Makita Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) We have been using Singapore Math since we began our homeschooling journey. I did the suggested placement test for DD when we first started (she was then 5) and thereafter purchased the US Edition textbook & workbook for all the levels 1A/B - 4A/B. I absolutely love the program. DD (now 7) is presently in 3A and DS (nearly 5) is in 1A. Both are doing well. DD is very strong in math and frequently jumps into the workbook lesson with little/no instruction from me. I introduce new concepts briefly and she's off and running. Moving forward, I am beginning to see the value / need for possible supplemental books; particularly the Home Instructors Guide for the answer keys! Of the following - which do you all feel would be worthwhile? Extra Practice US edition Intensive Practice US edition Challenging Word Problems US edition Also, beyond 6B - where do I go? The website states they have 4 options: New Elementary Mathematics (most challenging), Discovering Mathematics, New Syllabus Mathematics, and New Mathematics Counts (least challenging). I'm leaning towards New Elementary Mathematics. Has anyone here used these? Thoughts / Opinions ?? Thank you! Edited December 17, 2009 by Makita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Moving forward, I am beginning to see the value / need for possible supplemental books; particularly the Home Instructors Guide for the answer keys! Of the following - which do you all feel would be worthwhile? Extra Practice US edition Intensive Practice US edition Challenging Word Problems US edition I highly recommend the HIG's. Of the other 3, unless your dc need the extra practice, I would get CWP or IP. IP also includes some challenging word problems, so if you can't find CWP, I'd go with IP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Also, beyond 6B - where do I go? The website states they have 4 options: New Elementary Mathematics (most challenging), Discovering Mathematics, New Syllabus Mathematics, and New Mathematics Counts (least challenging). I'm leaning towards New Elementary Mathematics. Has anyone here used these? Thoughts / Opinions ?? Thank you! He didn't even finish all of 6B, and started DM along side Life of Fred Beginning Algebra (he wanted one, I wanted the other). He just finished chapter 2 of DM 1A--which is mostly pre-algebra stuff. I like it so far; I think he would say it is okay, but not as fun as Life of Fred. Each lesson has 4 sections, which get progressivley challenging. I was letting him skip some problems in the first section, Basic Practice, but that ended up not working so well. Now he does all the problems in the first 3 sections of each lesson, and I pick and choose from the "brainworks" problems, or sometimes we just do those together, as they are quite challenging. The Third section is word problems which ask the student to apply the new concept, and those brainworks are just that...they really make one think. DM has TM's for all levels, where NEM only does for the first two levels, I believe. The TM's have worked solutions for every problem in the book, which has been useful for me. There are some notes for the teacher, but nothing in the way of "here's how to teach this concept." I chose DM over NEM because, according to the website (or maybe it was a message on the Singapore forums?), DM is slightly less challenging than NEM, and does have those worked soltions for every level. As for which curriculum your dc do after 6B, it will depend on their age and maturity, IMO, since it looks like they are way ahead. I don't know if I would take a student into DM before 7th grade, which is the recommended grade level. I think others who have finished 6B earlier than 6th grade have used other curricula (Russian math, Lial's BCM, etc.) including pre-algebra, then gone into either a traditional U.S. Algebra program, or one of the Singapore upper level series. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) DD (now 7) is presently in 3A and DS (nearly 5) is in 3A. Tell me it's a typo and he's in 1A :lol: The HIGs are good. Not just so you have the answer, but so you can flesh out the program with activities, and have some background understanding of expectations and skill building that you would be "assumed" to be working on (if you were a teacher in Singapore) but might not realize was expected from having the textbooks alone. The Intensive Practice books (judging from 1A/1B) are enjoyable for a child who is strong in math because it notches up the difficulty a comfortable amount, and mixes up the kinds of questions. I'd suggest you do get the IPs. The Extra Practice books (from what I understand) are more problems on the same level as the Workbooks, for children who need "extra practice". I didn't get these. The CWPs are very popular. But Out-of-Print. You may get lucky and find some. There is supposed to be a new series (at some point) to replace these. I will say that I don't think my son (who also started 1A at 4, and is now 5 and is working on finishing up 1A) is ready for CWP 1. I believe many parents use CWP one year behind. So if a child is in Primary Math 3 they use CWP 2. This seems especially reasonable if they are working ahead of grade level as there is a complexity of the method that they need the maturity to grasp. Bill Edited December 17, 2009 by Spy Car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Researcher Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 