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Singapore 1a/1b-- need help!


Little Nyssa
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DS is in 1st grade. We just finished Singapore 1A and are starting 1B. I was surprised to find out we'll be starting multiplication and division already! Should I stop and make sure DS knows all the math facts for addition/subtraction up to 20? He has done well but doesn't know them all cold. I'm afraid of piling up new concepts (and facts) on him unless he is solid on what he's learned so far. He knows the concepts though. Or, is it not reasonable for me to ask a 1st grader to know all these facts?

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We aren't quite into B yet, but I think that some of the basic multiplication they will learn will help with those math facts, too. I would look for math games (we like the RS math games), we have Sum Swamp also, things like that to solidify as the year goes on. A drill sheet with 10-20 facts a couple times a week is helpful, too, but nothing too crazy. That's my plan, anyway.

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I may be going against the grain for many people's tastes, but I have not focused on math facts for my dd. I wanted her to learn concepts first, since I learned by rote memory and had a horrible time with math. So, all that to say that when dd did 1B, she had no practice with multiplication and division tables and she breezed through that book. The hardest part for her was actually borrowing in subtraction, but after two lessons, even that clicked for her. I will have to look back, but I don't remember division so much as a bit of multiplication. It wasn't shocking enough to us to cause me to stop and ponder whether I've placed dd in an odd situation by not teaching her the facts first, though. Really, at this level, Singapore does such a great job of gently introducing these topics via illustrations and use of manipulatives that it's not a huge deal. In Singapore Math, it seems the mental grasping of the concept carries more weight than memorization.

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I did not. We will be going to 3A soon and have not been slowed down by any problems. As long as the child has all the ways to add up to 10 mastered, you still have time on the rest. You will cycle back around to addition frequently. That being said, no damage will be done if you DO stop and master facts before moving on.

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My DD is using Singapore 1a and 1b too.

She was flying through the books and concepts. I was a little worried about her hitting the multiplication so early too. So what I did was get the Singapore Intensive Practice books. They have additional problems, more like a review, of the things she has learned in the other books. She will still end up finishing all the 1 books before the end of the "year" but we will not start the 2s until the Fall.

 

HTH! Paula

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DS is in 1st grade. We just finished Singapore 1A and are starting 1B. I was surprised to find out we'll be starting multiplication and division already! Should I stop and make sure DS knows all the math facts for addition/subtraction up to 20? He has done well but doesn't know them all cold. I'm afraid of piling up new concepts (and facts) on him unless he is solid on what he's learned so far. He knows the concepts though. Or, is it not reasonable for me to ask a 1st grader to know all these facts?

 

They never need to learn their addition facts higher than 1-10. Please don't make them memorize anything higher. The genius of Singapore is that you don't. You just reformat the problem to a base 10 one:

 

Note the... are for spacing:

 

..18-9=

/..\

8+10-9=

....\../

..8+1=9

 

Or for addition:

 

18+9=

..../..\

18+2+7

\.../

.20+7=27

 

No memorization needed beyond 1-10. And while it takes longer for many parents to use this method, because we weren't taught to thing that way, a child trained to think this way can shuffle the numbers around and get the answer very quickly in their mind. Now that I have done it for years I can also do it very quickly in my mind. Being an old dog, so to speak it did take me longer to get used to.

 

The multiplication covered is mostly taught via addition and skip counting, so at this level it is really gentle. Division is barely touched on.

 

Heather

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The multiplication done in 1a/1b is not for mastery. It's just to introduce the concept. We kept going, while working on addition/subtraction facts. The multiplication concept was easy and gave a nice break.

 

We're in 2a and will start multiplication soon. THIS time, it instructs you to memorize the facts. But dd can already figure them out, because of the previous introduction.

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They never need to learn their addition facts higher than 1-10. Please don't make them memorize anything higher. The genius of Singapore is that you don't. You just reformat the problem to a base 10 one:

 

Note the... are for spacing:

 

..18-9=

/..\

8+10-9=

....\../

..8+1=9

 

Or for addition:

 

18+9=

..../..\

18+2+7

\.../

.20+7=27

 

No memorization needed beyond 1-10. And while it takes longer for many parents to use this method, because we weren't taught to thing that way, a child trained to think this way can shuffle the numbers around and get the answer very quickly in their mind. Now that I have done it for years I can also do it very quickly in my mind. Being an old dog, so to speak it did take me longer to get used to.

 

The multiplication covered is mostly taught via addition and skip counting, so at this level it is really gentle. Division is barely touched on.

 

Heather

 

:iagree: My two boys have used Singapore for the past 2 1/2 years. I hvae found this to be true.

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