joyfulhomeschooler Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hi Singapore users. My daughter and I have been working through singapore 1 very quickly and she is picking up on it very well and seems to really be loving and understanding math.... UNTIL today. We hit excersize 27 in 1B and on the back side when we were doing the problems with pictures 22-8= she understood just fine but then when we got to the bottom without pictures she had a nervous breakdown. So I finally took the problem and wrote it vertically for her and showed her how the 4 in 34-7 had to borrow a 10 from the 30 to be able to take 7 away, then because the 30 gave one of his 10's to the 4 it becomes 14 and 30 becomes 20 as soon as I did this she understood perfectly and was able to do the rest of the problems as long as she could rewrite them. So my question is this, Is singapore a good program for a child like this? Didn't I totally demolish the singpaore way by showing it to her this more traditional way? She is also using Horizons and it is just way too easy for her, I wonder if taking her up a grade in that would be the better option over using singpore. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Well, if you've demolished the Singapore way, then I have, too. :001_huh: The key thing is, does your child understand? If they don't get the mental method, and they do understand borrowing, then borrowing would be how I'd go - at least for now. They may understand the mental method later on, then they have two strategies to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I don't think that was the end of the world BUT SM is big on using mental math strategies and part of that is learning how to do the exchange without paper and pencil. I wouldn't bypass that skill too quickly. Do you have a base ten block set? You could substitute bundles of straws or toothpicks. Before teaching DD the traditional algorithm we used those and the little 1/2" cubes to show her that she had to (in her mind or using a diagram) trade in one stick of tens for ten ones before she could subtract the ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sctigermom Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 This may help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Singapore teaches both the mental math strategies and the traditional algorithm. So no, you haven't ruined her. ;) I'd keep working on the mental math strategies, but she doesn't have to get it the first time. My ds is on 3A, and we just finished another section on mental math. He prefers writing problems out vertically, but the more he is exposed to mental math, the more flexible he becomes in his thinking, and the more likely he is to use different mental math strategies to solve certain types of problems. If she is frustrated and doesn't get it, I think stepping back and doing it a different way is the right thing to do. You can also keep using pictures and manipulatives for as long as she needs them, even after the book has discontinued them. Do you have the HIG? If you're using the Standards edition, the HIG has lots of ideas for expanding the lesson so that she will have more time to absorb concepts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I wouldn't use the term "borrowing" because Liping Ma makes a strong argument in her book about it being confusing to children. What I would say is that the 34 has been "decomposed" into 20 and 14 and then the 7 has been subtracted from the 14. I draw what Singapore calls a "number bond" and what Right Start calls a "part-whole circle" to illustrate the point. Another way of teaching it would be to decompose the 7 into 4 and 3 and then do 34 - 4 = 30 and then 30 - 3 = 27. Either way of solving the problem is acceptable in Singapore. Singapore is big on having the students learn multiple ways of solving problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferLynn Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 We have currently hit a wall here too. I am continuing to use the Base 10 blocks and every few practice sessions try a problem without them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thanks for all the advice. The video was helpful for me to watch because I like the place value materials he used. I am going to try a similiar approach tomorrow. Also I had forgotten all about the extra activities in the HIG so we will be slowing down and just playing with these ideas until I see less stress from her with them. The way that was described above of taking seven away from the 4 and then the other three from 30 is how I would do it so I may explain that way to her too and see how she prefers to do it. Thanks again! So glad to have all the support for singapore as I think it is a great program and don't want to leave it behind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 There is no ONE WAY to do it using Singapore math; however, it is important to work on the re-grouping strategies using Tens for mental math. So I would encourage you to do some problems like 34-7 by thinking of it like: 24+(10-7). This is a mental skill that needs to be mastered before you move forward, as other re-grouping skills and mental math skills build on this basic strategy. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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