We have all of the supplement books for Singapore and have found them useful. The extra practice book is nice to have when some of the topics don't get enough practice in the workbook, imo. I also enjoy having the IG. It makes it so much faster and easier to check his answers in the workbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makita Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Tell me it's a typo and he's in 1A :lol: YES! Typo!! He's in 1A... She's 3A. :blush5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Of the following - which do you all feel would be worthwhile? Extra Practice US edition Intensive Practice US edition Challenging Word Problems US edition If I could only choose one, I would go witht the IP books. They do an excellent job of stretching the application of a concept in slightly different ways. We also use and love the CWP books, but many of the lower levels are now OOP. We're only in 5A, so I can't give you any advice as to where to go after 6B. I'm just starting to look into it myself. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makita Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Thank you so much everyone! Bill - Your suggestions were spot on and I'm going to go forth and buy the HIGs, IPs and CWPs (if I can find them). :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfOneFunOne Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I truly feel that to get the full benefit of using SM the IP and CWP, memorized math facts, and mental math are all critical. Also, you just have to get those bar diagrams down. EP is just busy work for the kid who got it the first time. I like the HIG b/c it gives strategies for mental maths and mental maths problems that follow the progression of what you're doing in the book. However, using the HIG I still couldn't understand the bar diagrams. That bar diagram stuff really begins in earnest in 3A so now is the time to really focus on that. If you dont' know it, you just have to figure it out! Hopefully someone will be able to give you some ideas for mom help in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 DM has TM's for all levels, where NEM only does for the first two levels, I believe. The TM's have worked solutions for every problem in the book, which has been useful for me. There are some notes for the teacher, but nothing in the way of "here's how to teach this concept." I chose DM over NEM because, according to the website (or maybe it was a message on the Singapore forums?), DM is slightly less challenging than NEM, and does have those worked soltions for every level. I plan to use DM for many of the same reasons. DM is supposed to have better explanations as well, according to one mom on the forums who bought NEM, DM and NSM. She said DM also has more practice work before having the child apply the concept to a different situation, where I got the idea NEM would only have one or two practice problems and then introduce the challenging work. Jenny (author of the HIG's and the NEW solutions) stated that the solutions aren't cost effective to produce so they don't plan on publishing solutions to 3 and 4 at all. Also she admitted there were problems where she would have to go to other people or the author of the program in order to figure out how to find the answer with the concepts presented in the chapter in order to write the manuals for 1 and 2. :001_huh: I know I would just end up figuring it out with a different approach..which would somewhat defeat the whole point of the exercise. I am good at math, but I really want that safety net. If I could just focus on this one thing I would be fine. Right now I am going in so many different directions that the easy path is the one that gets used, thus I want to make the easiest path one that has everything I need to do a good job, KWIM? Normally I would suggest the CWP books, but given they are OOP I would do the IP books. They will also get your child used to problems that require then to try it and then try again. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Thank you so much everyone! Bill - Your suggestions were spot on and I'm going to go forth and buy the HIGs, IPs and CWPs (if I can find them). :001_smile: If that's not enough to slow him (or her) down, there are also the very fine MEP materials (that are available without a free as downloads). They make for a very interesting combo with Singapore. MEP is different enough from Singapore (and challenging in an "I need to think" way) to excite many children, and very "complimentary" with Singapore at the same time. Best wishes on your math studies! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSDCY Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 For supplemental books, I like CWP the best. I find IP to be a bit overkill, if you do the regular workbook with it. If I can do over, I'd use IP and CWP instead of workbook. As for life after 6B, I think DM is a good choice. I went with Chaulkdust, and am currently kicking myself for not choosing DM1. If your children do well with Singapore math, and you are capable of teaching it, use DM, you won't regret it. I just got DM2, and I really like it after previewing its content. We are using it next year (and supplement lightly with an American text). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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