Jump to content

Menu

Asian math?


luciana11tx
 Share

Recommended Posts

We used Singapore Maths 3rd Edition, which is exactly what used to be used in Singapore's schools. It's important to realise that the schools also do a lot of fact drill once the underlying logic and processes are understood. I confirmed this by talking to a teacher at the Singapore International School in Hong Kong.

 

FWIW when I lived in Asia I saw children working long hours, going to extra classes after school and at weekends. A lot of the success of students in Asia is to do with cultural expectations and extra tutoring, not just curricula.

 

Laura

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right Start Mathematics

Singapore New Syllabus Primary Mathematics

Tokyo Shoseki

Kyoiku Dojinsha (if anyone has seen this, I'm :bigear:)

 

MEP is technically Hungarian, but it is conceptual like the Asian-based programs.

 

I'm so confused by all of the editions of Singapore....is the one you linked different than the standards edition sold at Rainbow Resource?

 

Are there pros/cons to different editions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When most people talk about "Singapore Math", they mean the original Primary Mathematics series. That is based on the pre-2001 syllabus.

 

There are 3 versions of PM: the original 3rd edition with Singaporean money & metric only, the U.S. edition with U.S. money and both metric & Imperial measurement, and the Standards edition with a slightly different scope & sequence to match the CA math standards. Most people who are buying new choose the SE because it has more content and much better Home Instructor's Guides. If you buy used, the U.S. edition is often more easily found since it has been around longer.

 

Math in Focus is an Americanization of one of the post-2001 syllabus programs. New Primary Mathematics is one of the others. You may have difficulty finding them used since they aren't that popular.

 

If you do a search on the forums for MiF vs. Singapore, you'll find a whole bunch of threads discussing the differences.

 

Right Start was developed by a Montessori teacher and is much more "hands-on" than Singapore & MiF.

 

Tokyo Shoseki and Kyoiku Dojinsha are Japanese programs that I don't know that much about (particularly the latter since I've never encountered anyone online or IRL who has actually seen it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tokyo Shoseki and Kyoiku Dojinsha are Japanese programs that I don't know that much about (particularly the latter since I've never encountered anyone online or IRL who has actually seen it).

 

We used the Tokyo Shoseki textbooks and the corresponding Kyoiku Dojinsha workbooks. They work together just like Primary Mathematics Textbooks and Workbooks.

 

We only used Level One, as there are only so many hours in a day and we had a lot of materials in our math mix.

 

The Japanese math books are very colorful and interesting. I liked the inclusion of geometry elements in Level One. The downside (from my perspective) was that there was very little parent/teacher support for home education—unlike Singapore Math.

 

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is Kumon considered "Asian math" or rather just "a math program from Asia"?

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought Kumon is just a supplemental, in-person tutoring program that is heavy on drill and kill, rather than a regular math curriculum the way we think of SM, etc. I would assume that Kumon is not "Asian" conceptual math, though I don't really know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some good reading. Also, has anyone recommended Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics? If not, consider it heartily recommended. :D (If so, consider it seconded. :tongue_smilie:)

 

I like the Singapore Standards Edition (yes, also sold at Rainbow Resource). The HIG is outstanding. :001_smile:

Edited by Alte Veste Academy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When most people talk about "Singapore Math", they mean the original Primary Mathematics series. That is based on the pre-2001 syllabus.

 

There are 3 versions of PM: the original 3rd edition with Singaporean money & metric only, the U.S. edition with U.S. money and both metric & Imperial measurement, and the Standards edition with a slightly different scope & sequence to match the CA math standards. Most people who are buying new choose the SE because it has more content and much better Home Instructor's Guides. If you buy used, the U.S. edition is often more easily found since it has been around longer.

 

See, now, because of the bolded, I assume most people are talking about the SE when people talk about SM, unless they specify otherwise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We used Singapore Maths 3rd Edition, which is exactly what used to be used in Singapore's schools. It's important to realise that the schools also do a lot of fact drill once the underlying logic and processes are understood. I confirmed this by talking to a teacher at the Singapore International School in Hong Kong.

