time pages, etc. I let them go their own way in Miquon except I just don't give them the next book until they've mastered the current level (i.e., at least done most of the pages from each topic PLUS the last couple pages in each unit. Some of my dc want to do every single page, and that's fine but I don't require it.)

 

Since he is "ahead" and you want to slow it down, when you do Singapore 1, I'd add in the IP or CWP after each section/unit if he was still zooming along. You can use as little or as much of the IP/CWP as you wish. Personally, I like using it after the entire level of PM. . . As in do PM 1 A&B, the IP1. But, it would work just as well doing it that way by section. . . (but I like the whole topic review being several months later, so I can reteach/reinforce anything that's been forgotten. . . But the dc don't like IP as well as PM, so this could be too many months of pure IP with someone so little. I haven't done it at that age, b/c I use Miquon to slow them down at that age, lol. I add in the IP after Gr4 or so, when they are done with Miquon.)

 

I'd also get some drill stuff started for +/- facts -- with triangle flashcards, wrap-its, games, etc. That will make Singapore 1 go faster and easier when he does start it (and start a habit that will serve him well for the next couple years.)

 

Peggy Kaye's books have super games for math learning. So, if you really don't want to get Singapore 1 started, then I'd use Miquon, drill and a Peggy Kaye math game as your daily math plan until you add back Singapore, and the Peggy Kaye games will continue to serve you well for a couple more years, so it is a nice habit to start (and the kids love it).

 

FWIW, my kids have all started PM1 by age 5 and it has always gone just fine. So long as you make sure to teach from the text book for each exercise, so he learns to methods, I think it works great to start whenever they are ready, and finishing all the early bird tells me he is ready. (Don't skip the text lesson, even if it seems easy! It may take just one or two minutes, but do it!!!)

[Laura Corin]

We did SM 1A next, but took the whole year to do it, adding in lots of number-bond games. It worked well as a K programme for us.

 

Laura

[MissKNG]

Lady Q -Update on what we are using to bridge between EB and SM 1A since this post first appeared - Horizons Math K. It takes kids a lot farther than EB B does and I am excited to start it when we complete EB B!!

[Dinsfamily]

Lady Q -Update on what we are using to bridge between EB and SM 1A since this post first appeared - Horizons Math K. It takes kids a lot farther than EB B does and I am excited to start it when we complete EB B!!

 

We used Horizons K before Singapore PM 1A and it was a good prep. I'd definitely recommend it if you need a bridge. However, if you think that your ds is ready for PM, my 5yo hasn't had any trouble with PM so far. We're almost done with 1A. We're also supplementing 1A with Horizons 1 (just the workbooks) and CWP 1. It's a great combo and he's doing very well.