Jump to content

Menu

Singapore Math Help--math facts, etc.


LAmom
 Share

Recommended Posts

I used MFW 1st for Math and the past few months have added on Singapore 1A to help my daughter get her math facts down and learn them the way Singapore teaches.

 

First question-- Does anyone else do subtraction different than the way Singapore teaches. Meaning: 8-2....I put up 8 fingers and then put down 2. Therefore, 8-2=6. 6 fingers left. Singapore wants me to leave up the 8th finger and count down 2 by saying 7, 6. OK. My daughter actually seems to do this counting down. But when I verbalize how I subtract this problem, I say 8 take away 2, 8, 7 and therefore my answer is 6. Does that make any sense? Does it matter?

 

Second question-- My daughter is not memorizing these facts. I have been trying. Using the textbook, she wonders why the answer is basically right there on the page. I usually try to cover it so that she figures out the answer on her own. It is easy with a picture there, too. How stressed should I be if she is not figuring this out before 2nd grade. Can she easily move on to 2A? If she doesn't have these down can she move on to multiplication facts?

 

Right now she is using little dots on the Mental Math pages. She will see 7-3 and put 3 little dots before the 7 and count down. Should I let her do this? :confused:

 

Sorry so long. I can't believe I am struggling teaching 1st grade math! Maybe I am overthinking. Maybe she can use her fingers, use dots, etc. I just want her to speed up her answers when doing the Mental Math. It takes her soooo long. And when I say I am going to time her, she freezes up and can't do it...

 

Thanks for listening. :001_smile:

 

I guess while I have Singapore people here....should I buy the new Challenging Practice Workbooks?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have just started using PM 1A, ourselves, but before that we were (are) using Saxon.

 

After asking a lot of quetions about Singapore Math, too, the advice I got was to make sure I bought flash cards and do them everyday for about 5 min. a day. Singapore does not have any drill, and they do need to memorize those facts. Saxon does that, and my dd6 is finding 1A to be almost boringly easy because she already knows her addition facts. She loves the workbook, though.:tongue_smilie:

 

I can't speak to the other question, though.

 

HTH!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are a Singapore family (finishing up 6B with my oldest) I feel like they do need to learn their facts.(Having said that, I also used my fingers when counting with my 1st grader last year, and he ,now 2nd grade, still uses his fingers at times.) If you are concerned with if she is ready to move in to the 2A, have her take the 1B placement test. Use it as an exit exam to see if she has learned the material. That way if she passes the test easily she should be good to go and if not you will see what areas that she needs work on. (I know that is what we do and what alot of Singapore users do as well.) Also, personally I like Challenging Word Problems and the Intensive Practice book. It ramps it up a little over the word problems in the workbook. The Extra Practice books have problems along the same line as what is in the workbook if you feel she needs more practice.

 

Also if you are not a member, join the forum on Singapore's website. Lots of great info.

 

 

HTH,

Cheri

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would suggest letting her use manipulatives for a bit. They really help to make those abstract ideas (numbers on paper) more concrete (those numbers mean more when attached to real objects). She's still pretty young. I played games with ds such as taking 10 pencils (or whatever) and seeing how many ways you can make 10, for example (9 & 1, 8 & 2...). This helps with learning how numbers relate to one another. I also let him work out the problems using the manipulatives as needed. Unifix cubes are good for this.

 

Also something to keep in mind is that (as I understand it) the Singapore grades run differently than US grades so that Singapore 1 would actually be used with US second grade. I know ds is in 4th grade this year and currently is doing 3B. He is pretty much on schedule for what ps does here in 4th grade. Not with everything because Singapore introduces things in a little different order, but basically....

 

Another thought is about learning style. Is she more visual, kinetic, auditory? That can make a difference in how well she learns things. If she's kinetic, you might try having her do a hopscotch game or something while reciting facts, or maybe just using the manips will help with that. If she's auditory try having her say facts outloud. Try different methods like that (I'm sure others will have more ideas) and see what works best for her. She could be visual and that's why the dots help her. Or she could be a combination. I'm visual-kinetic myself and need to see things done and do it myself with guidance before I really understand.

 

HTH!

 

BTW, I just reread your post about the timing thing. Ds used to be incredibly slow as well (and hates being timed, too). It got to where it would take about an hour somedays just for one exercise. I stopped looking at how many pages he was doing and just said, "we're going to work in your workbook for 15 minutes." We got how far we got (I did usually have him finish the page he was on). Sometimes it's one page, sometimes it's 15 - He is also enrolled in Kumon math which is great for mastery. He loves it when Singapore reaches concepts he's already had in Kumon. He flies thru some of those pages and has a blast! Anyway, I bring this up as an encouragement to you that maybe setting a certain amount of time to work on these pages might not be a bad idea. For us, it took some of the pressure off. Focus on what she does get done and challenge her in a positive way to do her best to get even more done next time.

