Roadrunner Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I need advice on math accelerating. Since September my first grader went through 2A, 2B and is now in SM 3A. I was hoping for lots of new material in 3A and bit more challenge (yes we do IPs and CWPs), but it appears to be simple again. It took about 5 minutes to explain long division to him. Multi-digit multiplication I didn't even have to explain. We are planning to go to Beast math once it comes out, but at this point I don't know what is best. Should I maybe only finish IP book for 3A and CWP, skip over 3B completely and go for 4A/4B? We just got started on CWP 3, so I have probably a month or two until I have to make a decision. How much will we miss out if we go straight into 4A/4B? I haven't seen anything above 3A level, so I don't know if it ramps up really fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 3B covers a lot of the measurement topics that aren't repeated in any of the subsequent levels. I would recommend doing at least the IP's and CWP's for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I would look at the TOC to see what it covers, and take the end of year test (the placement test) to see what holes there might be. Then I would cover the holes before moving on to the next level. In other words, perhaps skim rather than skip, unless you believe that there is sufficient (for your dc) review of the skipped topics at the next level. Eta, based on Crimson Wife's response, I would not skip those topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 If he knows how to do long division and picks up basic concepts quickly, there's no need to move on to 4A. I'd do 3B IP and CWP, with or without the workbook (though there may be some topics in the Standards text/workbook not covered in the IP) then move to Beast Academy. If you need more while waiting for BA, consider throwing in Primary Grade Challenge Math by Zaccaro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I wouldn't skip levels. I would skip some of the easier problems and review in favor of the harder problems and challenge problems. I have no problem assigning fewer problems if I know my student understands, but I wouldn't skip whole sections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 3b it is. We won't skip. Thanks everyone! Beast Academy needs to hurry up :tongue_smilie:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 3b it is. We won't skip. Thanks everyone! Beast Academy needs to hurry up :tongue_smilie:. I don't know that BA will help you much if you're going to be in Singapore 4 by then. :confused: I used the sample, and it was good, but not "miles ahead of Singapore" or anything like that. I would suspect you'd need BA 4 if you're in Singapore 4, and that may not be out anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 We compacted SM by skipping the unneeded exercises. We crossed them out by having ds do the chapter reviews until he found something he needed to chew on. We tossed the CWs quickly..there was nothing new there, waste of money for us; with the IPs, go to the back. We probably did 5 problems from each section of SM5A, the rest weren't needed. Feel free to move on to pre-Algebra and MathCounts, there aren't enough concepts in Gr. 3-5 to keep these mathy kids more than a year. We're doing much the same-going quickly through the textbook, to the IP challenge problems, and then moving on. I do think it's worth it to spend some time on the model drawing sections in SM 3a/3b simply because it gives the child another set of tools to use in solving problems. We spent a lot of SM 3 solving the problems via model drawing, then using HOE, and then writing them as equations and solving the equations, so I don't consider that time wasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'd second Moira's suggestion of getting Ed Zaccaro's Primary Grade Challenge Math book. It should provide a graded introduction to "advanced" concepts (that are well explained) and add interest if the Singapore books seem too basic. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'd second Moira's suggestion of getting Ed Zaccaro's Primary Grade Challenge Math book. It should provide a graded introduction to "advanced" concepts (that are well explained) and add interest if the Singapore books seem too basic. Bill :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I need advice on math accelerating. Since September my first grader went through 2A, 2B and is now in SM 3A. I was hoping for lots of new material in 3A and bit more challenge (yes we do IPs and CWPs), but it appears to be simple again. It took about 5 minutes to explain long division to him. Multi-digit multiplication I didn't even have to explain. We are planning to go to Beast math once it comes out, but at this point I don't know what is best. Should I maybe only finish IP book for 3A and CWP, skip over 3B completely and go for 4A/4B? We just got started on CWP 3, so I have probably a month or two until I have to make a decision. How much will we miss out if we go straight into 4A/4B? I haven't seen anything above 3A level, so I don't know if it ramps up really fast. Wow!!! We basically have the Same problem!! :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'd second Moira's suggestion of getting Ed Zaccaro's Primary Grade Challenge Math book. It should provide a graded introduction to "advanced" concepts (that are well explained) and add interest if the Singapore books seem too basic. Bill We have Zaccaro's book. We did negative numbers and decimals. I do need to go back to it. SM is great, but it feels like first year was where all the learning took place. I am shocked at how easy second grade was. 3A feels the same. Once my kid learned how to add to a 100, he could add any number, so the work on 10,000 found in 3A was a waste of time (and money if you ask my husband :001_smile:). Same with their multiplication chapters. I thought long division would have been a nightmare, but it's in a really simple form in SM and took my minutes. He is really complaining about having to do things he knows. And why is 3A IP so thin? Yes, I think I am going back to Zaccaro for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) 3B covers a lot of the measurement topics that aren't repeated in any of the subsequent levels. I would recommend doing at least the IP's and CWP's for that reason. I thought maybe, just maybe... lots of those topics could have been skipped in 1b because they were repeated at a deeper level in 2b. Thanks for letting me know that it's not the same for 3b. I can't figure out how to quote in one message, but I want to reply to Boscopup about BA comment. I pulled out the sample chapter yesterday and I think some of their exercises (challenging ones) are tough. I think we will do