MyLittleBears Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm ready to throw in the towel with MUS.. my son can do division no problem but when it comes to understanding how to apply this in word problems - he is at a loss. We do Singapore very lightly on the side but it does not seem to be transfering over to his MUS. Arghh... Not sure what to do anymore! We've also got some dyslexia going on but I'm not sure this is the reason for the trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Practice, practice, and more practice. Word problems are the biggest stumbling block for my DD in math. Give her an equation, and she can solve it easy-peasy. Give her a word problem and :willy_nilly: I'm having her do Singapore with the Challenging Word Problems and Intensive Practice books plus the Kumon Word Problems series, Edward Zaccaro's Challenge Math books, and the Hands-on Equations Verbal Problems Book. We HS year-round so it really isn't as much as it sounds on paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I agree. Singapore with the suppliments. I <3 Singapore's comprehensive understanding approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Singapore!! If DD is struggling with a concept in word problems in the book, I'll step back and rewrite several of the problems from the text, IP, or CWP using her friends or toys as characters, one problem per page. I don't know why that makes it so much easier, but it does. She then is usually able to go back to the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Practice, practice, and more practice. :iagree: - STRONGLY!! And I don't let my son get away with, "This is hard. I'm stuck." If he's stuck, I let him stick with it for a bit and encourage him to set up the bar diagram. I may ask some questions, but if he doesn't get it, we put that problem away for the day (we may work on other problems). We then pull the same problem out the next day. Sometimes I'll let him see what he did before; sometimes I'll just copy the problem on a new sheet of paper so he's starting fresh. What I don't do is just show him the answer. Getting the answer isn't the point of word problems; training the mind in an analytic way is. I've been very pleased with Singapore's CWP. The bar model was really strange to me, but I'm seeing it as a good way to transition to algebra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoftwinboys Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Not to hijack this thread but if we ordered the Singapore regular math curriculum does it teach the bar diagraph method? We have the CWP(3rd grade) and don't use the regular curriculum(we use Saxon) and are really struggling with the word problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 We use Evan Moor's Daily Word Problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karensk Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Not to hijack this thread but if we ordered the Singapore regular math curriculum does it teach the bar diagraph method? We have the CWP(3rd grade) and don't use the regular curriculum(we use Saxon) and are really struggling with the word problems. I think the regular SM curriculum (Primary Mathematics Home Instructor Guide) provide instruction on the bar method (for word problems). However, the problems in the CWP series seem to be at a slightly higher level of difficulty and complexity. Does your CWP book have worked examples for each topic? Do those help at all? When using these, I consider the "Practice Problems" to about on-level with the regular SM Primary Mathematics program and the "Challenging Problems" to be like honors-level or enrichment. Another consideration is that the regular SM program is about a semester ahead of some U.S. math curricula. I've found that the best instruction for the bar method has been the worked examples in the CWP series. Other SM materials I use: SM PM series with the Teacher's Guides (HIGs for levels 5 & 6), Intensive Practice, Extra Practice, My Pals Are Here! Tests, and a few other supplements. With specific problems, you might try the Singapore Math forums or even this forum, posting the specific problem and where y'all are stuck. Sometimes it helps to just talk it out. :) HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm not sure if this is the website I'm thinking of, but somewhere around here someone posted a website with how to do word problems with bar diagrams. http://www.mathplayground.com/thinkingblocks.html MM also teaches bar diagrams for word problems in the grade-level curriculum (especially in 4A and 5A) but I have no idea whether such lessons are contained in the topic books. MM has no shortage of word problems, and I have been very happy with the instruction. We haven't used Singapore, so I cannot compare difficulty level. I'd have to guess that CWP is, well, challenging :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArizonaGirl Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 We use Singapore here. That said, you may want to look at Ray's Arithmetic. Every problem is a story problem, or so I've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) I'm ready to throw in the towel with MUS.. my son can do division no problem but when it comes to understanding how to apply this in word problems - he is at a loss. We do Singapore very lightly on the side but it does not seem to be transfering over to his MUS. Arghh... Not sure what to do anymore! We've also got some dyslexia going on but I'm not sure this is the reason for the trouble. Horizons Math! If you would like to read my review of the curriculum please go to www.amazon.com :) Edited March 31, 2011 by kalphs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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