Singapore 1A not clicking for DD - suggestions??

[mamato3]

My DD really enjoyed the singapore early bird books, and I really want to like the approach, but 1A is just not clicking for her. number bonds, addition, subtraction in particular. I feel like they make these concepts perhaps more complicated than they need to be. Should I stick with it in hopes that she'll have a deeper understanding in the long run, or switch programs?

 

any suggestions of what to try?

 

thanks!

[Bree]

Have you tried to use manipulatives to help her see the concepts? I know those help my dd like draw 2 trees and use cheerios and show how many ways you can make 10's. I'll use coins to help count also or draw a number line. I usually use Horizons between the EB books and 1A because it helps to cement the numbers 1-100 and adding and subtracting with the number line. MUS is also a great program and their blocks are nice to use to help with addition and subtraction.

[Dassah]

How old is she? Could she be too young?

[mamato3]

she just turned 6. I don't think she's too young.

[boscopup]

Are you using the HIG?

What manipulatives are you using with it?

Are you letting her use the manipulatives while working the exercises?

[ErinE]

It might be an issue of maturity. My dd had just turned 6 when she started Singapore 1A. She used c-rods with every problem. From my perspective, her understanding seemed fine until she was in 1B and working on two-digit addition. I realized she wasn't quite grasping the concepts. Even using c-rods, she was still struggling. Just pulling out the workbook was causing her to tear up, and I knew things needed to change before she ended up hating math.

 

Since we travel quite a bit, I had purchased Math Mammoth to cut down on the books we haul around. I backed her up to MM 1A and with time and repetition, I've found her skills greatly improved. I don't think the problem was with SM; I think dd just needed a few months to really understand number bonds, fact families, addition, and subtraction. The SM workbook tends to rush through fact families since the HIG expects the teacher to drill facts independently. This is a case where playing games, using c-rods, and taking a break from doing the next thing can really help.

 

Had I not switched curriculum for other reasons, I would have set aside SM for some time and just played with c-rods, teaching fact families and showing how addition and subtraction are related. Spending quality time on these concepts has spilled over into other areas. She adding and subtracting higher levels of place value (even though we haven't covered multi-digit addition) and she's adding coin combinations that I haven't taught her. She's excited about math again, and I think it's directly attributable to understanding number relationships.

 

Working on 4+_=5, 1+_=5, 5-_=1, and 5-_=4 can seem very boring for you as the parent, and there were times I was concerned she would never get the concept. But for dd, it just took time "playing" with the numbers to make that leap.

[6wildhorses]

I just had this issue with my daughter as well with the same books. I put the books away for a few weeks and focused on making math more real to her. We did math problems with everyday objects (food, toys, and talking about adding and subtracting family members were all hits). She made up math problems on a white board and enjoyed that. Sometimes she drew pictures but mostly she used numerals. I helped her to see that math is already part of her life. After a few weeks of this I pulled the books back out, and she was ready to do them. She is even caught up in the books to where I expected her to be had we not taken a break.

[alisoncooks]

...I feel like they make these concepts perhaps more complicated than they need to be....

 

That's funny because I felt the way that they approached these concepts made SO MUCH SENSE! :p For us, beginning with the number bonds and really emphasizing the connection between those numbers made learning addition and subtraction facts so much easier.

 

I don't have any suggestions to make but here's what we do for each lesson:

• always use the teaching ideas in the HIG
  
• often use the game/Enhancement ideas in the HIG
  
• do much of our teaching/discussion time with manipulatives and writing on the whiteboard
  
• we do the workbook pages together (DD does the work, but I sit with her and talk her through it)
  

 

(You may be doing all this and more, IDK...:) I hope you guys figure it out!

[Dinsfamily]

I agree with the others on using manipulatives. My dc haven't struggled with 1A, but we do a lot of activities to reinforce number bonds including using C-Rods and playing with a little number bond set I made. I did more work with ds6 because math isn't as natural to him and am finding that 1B is a piece of cake because of that. I think all of that number bond work is really paying off.

 

I don't own the HIGs for 1A and 1B, but would buy them if my dc were struggling and I didn't know what to do about it.

[tabrizia]

We backed up when I wasn't sure DS was understanding 1A and went with Math Mammoth Addition and Subtraction units, it helped cement the ideas in DS' brain and we are moving back to Singapore next week.

[pitterpatter]

If you're following the schedule in the HIG, you may be moving too fast. A couple of days or a week per subject just may not be enough for the concepts to take hold.

 

Also, I recommend buying a pack of Cuisenaire Rods and then visiting educationunboxed.com to learn how to use them. Play the basic games until your DD can use them fluently. After that, start again with number bonds using the rods this time. Continue to play the games. Ease into addition and then subtraction. Make sure you do the mental math sheets in the back of the HIG and practice math facts a little every day. You can do this with flash cards, C-Rods and little games...just five minutes or so a day. I think you'll see progress.

 

Also, you may wish to buy the extra practice book. There's also the intensive practice and challenging word problems books. I also bought the ones on process skills (I really like this one), speed math strategies and math sprints.

 

Even though DD was doing well with 1A, she got a little hung up when we hit addition/subtraction within 20. I decided then to ditch Singapore's fast-paced schedule. I went back and incorporated the C-Rods and took more time to work on math facts. As well as she did before, she's doing light years better now. We now use pretty much all of the supplemental books and I feel she is getting a much more complete math education for it. I like having the extra practice book. That way, DD can complete the workbook using the methods indicated and then use the extra practice book with C-Rods on another day.

 

SM can definitely be overwhelming when trying to schedule it all.