both SM and BA (picking and mixing) since I am hoping that BA will be a better preparation for the rest of AoPS than other programs (assuming eventually AoPS ends up being his style of learning). Has anybody done a unit study in math? I am thinking maybe to buy bunch of Math Mammoth fraction topics and spend couple of months on fractions. SM so far has covered very little on fractions (mostly arranging fractions by size and very little addition). I think maybe to just concentrate on it and be able by the end of it to add, subtract, multiply and divide? I looked at TOCs for SM and it seems like fraction work is scattered all over levels. Any reason why such a unit study wouldn't be a good idea? Edited January 31, 2012 by Roadrunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 We have Zaccaro's book. We did negative numbers and decimals. I do need to go back to it. SM is great, but it feels like first year was where all the learning took place. I am shocked at how easy second grade was. 3A feels the same. Once my kid learned how to add to a 100, he could add any number, so the work on 10,000 found in 3A was a waste of time (and money if you ask my husband :001_smile:). Same with their multiplication chapters. I thought long division would have been a nightmare, but it's in a really simple form in SM and took my minutes. He is really complaining about having to do things he knows. And why is 3A IP so thin? Yes, I think I am going back to Zaccaro for a while. You might also "cherry-pick" from the MEP materials. Some of the problems are devilishly hard and fun. It takes some man-hours (woman-hours? :D) but at least no one could complain about the cost of "free" (less printing costs) materials. Hopefully you can strike the right balance of materials that "work the noodle" together with those that promote procedural competence. I'm looking forward to Beast Academy myself. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Has anybody done a unit study in math? I am thinking maybe to buy bunch of Math Mammoth fraction topics and spend couple of months on fractions. SM so far has covered very little on fractions (mostly arranging fractions by size and very little addition). I think maybe to just concentrate on it and be able by the end of it to add, subtract, multiply and divide? I looked at TOCs for SM and it seems like fraction work is scattered all over levels. Any reason why such a unit study wouldn't be a good idea? As far as I know, it's possible to move on to fractions with four operations once your student is confident with long division (I'd be careful to not neglect later practice/review of long division - boring, but some kids do forget or become less automatic doing it). The in-depth treatment of fractions is in MM 5B (about 120 pages' worth). So you could try the Blue topic books on that; just be aware that it can be a long topic, and it's not something I'd rush through or skimp on conceptual understanding or practice. In particular, MM does a great job of explaining the concept of division by fractions (how many times does it fit). There are about 5 lessons on division of fractions, and while it is super tempting to breeze through them in a few minutes, I would take it slowly and carefully. I've never gotten around to using Zaccaro though I've had it for years. Depending on your child's age, I might prefer spending time with something like that to skipping ahead to the four operations with fractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Has anybody done a unit study in math? I am thinking maybe to buy bunch of Math Mammoth fraction topics and spend couple of months on fractions. SM so far has covered very little on fractions (mostly arranging fractions by size and very little addition). I think maybe to just concentrate on it and be able by the end of it to add, subtract, multiply and divide? I looked at TOCs for SM and it seems like fraction work is scattered all over levels. Any reason why such a unit study wouldn't be a good idea? Fractions are covered in 3B, 4A, and 5A of SM. Everything in the 3B fractions chapter is repeated later on so you could probably just do the chapters in 4A & 5A if you wanted to compact. I used the MM Fractions 1 and Fractions 2 "blue" worktexts to supplement those chapters. Some fractions topics MM introduces earlier than Singapore and some later so I did need both MM worktexts straight off the bat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Has anybody done a unit study in math? I am thinking maybe to buy bunch of Math Mammoth fraction topics and spend couple of months on fractions. SM so far has covered very little on fractions (mostly arranging fractions by size and very little addition). I think maybe to just concentrate on it and be able by the end of it to add, subtract, multiply and divide? I looked at TOCs for SM and it seems like fraction work is scattered all over levels. Any reason why such a unit study wouldn't be a good idea? We did a 'fractions camp' last summer with MM blue Fractions 1 and Key To Fractions (both inexpen$ive). It was quite effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 We did a 'fractions camp' last summer with MM blue Fractions 1 and Key To Fractions (both inexpen$ive). It was quite effective. We effectively did the same with LoF Fractions, plus some additional pages from Teacher File box to provide fraction practice, plus the 4A fractions section (didn't think about looking ahead to 5A/B, even though I have it. Grr....). We're going into LoF decimals now, and are using it with the decimals pages in SM 4B and additional activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks everybody! I am going to think through all the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 If you are anywhere near San Jose, CA, you might want to check out the Russian School of Mathematics classes. They begin introducing concepts we don't introduce here in the US until high school. http://www.russianschool.com/sanjose_mathematics.html Not sure you really want to go this route, but I'll throw it out there just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Has anybody done a unit study in math? I am thinking maybe to buy bunch of Math Mammoth fraction topics and spend couple of months on fractions. SM so far has covered very little on fractions (mostly arranging fractions by size and very little addition). I think maybe to just concentrate on it and be able by the end of it to add, subtract, multiply and divide? I looked at TOCs for SM and it seems like fraction work is scattered all over levels. Any reason why such a unit study wouldn't be a good idea? We follow subject paths in Miquon. We just finished a multiplication "unit." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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