Scheduling Singapore Discovering Mathematics

[amsunshine]

I'm looking for ideas regarding scheduling lessons for Discovering Mathematics 7A/7B from those who have used it. For example, where have you fit in the workbook exercises? Piecemeal as you go through the chapter sections? Or do you wait until the end of the chapter to do the workbook?

 

Also, a few of the later lessons are fairly long (i.e., parts A, B, C and D) -- has anyone split these up? What has worked for you?

 

Thanks!

[Matryoshka]

My dd typically went through a section a day in the text, and then a day for the review at the end. As long as she seemed to grasp the concept well, I often did not have her do all of the problems in a set, but made sure she did the more difficult ones (I figured if she could do those, she could do the easier ones).

 

The workbook goes by chapter, not section. We did the workbook problems, which are quite a bit more challenging than what's in the text and mix concepts from the entire chapter, after the chapter in the text was completed. There are four sets. The first set is about the level of the text - I stopped assigning those; I'd say they would be useful if the student needed more review to nail the concept. Then I assigned the problems in the last three sections over 3-4 days. I usually picked problems from the second section - they are challenging and there are a lot of them. I think there are only 5 problems or so in each of the last two sections; I think I had her do most of those, but not always. If memory serves (it was a couple of years ago) I think I had her do selected problems from the second section over two days, then one day each for each of the remaining two workbook sections.

[amsunshine]

Thanks so much! It makes sense to take a few days for the workbook problems after the chapter is completed. I had counted up all the sections in the text(s), and it seemed there wasn't enough material for a whole year that way. With the extra days doing the workbook, I think the year will be rounded out.

[Matryoshka]

Thanks so much! It makes sense to take a few days for the workbook problems after the chapter is completed. I had counted up all the sections in the text(s), and it seemed there wasn't enough material for a whole year that way. With the extra days doing the workbook, I think the year will be rounded out.

 

Yes, adding in the workbook like that made it fill out the year just right. I also gave chapter tests - I bought the test bank and made them myself.

[Crimson Wife]

I usually take a day to teach the lesson and work through the "Try it Now!" problems. Then one day for the "basic practice" and "further practice", and another day for the "maths @ work" and "brainworks" problems. One day for the "revision" exercise. The workbook I do one day per section and staggered a chapter or two behind the main text as a review.

[yvonne]

I just have my boys do an hour a day, working through the text. After they finish a chapter, they do the workbook exercises.

 

They have their own timers which they set (& pause if they go off to pet the cat, etc.) They are pretty diligent about working for an hour, so a time-based approach, vs a set number of exercises or pages, is working for us.

[amsunshine]

These are all really helpful ideas -- thanks so much. I had forgotten about the test banks. The new level 7 Common Core books don't have a test bank yet, so I'll have to see if any of the old editions are still available somewhere. I'm sure I could line up the topics fairly easily from the old to the new edition. Until then, I might just have to use the review exercises as tests, or maybe some workbook problems. We'll see.