Questions re Singapore K Math

[carlyincali]

I purchased both the K Earlybird and the Essentials A & B. I was just going through them they look pretty easy to be a stand-alone math curric. So I came on here and did some searching. I see that most people use the teacher's manual (called HIG,) and also people supplement with another math program, like Miquon or RS.

 

This brings me to my questions:

 

Is there an HIG for either of the K math workbooks? (If there is, I can't find it on the website.)

 

What is a good math program to use w/the Singapore for K?

 

How many pages per day should my child be doing in the workbooks? (I could, and probably will, easily start him in the B books.

 

TIA

[Mama2two]

There is a teacher's manual for Earlybird, but I don't think the HIG starts until Primary 1. My son did EB and then we did Right Start level A. He is now doing RS B and SM 1. I think Singapore and Right Start are a great combination.

[carlyincali]

Thanks for replying.

 

I used RS for 5yrs with my two girls and have decided to switch to something different for my younger set of boys as now I am homeschooling four kids and have a 20mo. I am looking for something a little less teacher intensive.

 

With that said, I loved RS math, and would switch back if it were possible. Arent the teaching methods different w/Singapore? There is no counting, (really only skip counting,) with RS and there is w/Singapore. I would think that the two methods with counteract with eachother.

[MissKNG]

You definitely don't need a Teacher's Manual for EB as it has little "development ideas" at the bottom of each page. The TM is basically a recap of those.

[Steven]

I did Early Bird A and B with my daughter last year. I didn't bother with the teacher's manual, or any other work books. The book is pretty self-explanatory. My daughter was doing quite well with counting (up to 100), and I was mainly interested in making sure we touched all the bases before starting 1st grade math. We zipped right through book A (we did 3 or four pages a day, when we did math--whatever we could do in about 15 minutes). Then we took the rest of the semester off. In January we started book B and also zipped right along.

 

I just bought my copies of the first grade Singapore Math books, workbooks, and teacher's manual. Quite frankly, the content (at least for the A book) is not that different from Early Bird.

 

I find it interesting, that Early Bird was created for the U.S. market--it is not used in Singapore. It is, I believe, based on California state standards. Moreover, (if I understood the Singapore Math website correctly) Singapore children are older when they start first grade than U.S. school children are, so they go right into the first book at age 7, not age 6, without any prep. Since the Singapore Math website also warns against pushing young children into math too early (before they are developmentally ready for the concepts), perhaps we should re-evaluate the push to do math in kindergarten. (On the other hand, we are speaking averages here, and some children are undoubtedly ready before other children.)

 

Awareness of the Singapore practice and concern about pushing a child too soon (even though she seemed ready) were the main reasons why I went with Early Bird. We just did a little each day to make sure we had the basic concepts down, without any intent of rushing into the 1st grade book while she was still in kindergarten.

 

So I really wouldn't worry about supplementing Early Bird. If Early Bird doesn't seem like enough, perhaps you should just work through books A and B quickly (e.g., first semester), and then start the first grade book in January.

[Ali in OR]

I think there is a jump in expectations from the earlybird books to the primary math 1 books. Primary math 1 can look pretty easy at a glance, but there is some pretty sophisticated thinking going on. Some math programs have kids just memorize addition facts to 20. Singapore has kids understand number bonds to 10 very well (i.e. be able to "see" 10 as 8+2 or 6+4, etc.) and be able to use those bonds to figure out how to add 8+6 (rather than just memorizing 8+6=14). The child will think, "what would I need to make the 8 a 10? Oh, 2. So I'll take 2 from the 6 and I know 4 is leftover and it is very easy to add that 4 to my new 10--the answer is 14." But be able to do that in a second. It may seem like more work than memorizing, but it is a great skill that will make harder mental arithmetic much easier (like adding 58+6, or 58+26). But it is not something to rush into too early.

 

For my youngest, who finished the earlybird books in preschool, we used a different program for K so that we wouldn't hit primary math 1 before she was ready for all of that mental number manipulation. We used Horizons K since we supplement with that program anyway, but I am sure that there are lots of good programs that would work. So you might just go through earlybird at a pace that is comfortable for your ds, but don't be anxious to jump into 1A too soon. Maybe just use some RS games since you know them or pick up a workbook he can do on his own like Horizons after he finished earlybird. I am not familiar with Essentials--maybe that can follow earlybird???

[carlyincali]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I should have mentioned that my K'er is 6yo. We did a small amount of RS Math Level B at the beggining of last year, but then I put the book down, because he just didn't seem ready. Well, I can't believe the difference in him from last year to this year. He is definitely ready now and can't wait to start school.

 

I just ordered CLE 1st grade math to use as either as a main or a supplement to SM, not sure which. Hoping and praying that I will be happy with my choice. Not much tops RS Math in my opinion.

 

Thanks again.

[EKS]

I can't stand Earlybird (I haven't seen Essentials). RightStart A and B is far superior to Singapore K or 1AB (IMHO). Singapore is fabulous for 2 and up.