[alisoncooks]

If you're following the schedule in the HIG, you may be moving too fast. A couple of days or a week per subject just may not be enough for the concepts to take hold.

 

:iagree:

We started SM our first week of school. We're on week 10 of school (I think) but we are AT LEAST 2 weeks behind in SM. I've been stretching some units out longer and spending more time playing the games. (Also, sometimes they have several pages in the workbook on a day, and DD can't handle that.)

[mathnerd]

I teach Miquon math Orange book in parallel with 1A. Along with heavy usage of Cuisenaire rods. My son loves hands-on math to such an extent that we use things like cheerios, m&ms etc to make number bonds and work out small addition and subtraction problems. I suggest trying to make the effort more hands-on than just a workbook/textbook kind of experience. Also, we use SM Challenging word problems, SM Intensive practice in addition to the workbook so that we fully comprehend and run through a single topic in great detail before moving on to the next thing. That helps greatly in mastery of concepts before moving on to more challenging stuff. We are not in a hurry to get anywhere, because at this age, our goal for DS is to be able to approach a concept, understand it and solve a related problem without hesitation or trepidation.

So, please try introducing manipulatives and see how it goes. As for number bonds, my DS was confused on which order to write the number in a bond in case of subtraction - I told him that a number bond looked like a tree with one root and many branches - and that the branches together would be equal to the root of the tree and never greater in value than the root. He got it immediately.

[EppieJ]

She may just not be developmentally ready for 1A. I would agree with other posters that maybe you try setting it aside for a few weeks and play math games with her to solidify concepts and keep already learned skills in practice. My ds was that way with reading. He knew his letters/letter sounds for almost a year before he was ready to put them together.

 

Also, at least in our school district, Singapore tends to run a little ahead in that 1A/B work actually coincides more with 2nd grade than 1st. We used Singapore up thru 4A (5th grade) then switched to Teaching Textbooks which seems to be a better fit for us. Ds is slightly ahead of grade level with Pre-Algebra/Algebra concepts in 6th grade (we also use the Kumon math program). If you decide to go with something different, you could try TT but be sure to give her the placement test to determine the appropriate starting place.

 

Personally, since Singapore has worked well up to this point, I would just set it aside for now and give her a chance to develop a little more before continuing.

[justLisa]

We kept moving on. I don't think DD got the numbers over 10 thing in 1A at all at the time. Now we are in 2A and she gets it.

 

Though I do pull out MM sheets here and there. There are many tricks to adding and subtracting, and I don't force them to use one certain way. The number bond idea is important, but I wouldn't sit too long on it before moving on. Age plays a big role here as well

[thebacabunch]

:iagree:

We started SM our first week of school. We're on week 10 of school (I think) but we are AT LEAST 2 weeks behind in SM. I've been stretching some units out longer and spending more time playing the games. (Also, sometimes they have several pages in the workbook on a day, and DD can't handle that.)

 

We have the same experience. What I find is that we will be slogged down for awhile and then we will move onto another section that is really easy and we catch up.

[besroma]

I would consider doing it along with Miquon Orange using c-rods, and adding Visible Thinking in Mathematics 1A to see if those help.

[Laura Corin]

We did some fun games to cement the number bonds. I chose the relevant sections from this website and really helped Hobbes to get the idea.

 

You are laying the foundation for solid understanding in maths, so number bonds really are key.

 

Laura

[sweetpea3829]

I say stick it out for awhile longer.

 

I, too, felt like the number bonds and the mental math strategies were overcomplicating addition and subtraction.

 

Just two weeks ago, in fact, I posted a similar post to yours.

 

Well now, DS5 is able to rapidly add and subtract within 20, in his head, and the week of tears we had is so much worth it. Stick it out just a bit longer.

[swainsonshawk]

We had a hard time with 1A this time around, too. This is my 4th time through singapore 1A. I have switched so many times and I have learned that although this math program isn't perfect (none are), I know it is the best one for ME. My best advice is when it gets hard and the child doesn't understand or it's moving too quickly, to stop and do something else for a while, Review something, do some practice problems from another curriculum (miquon, math mammoth, internet worksheets, I make up problems sometimes), drop math workbook for a while and play games, but just don't keep pushing on.

 

It has taken my daughter about 1 year to make it through Singapore 1A and now her math understanding is such that she is taking off! She should be able to finish 1B this year and move into 2A (she's a second grader). Hopefully we won't have to take long breaks again, but I am willing if she gets "stuck" again.

 

You may want to switch and you may find something you like better. But you may want to stick it out, too and figure out a way to diverge and wait for the understanding to come. Good Luck!

 

Becky

[6wildhorses]

I made a fun game for the problems that require the student to figure out different ways of splitting numbers. (For instance the number on the pins have to equal 8 or the numbers bond for 10 where you have to write in the missing numbers.) I made 2 bird cages and the number of birds total in the problem (you can use stickers or print them). We started with all the birds in one cage, and my daughter moved them over 1 at a time. So if the total is suppose to be 8, then we started with 0 + 8, then moved a bird to make 1 + 7, then moved another bird to make 2 + 6, and so on. We also did this with dog houses and dogs. She enjoyed it, and it really helped her understanding. Like someone else mentioned I also skipped to the back of the book to help her feel more comfortable with the books. Some of the things in the back are easy, and my daughter enjoyed coloring the shapes and such. It was a nice way for her to ease into the books a bit. Also, like someone else said Singapore books end up being a year ahead of other texts, so it's really okay to slow it down and add in more hands-on when needed. Your child will have a better understanding of math in the long run and won't be behind peers.