poetic license Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I don't have experience with the full Singapore Math up to level 6, only 1A/B and the little I have previewed of 2A/2B. It seems that the workbook, IP, and CWP all together would not be enough to master the facts for each level. So for example, 1A/1B expects mental addition and subtraction with/without renaming within 100, but the texts are not enough practice to master that. How much extra fact practice do you do outside of the texts, and in what form? Do you actually expect the student to "master" the given facts each year or just keep moving forward with the concepts and keep working on facts as you go along? I'm trying to keep a balance between the two, and so I'm wondering what other people do. With 1B for example, it's seems like it would take a long time to master mental addition and subtraction within 100 (I'm using "master" to mean doing it quickly and correctly, without having to think too long to figure the problem out). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Between the text, workbook, mental math (in the HIG) and HIG games, I don't think I'll need to add anything for addition/subtraction *facts*. Now I don't know about mental addition/subtraction later on, but that's just going to be dependent on how easily your child picks it up. I haven't had to add anything to Singapore for my middle child yet, but we're still early in 1A. He has most of the addition facts down, and we haven't even started the mental math sheets yet. My older child does mental math pretty easily without a lot of drill. That's just how he is. Just using the IP is enough drill for him, and we don't use all the problems. So I guess the question would be... How much practice/drill does YOUR child need? And are you using the HIG? I see a lot of people say they don't use the HIG and then they complain about lack of practice/drill, when it's in the HIG, so make sure you're using that if you think your child needs more practice (obviously, some kids need more than what's in the HIG also). For my oldest child, TB/WB/IP/CWP is MORE than enough. We don't even do all the problems in IP - mostly just skip to the challenge sections. Same goes for CWP. TB/WB is plenty for him to understand and have everything down pat, but he learns math easily. Another child may need tons of practice in addition to all those books. Just do whatever your child needs. There's certainly plenty of problems there to practice with, and if you still need more, math-drills.com has good free drill sheets. I used that when DS1 needed to get more solid on his multiplication facts (he was using MM at the time, which has tons of problems - we just needed to drill a table at a time to hit the few he hadn't picked up yet). You CAN move on without facts memorized. Just keep working them until they are. Addition/subtraction facts are used in multiplication/division problems, so as you move on, you're still using those skills. I didn't have to work addition/subtraction with DS1, but I did have to work multiplication a little bit before we did long division. I suspect DS2 will be the same way (even though he's a VERY different learner). DS3 probably won't need any work at all, because DS1 is teaching him multiplication tables right now at age 3 (though he has no clue what multiplication is). :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 How much practice/drill does YOUR child need? And are you using the HIG? I see a lot of people say they don't use the HIG and then they complain about lack of practice/drill, when it's in the HIG, so make sure you're using that if you think your child needs more practice (obviously, some kids need more than what's in the HIG also). :iagree:and it drives me bonkers (not suggesting this is the case for you, OP :D). There is plenty of practice in SM. Plenty. More than enough for the average child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Agreeing about the HIG as well. The mental math drills in the HIG combined with the rest are plenty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetic license Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 We're having a hangup on two digit addition and subtraction with renaming... it's taking more than the HIG mental math practice plus the workbooks/ip/cwp to get DS to solve those quickly. He can work through them conceptually, but from what I understood, SM expects you to be able to solve each problem within a few seconds, right? We're using Maria Miller's online worksheet generator to practice each day for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 We have not added any. We actually skip some of the textbook practice because it is too much at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 We're having a hangup on two digit addition and subtraction with renaming... it's taking more than the HIG mental math practice plus the workbooks/ip/cwp to get DS to solve those quickly. He can work through them conceptually, but from what I understood, SM expects you to be able to solve each problem within a few seconds, right? We're using Maria Miller's online worksheet generator to practice each day for now. I'd keep going in the TB/WB/etc., and just continue to practice a few of these daily. I don't expect mental math to be quick as soon as they learn it. It's a process. If they are already quick, they probably don't need the drill. ;) Honestly, if my child can do the math in their head in any reasonable amount of time, I'm good with that. I don't expect it to be done in a particular amount of time. As they get better at it, it will get quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 We used flashcards in the younger grades or anytime she seemed to be pausing too often or for too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Count us in the camp as those you don't use the HIGs. But I have several reasons for this. (1) I have the Parker and Baldridge books (much less costly and teaches teachers how to use SM in classrooms). (2) I'm a professor in a math related field so I have a good grasp on the subject. (3) The girls do SM while I'm on campus - DH is a SAH and not mathy at all, so there's no way he'd use the HIGs. For extra practice, the girls also do 1 line every day from addition/subtraction/division/multiplication drill books (so 4 lines total each day, we use the Math Fluency series). Mental math is often done with the CWP/IP (they usually wait until I get home because DH doesn't quite get the SM approach), LOF, BA (on my days at home), math games (e.g., Zeus on the Loose, Snap It Up, etc.), and on random questions throughout the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 That reminds me--recently we've been using Mathematical Reasoning workbooks for drill/review. We still use the HIG, though. We do lots of math. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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