 

FWIW when I lived in Asia I saw children working long hours, going to extra classes after school and at weekends. A lot of the success of students in Asia is to do with cultural expectations and extra tutoring, not just curricula.

 

Laura

 

Is Kumon considered "Asian math" or rather just "a math program from Asia"?

Kumon would be the fact drill or the extra classes that Laura is talking about. :)

 

Mandy, long time Kumon parent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We use Kumon for the drill and kill stuff as well. Especially multiplication and division. Otherwise we use Singapore standards ed. It is fantastic!!! A lot of classical leaning homeschoolers do a more asian style math without realizing it. I know we do Singapore, kumon (drill and kill), math games, math literature, logic puzzles, LoF, flashcards, and lapbooking (yes, we do have math lapbooks, heehee). We don't do everything everyday. We do Singapore every day. We do life of fred 4 days a week. We do Kumon and flashcards as needed. We play math games a few times a week (like yahtzee, uno, pizza fraction fun, or bouncing a ball back and while memorizing times tables). We read books like math potatoes about once a week. We do a logic puzzle a day and get the kids ds games that are logic based. We lapbook new math definitions, tables, and math tricks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When most people talk about "Singapore Math", they mean the original Primary Mathematics series. That is based on the pre-2001 syllabus.

 

There are 3 versions of PM: the original 3rd edition with Singaporean money & metric only, the U.S. edition with U.S. money and both metric & Imperial measurement, and the Standards edition with a slightly different scope & sequence to match the CA math standards. Most people who are buying new choose the SE because it has more content and much better Home Instructor's Guides. If you buy used, the U.S. edition is often more easily found since it has been around longer.

 

Math in Focus is an Americanization of one of the post-2001 syllabus programs. New Primary Mathematics is one of the others. You may have difficulty finding them used since they aren't that popular.

 

If you do a search on the forums for MiF vs. Singapore, you'll find a whole bunch of threads discussing the differences.

 

Right Start was developed by a Montessori teacher and is much more "hands-on" than Singapore & MiF.

 

Tokyo Shoseki and Kyoiku Dojinsha are Japanese programs that I don't know that much about (particularly the latter since I've never encountered anyone online or IRL who has actually seen it).

 

I started off having my son use the first grade SM textbook, WB, IP, and Home Instructor Guide. I was looking for additional manipulatives besides the abacus from RS and c-rods, just because I love math and wanted to mix it up. I found several threads about Japanese Math and Math Kit A manipulatives, which are adorable. Think Hello Kitty with yellow and white magnets and a ten frame, little flashcards on rings, a magnetic board and magnet flowers. The go along with the first grade math book (Tokyo Shoseki) and the workbook (Kyoiku). There is also a free guide that is like the SM home instructors guide.

 

My son and I both prefer Japanese Math to Singapore. I have him do SM because SM will be our spine and there is no Home instructors guide for Japanese Math. I can only comment on first grade but the Japanese textbook and workbook have better pictures to explain the concepts. My son loves the colorful cartoon drawings. There is a little creature that looks like a fairy that explains important concepts. The concepts are the same as in SM but I think they are visually presented in a better way in JM. For example in the unit on making a ten in SM 1A, the student circles random objects to make a ten. My son kept on wanting to count the balls or sticks instead of grouping by ten because he said what's the point in stopping counting at ten if you can count a few more and find the answer. Once ten balls were circled he couldn't see that there were ten without counting. In Japanese math the picture was of a tray that holds ten yellow square magnets, which is identical to the manipulative from the math kit. If there were eight magnets in the tray, it is easy to see two are missing and you would take two from the other number. I was about to order second grade JM, but the new edition of Tokyo textbook is in a PDF format you download. I don't want to have to print it in color and bind it. I do plan on buying the JM textbooks (Kyoiku), which are available in a workbook.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...