Cruising along with math and the *BAM * aka Singapore 3B

[Elizabeth in MN]

My daughter is a bit behind in math. She just started the 3B book and complained about all the metric "stuff". I looked at the book and there is a lot of metric work in it. I thought I had been using the US version but I guess not? Anyway, it looks like it's mostly metrics until we hit fractions. My inclination, since she is so far behind, is to skip all the metric work since we live in a non-metric country and go ahead until we hit the fractions.

 

My worry is now that there will be lots of metrics work on the books. I had planned on sticking with the Singapore stuff all the way because it's the best math program for my DD (she hates reviews and gets nothing from them - once she has done something she gets it).

 

Advice?

[wapiti]

I haven't used SM 3B, but I generally would not skip metric work. It doesn't matter that you're in the US - they need it anyway. If your student is struggling with it, I don't think there's anything wrong with putting it off until 4th grade or so, but I would not skip it without coming back to it later.

[KirstenH]

You want to do the metric stuff. It's the world standard and all of the sciences use it extensively.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My daughter is a bit behind in math. She just started the 3B book and complained about all the metric "stuff". I looked at the book and there is a lot of metric work in it. I thought I had been using the US version but I guess not? Anyway, it looks like it's mostly metrics until we hit fractions. My inclination, since she is so far behind, is to skip all the metric work since we live in a non-metric country and go ahead until we hit the fractions.

 

My worry is now that there will be lots of metrics work on the books. I had planned on sticking with the Singapore stuff all the way because it's the best math program for my DD (she hates reviews and gets nothing from them - once she has done something she gets it).

 

Advice?

 

Is the work with metric used as a prep for regrouping? IE, 10 ones = 1 ten or 10 tens = 1 hundred. I ask because in Saxon, a lot of the work with money such as pretending to buy and sell things in a store lays the ground work for addition and subtraction with regrouping. The practice of changing pennies into dimes into dollars translates into regrouping numbers.

 

It could also be a basis for working with decimals.

 

It might be worth looking ahead and seeing if there is a similar raison d'etre for the metric work in Singapore.

[Lucy the Valiant]

We just worked through that section, and honestly, it's as much about adding and subtracting inequalities as it is about metric. (2 kg 305 g - 1 kg 505 g = __________ ).

 

So maybe if you skip the metrics, substitute the English measurements?

[amsunshine]

I would not skip metric work -- metrics are standard measurements used in science, regardless of where you live. Your dc need to know the metric system.

 

We use the California standards version of Singapore, so I'm not familiar with the difference between the U.S. version and the California version. In the California version, both metric and customary measurements are taught.

[Matryoshka]

I would not skip metric work -- metrics are standard measurements used in science, regardless of where you live. Your dc need to know the metric system.

 

:iagree: And heck, it's so much easier than US measurements, which make no darn sense. You're projecting your unfamiliarity with the system on to them - if you're learning them from scratch, metric is a piece of cake compared to wacky US stuff (12 inches in a foot, but 16 oz. in a pound, and 5,280 feet in a mile. What sadist came up with this stuff??). My kids made small moans about the metric conversions, but they hollered when they got to the US measurements, and after that would happily have done nothing but metric!

 

We use the California standards version of Singapore, so I'm not familiar with the difference between the U.S. version and the California version. In the California version, both metric and customary measurements are taught.

 

The US Edition is the Singapore 3rd Edition with US measurement (and money) added. So, all the metric is there, and then there's a US section tacked on to the end of the unit.

 

I'm not sure if the California edition is more balanced to the US system or not. Personally, I prefer much more metric. Metric is what's used in science and engineering, even in the US.

[Elizabeth in MN]

Okay, sticking with metrics! My dd is theoretically in sixth grade, but we had some problems with her in the math department.

[MrsH]

We just finished 3B ourselves, and I agreed that it looked VERY metric-heavy, but like others, my dd complained much more likely about the US measurements!!

 

We did end up skipping the sections on volume because we were just so measured out by that point. We'll get back to it though, either through ixl.com or by actually going back in the book. At least for metric, it really doesn't matter too much what you're measuring, the system is the same. And, metric volume gets covered in science, while US volume is covered when she's following recipes.

 

Good luck, whatever you decide!

[mumto2]

I think 3a and 3b are the Singapore lessons on khanacademy. You might want to use those as you do the book.