Kathryn Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I thought I bookmarked a thread where people were talking about what they preferred as a lead-in program to Singapore 1A, but I can't find it now. I remember that people didn't like Earlybird. What are your recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarymama Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 What about Essential Math A/B? We used nothing, just kitchen math and play to learn number basics. ETA: We are working on 1A now and it's going great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I used Early Bird with my DS1, and Essentials with DD. IME, in both cases, it was more of something to do. We do a lot of play with base 10, c-rods, etc. We also mix in some Miquon early on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 With DS5 this past year I've used Singapore Earlybird (nearly finished) and RightStart A (just over half-way through). I agree with the pp that Earlybird is mostly just something to do, although it is useful. I prefer RightStart A. I've also read some very positive reviews of MEP maths here (which is free). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I used Early Bird with my DS1, and Essentials with DD. IME, in both cases, it was more of something to do. We do a lot of play with base 10, c-rods, etc. We also mix in some Miquon early on. :iagree: I used EarlyBird with dd8 and Essentials with ds6. I like it fine, but it's not necessary. I combined it with lots of hands-on math play. Each of them was ready to move on to 1A pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 With Emmett, we have been working on some Miquon-esque activities. I did the same with Abby and it worked fine. To be honest, these types of activities happen through play very regularly in our home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 MEP's Reception is great. Boy#3 did this, with some Miquon, and has had no trouble with Singapore 1A/B after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 My 4 year old son used Primary Math Essential Math which he enjoyed. He has not yet started Singapore 1A, so I am using some Miquon with him this summer and fall before we move into Singapore 1A. You may also want to check out MEP Reception level math. That is another one I'm considering after we do Miquon. Although I've only used portions of Level 5 of MEP previously with an older child, I have not had a lot of experience with it at the younger levels. My 4 y.o. is not ready for longer intensive math sessions yet. I want him to play at this level more than anything. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I like Singapore Essentials K A/B.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 MEP reception and Miquon! I liked that much better than Singapore Earlybird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I feel that essentials and standards edition earlybird are good. With my daughter I used the singapore edition (closer to australian maths) of Earlybird. It is nice, simple, and easy. Its a little "too" easy, but runs too fast to rush her ahead. Its kind of hard to explain. But I did/do like it because its simple, easy for me to understand and no-frills (explain further on this below) I purchased the full set of Earlybird Standards Edition (the californian overhaul - one step more from US edition) + Essentials for my son. Although his brain is "there" for maths (actually ahead), his physical need has made me decide to hold it back (he can't really wait for instructions, is too physical, has certain medical problems etc) till next year. What I did notice was with the Earlybirds Standards edition (so not sure if its the same with other editions) was it has both textbook and activity book. In my opinion the activity book is not needed, and really, really :001_huh: confused me. I was unsure how the activity book bits corresponded with the textbook parts, even after checking over the whole of the instructions (and I have now dealt with later grades of Standards Singapore, HIGs + Supplements and had no problem there, it seems to be just the Earlybird Standards). I still like the way stuff is presented in the Earlybirds Standard, so will be using just the Textbook (A) and Essentials next year. So I will be following the "same" (in a round-a-bout way) as I did with my daughter. The SGP edition is meant to be a Pre-K/K 2 yr programme, we do this 1 year behind the levels listed. So he will do Earlybird STD (A) Textbook + Essentials next year for K, and ELYBD STD (B) Textbook + Essentials for Grade 1, with the Normal Standards Edition of Grade 1, Computer Game, Intensive Practice, HIG & Challenging Word Problems for Grade 2. I think the Standards edition of Earlybird is a lot better content-wise compared to the SGP edition (I have not seen the US edition so cannot compare) and I think Essentials is a very good supplement (to me its akin to adding IP & CWP). If I had to choose one, I am guessing I would be on a budget, therefore I would choose Essentials, since its solid and cheaper, and add either something FREE online comparable to miquon starter or MEP to add a nice round program, but Essentials on its own has been used my many people without any problems, if the child is smart/natural enough, doing all Essentials within the pre-k/K year and moving onto normal grades in K/1st would be an option. I probably would of done something akin to this with my daughter (my children seem to have inhereted my math gene) but with the littlies running squawking mad about the place, I simply ran out of time, and everything has to be super scheduled, instead I kept it at the year behind grade level pace, added in Life of Fred Elementary & Maths Lessons for a Living Education as well as living maths books from the library to round it out. Not sure if that helps, but its my personal account of everything, so hopefully you can glean a few helpful tidbits from it :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Miquon math was magical for my child (and me) in giving my son hands-on introduction to the whole-parts math model in Singapore. Using Cuisenaire Rods made math relationships and operations very tangible to him, and the teacher education maters have been invaluable to me. We also used MEP 1A/B for pre-K/K (Recemption was not released then). MEP is fantastic. We also started Earlybird. I did not particularly care for it. Compared with the exciting materials in Miquon and MEP, EB was a drag. We dropped it and moved on to PM 1A/B for pre-K/K. Having the concepts down from "playing" with Miquon-style exercises made the transition to Primary Mathematics very easy. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Thank you for the suggestions! I'd be fine with doing nothing formal, but DS2 already insists that he get written work just like his big brother, so I know that won't go over. We are switching to Singapore from Math-U-See and DS6 and I both like it SO much better that I decided to sell my MUS and I was wondering what we'd do at the "Primer" level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarymama Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 The Essentials workbooks are cheap, so you could use that if he wants something to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Essentials is great and cheap. We used C-rods with it. Just started 1A, and it's been a seamless transition. Book A goes fast, but you can slow down in book B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Essentials is great and cheap. We used C-rods with it. Just started 1A, and it's been a seamless transition. Book A goes fast, but you can slow down in book B. :iagree: We used and enjoyed this. I combined it with Miquon, which was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Patch Academy Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 We use Singapore Earlybird here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyoflearning Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 With DS5 this past year I've used Singapore Earlybird (nearly finished) and RightStart A (just over half-way through). I agree with the pp that Earlybird is mostly just something to do, although it is useful. I prefer RightStart A. I've also read some very positive reviews of MEP maths here (which is free). :iagree: Exactly this! We did RS A with DD (5) supplementing with Singapore Earlybird. All dd's learning came from Rightstart and Earlybird was just something for her to do because she prefered the worksheets. RS A gave her a wonderful foundation. We didn't start 1A until we started RS B. We should have started 1A half way through RS A because now that we're in RS B, she could probably just skip to 1B. For a child who understood word problems and addition, but counted and didn't know number bonds, RSA was brilliant in teaching her the skills she needed (number bonds, place value, skip counting, etc..) I thought Singapore was fine, but I was a little disappointed it encouraged counting rather than focusing more on grouping in the books I've used. I'm guessing there's more focus on grouping later in Singapore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I just don't like workbooks for the under 6 crowd. It doesn't matter what we've tried I just can't get past the idea. I must have been indoctrinated from all our co-ops. Miquon has been best for us at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heritagelearningacademy Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I have a 5 year old doing Kindergarten Essentials because she too wanted something to do. She likes workbooks. I don't mind. It makes her happy and she likes it. The other thing we are doing is just practicing writing her numbers. I have a grid box and we write 1-20. We will add 10 every couple of weeks. We do this 2 times a week. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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