Scheduling Singapore Math 3A

[mom2boys030507]

My oldest son is ready to start Singapore Math 3A and I am trying to figure out how much people schedule everyday. Currently he does about 30-45 min of math daily. He is working through topics in MM, CWP Level 2, and an addition/ subtraction practice book.

 

I have spent the last few months getting his addition and subtraction facts up to speed. Before this he could do the work but was figuring out the problem each and every time. We are now at the point that he is truely ready to move on. I want him to continue practicing his addition and subtraction regularly if not daily and to continue with the topics in MM as he is doing really well with those and really learning the subjects.

 

I am looking at doing 1 exercise everyday in Singapore Workbook with the corisponding textbook pages. He would also do a page of addition/subtraction and 2 pages of MM. I am feeling like this will be to much mostly because of the textbook. The textbook pages in 3A are packed full of problems. Then there are the reviews in the textbook. I am just not sure how to schedule all of this and still get through 3A in half a school year.

 

What do/did you schedule daily at the beginning of 3A? How much time are your kids working on math? Do you take days off from the workbook to do the reviews in the textbook? Do you do all the reviews in the textbook?

 

Thanks for your help. For some reason planning math is not going well at the moment.

[Dmmetler]

My DD's not at all linear, but so far, it's taken her about 3-4 months for each SM book, with the IP and extra practice here and there, so I'm guessing about the same for 3A.

 

As far as reviews, it depends on how long it was since the last one. I try to do a review day every 2-3 weeks, which I consider an assessment, but sometimes they're more frequent than that in the book. This week, we would have had two reviews in a single week, because there were only a couple of pages for the entire chapter, and they were concepts that DD was already very comfortable with. I don't do the practice/review problems in the text, only in the workbook, although I do use them for mental math practice.

Edited February 4, 2011 by Dmmetler2

[Dana]

We did 3A at the start of this school year (year-round - our start was June). I use the timeline in the Home Instructors Guide to give a rough estimate of how long we should spend on each topic to get through the work in a semester.

 

We are using Standards and we use the text, WB, IP,and CWP (and a few additional books... iExcel and Miquon on occasion). We do the reviews. We do not do any testing other than the end of book test (the placement tests from the Singapore math site).

 

I use a timer and we spend 40-60 min a day on math.

If we're on a topic that needs a bit more work, we spend more time just in the text and WB and we go much slower (or skip) the IP. I try to do a few word problems every day. How many depends on how our time is working.

 

Sometimes my son is able to move very quickly through the text and workbook. Other times we don't get much additional work done. The times that he gets the text/wb done quickly, we spend more time in IP and CWP. On occasion (I think with some of the addition work with the Practice pages), I'd just have him do one column of work rather than all problems. I adjust based on what I'm seeing of his mastery.

 

I don't know if planning on 1 exercise each day would be enough to get through the book in a semester. It might be helpful to decide whether MM or Singapore is your main program and then use the other to supplement, dropping pages or topics in it as you need for progression in the main program.

[mom2boys030507]

Singapore is our main program. We have been working though MM to get his skills faster. I would love to just do a set time each day but that is not the way this kid works. He is thriving on having a list of what he needs to do each day. I print it out at the beginning of the week, so the schedule is flexible yet set, I review it every weekend. Because of this I am feeling the need to schedule out math. It is nice to know that there are days that we will need to do more than one exercise.

 

I do take out problems if he is working really well on task as wasting time is a big problem. This is also an easy way to see if he has mastery because he tends to waste time when he doesn't know the topic well and I know I have to go back and review it.

[gfengel]

My dd has just completed 2B and is starting 3A. During our school day, we do one exercise in the main workbook. I then assign her some "homework" from the EP, IP, or CWP book (approx. 3 - 4 pages). I would estimate that she spends about an hour on math each day.

[Crimson Wife]

I have my DD do the chapter in the text including all practices but not the reviews, then the corresponding chapters in the IP and CWP. The reviews she does on Fridays, 1 semester behind. I find that doing the reviews when they are scheduled in the texts is overkill but doing the ones from the previous semester is just right. We HS year-round so I don't worry about exactly when we finish each book. DD started 3A in January of last year and she's working through the IP & CWP problems that correspond to chapter 4 in 4A. I'm guessing she'll likely be ready to start 4B the middle of next month or so.

[GWOB]

We just finished 3A. I roughly followed the HIG for planning. Basically, we went over the text lesson, working out however many example problems were needed to solidify the concept. We rarely did all the problems in the text because they usually weren't necessary. Then I would assign the WB exercises that corresponded with the text lesson. About 3 times a week I would add in problems from the 2B IP book or CWP. The HIG did not add in textbook practices (practice 2A, 3B,...) so if we needed more review on a concept, we would just throw one of those in there. Same with the mental math sheets in the back of the HIG. Most days ds would use flashcards to reinforce math facts. I never felt the need to add in another math program since Singapore has so many ways of adding in extra practice. HTH.