Edited by EppieJ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Singapore. I think that it is important to know the facts and you'll find that even in 1B if she doesn't know the basic facts it will be much harder. I added in a lot of extra stuff as drill. At the beginning we always used a lot of manipulatives to show the problem concretely. We used several of the Peggy Kaye games, the Right Start games and games I made up (like Math War....play like regular war card game but put down two cards and the highest sum wins). I made flashcards and we did a bit of drill daily. Mostly we did it as a fun game called the "fast game" (our name for it). I'd set a goal and we'd see if he could get that many right in 1 minute. As he got better he'd have to either meet the goal or beat his own record. If he did he got a small prize (sticker, tatoo, few M&M's). I didn't actually find the Mental Math sheets in the back of the HIG until recently but we use those also.

 

So, although I love Singapore the program does require you to find extra ways to review the facts. I've heard somewhere that in Singapore the expectation is that parents are doing that at home so it's just not needed in the curriculum as much.

 

I didn't stop moving forward in the book until the facts were mastered but what worked for us was to go slowly with new stuff and spend part of every day really getting the facts down. Sometimes if I knew he needed more review we'd do one of the topics like weight or measurement or time for a week and also work daily on the facts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Memorizing math facts is important - but kids at this age need to be able to associate those facts with something tangible. That's where manipulatives (in your case fingers) come in. I didn't focus a lot with dd 10 memorizing math facts - we did no flash cards - as a matter of fact I don't think she would have done flashcards. However, here we are finishing up 4B and she has memorized her addition, subtraction and multiplaction tables. She has used them and used them and used them over the past years and has memorized them even without drilling it into oblivion. She understands the concept of addition, subtraction and multiplication - even is she didn't have the answer memorized she knows how to calculate it and isn't that what math is really all about anyway?

Just MHO....LOL

JoAnne:tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For counting up and down, I got the idea from the text to make a paper sidewalk with spots from 0 to 10. I get a small toy and the toy moves up and down the sidewalk to solve the problem. This also helped my children to understand the concept better this way.

 

Does it matter? It really just give the child more than one way to manipulate numbers. Some kids like to rely on one method more than another. It's just another way of doing things.

 

She probably needs more practice. You can do the mental math sheets, print worksheets off the internet, get a second math program that focuses on review (I use Rod and Staff), play math games, read living math books, buy more Singapore supplements.

 

But it may take some time for the math facts to stick. In 1b you will be working with addition/subtraction within 100 and a little multiplication. She can go onto multiplication without having the facts cemented but she will have trouble in 2a with the addition with regrouping if the facts are not cemented.

 

With my oldest we did a year of Rightstart B/C between 1b and 2a of Singapore. With my youngest I am using Rod and Staff alongside Singapore just so that she gets that extra review (we are not doing every problem but just enough to keep her skills sharp).

 

Making her own pictures or using manipulatives to solve the problems is fine it will probably help her to learn these facts. For simple problems, I like the sidewalk or small objects. Once they start doing work outside of 10 the AL Abacus is a great help.

 

There are a lot of problems on those mental math pages. Many more than are in a typical lesson in the workbook. It will take her time. Math works the brain and this can be hard. Don't worry too much but take your time and add in extras if you need to.

 

Your post brings up the main failing of Singapore in that there is not enough practice/review. That is why a lot of families use a second math program that has plenty of practice/review.

 

Hope this helps.:001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.

 

First question-- Does anyone else do subtraction different than the way Singapore teaches. Meaning: 8-2....I put up 8 fingers and then put down 2. Therefore, 8-2=6. 6 fingers left. Singapore wants me to leave up the 8th finger and count down 2 by saying 7, 6. OK. My daughter actually seems to do this counting down. But when I verbalize how I subtract this problem, I say 8 take away 2, 8, 7 and therefore my answer is 6. Does that make any sense? Does it matter?

 

It does matter. One way is *counting* and the other is *subtracting*, and they are two different concepts. I went all the way through Singapore 5 with my oldest and she never got her math facts (that was the dyslexia rearing its ugly head) but I hadn't really required it of her, either. Now that she's in more advanced math it slows her down so much to have to count up and count down.

 

I'd do as others suggested. Get flash cards, learn songs, anything you think feels like its working to get those facts into her head. It takes a while, but it's so worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that learning the math facts is very important. I have a ds in 4A and in 3B. We work on math facts though it continues to be easier for one than the other.

 

How old is your daughter? I also think that it just starts to click at some point and there is not much point in timing your child until they start knowing them. DS5 isn't quite there yet...he seems to know some of the facts more quickly and yet other times he needs to count. We will start Singpaore 1 in the fall.

 

Try flash cards for now. Also limit the problems you are working on. For example start with x+0. Then add x+1. Then start adding 2 new problems at a time, working your way up. This builds confidence and of course starts with the easy ones first. Let subraction go until you've finished addition. The subtraction facts are less natural and will come more easily once the addition are easy.

 

Good luck!

Brownie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...