What to do next for math???

[kmom]

My dd is finishing SM kindergarden book B. I would love some thoughts on what to do next with her.

 

She loves math and really likes the Singapore books. Last year we tried RS A and got to about lesson 38...our lives had some major turns and pretty much the rest of the year was haphazard at best. At that point RS A seemed to be too much for her developmentally so I shelved it. We eventually ordered Singapore Standards Kindergarden B in the summer and she has almost completed the book.

 

I like Singapore and certainly seems to be a good fit for her right now. My concern is that I want her to understand the concepts behind the math. For instance, she loves to do mental math...she will play math games, do flash cards, and worksheets with addition without complaining and gets them correct...problem is she doesn't really understand the concept. Subtraction was the same...she could do the problems for the most part in her head or looking at the pictures but when asked to show with objects she couldn't do it for either addition or subtraction. After reading a lot of threads on Singapore 1A I am a little nervous it may go to quickly for her and she will end up frustrated and not understanding.

 

So here is what I am thinking of...please tell me which plan seems to be the best to do for the rest of this year...and I am open to suggestions.

 

1. Finish Singapore Kindergarden B (by Christmas) and then work through the rest of RS A. I looked through it the other night and it seems like this would be the perfect time to go back.

 

2. Finish Singapore KB and just move on to 1A (using the HIG's) and if we get stuck then take a break with some games and other activities.

 

3. Finish Singapore KB. In January pick up RS A and finish it. Then either combine Singapore 1a with RS B or just move on with Singapore 1A.

 

I don't want to jump all around with math curriculums...I love both of these!! So I am struggling with just picking one:confused: Thanks!!

Edited November 17, 2010 by kmom

[skueppers]

I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean.

 

Are you really saying that she doesn't understand that if there are five birds on a telephone wire, and three of them fly away, that there are two left? Even though she can tell you that 5 - 3 = 2?

 

I guess what I'm wondering here is whether she really doesn't understand the concept, or whether she's having some other kind of issue with the use of objects.

[kmom]

She likes to count on in her head, which she does well adding 1,2,and 3 to a number. If she has a problem like 4 +3= she can write or tell the answer in no time. However if i give her 4 bears and 3 bears and have her put them together to find the answer she just looks confused. Same with subtraction...at first she just wanted to add them..then she understood taking something away by me asking her mental math questions like "If you have 5 candies and I eat 2 of them how many do you have left?" Again she can answer me and she can usually write the answer down on paper. But if they show the picture of the little birds or in the textbook....it seems to confuse her...she just didn't see it that way. She just wanted to figure it out in her head counting on or backwards.

 

She didn't know what to do when I gave her two groups of teddy bears to add...she couldn't remember if she should push them together or take some away. I hope this is not too confusing:confused: I am worried she is not going to be able to go forward until she understands what she is doing...I hope this makes more sense. Maybe she just doesn't like wasting time with bears and manipulatives...she loves games though..

 

 

ETA: I just felt like singapore and rs would go together really well. At least for the remainder of this year. After this year I plan to stick with Singapore... RS A would pick up at adding and really had some solid ways of presenting that concept with manipulatives and lots of games...

Edited November 17, 2010 by kmom

[boscopup]

First, some kids just don't need manipulatives. My son does everything in his head too, though he *can* add and subtract manipulatives if he is told to.

 

Sounds like RS A would be a good thing to go through, then pick back up at SP 1A when you think she is ready. If you have the RS A already, you might as well use it! You're not exactly curriculum hopping here. If you did SP to RS to Saxon to Horizons, etc., that would be curriculum hopping. :) Taking a break in SP to add in some RS is not curriculum hopping. You're still using SP as your spine. Plus I don't think it matters *as* much if you change curriculums at the K/1 grade stage.

[skueppers]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to this -- busy day!

 

It took my daughter a while to really understand that all the different ways of looking at addition and subtraction are the same thing. We approached it in a number of different ways, over an extended period of time, before I felt like she really had a solid grasp on it.

 

I've never used Right Start or Singapore, but I think using a different curriculum that covers much of the same material in a different way is perfectly reasonable.

 

You might also find Maria Miller's "Some Went Hiding" game helpful for the particular issue you mentioned. You can find it in the "Contents" sample pages of the Math Mammoth Addition 1 worktext:

 

http://www.mathmammoth.com/addition_1.php

 

My daughter got a lot of benefit from it (and from the entire Addition 1 worktext).