Starting to get nervous about teaching Singapore-especially CWP

[Karie]

I've done RS math all the way through E with my son. We did the Singapore workbooks 4A and 4B alongside RS E to get a feel for it. This year, we are just doing Singapore, but I was going to add in IP and CWP. I'm looking at CWP, and I can't figure most of them out-at least not to teach them. I was TERRIBLE at word problems when I was younger, but I went all the way through calculus-don't know how that happened! So, I'm looking at CWP 5, and I'm stumped at some of them. I looked at CWP 4 and those are more doable for me. My son hasn't been so good with word problems in the past, either. I'm debating starting CWP 4 so that BOTH of us can work our way into them.

 

Anyone else have/had some of these fears about teaching Singapore? What do you think about starting CWP 4 first? My son will be in 5A and 5B this year. When we did 4A and 4B, it wasn't that difficult (just those darn CWP problems!)

[nmoira]

Anyone else have/had some of these fears about teaching Singapore? What do you think about starting CWP 4 first? My son will be in 5A and 5B this year. When we did 4A and 4B, it wasn't that difficult (just those darn CWP problems!)

I'd start with CWP 3, working through the examples and the Challenging Problems. You could skip over the measurement topics as the problems as these aren't particularly tricky.

[Karen in CO]

I am doing the CWP 2 with my dd. I have found that it works best for us to work them out together. Often, she will have a better or at least a different idea of how to do them than I do. I think this is better an "teaching" her how to solve the problems. She gets to solve them herself but isn't left struggling if she gets stuck. I let her make mistakes and we work through the math then if she has the wrong answer, we go back and try to find where we went wrong. Doing it together lets me judge how many problems to do that day as I always try to stop before frustration sets in or after a big success.

 

We always start with the worked examples and then work through the problems in order. When they start to become very difficult, we put the CWP aside and work from the IP book or just do our base math book for a while then come back to them. I have found that the challenging problems in the IP are often more difficult than the problems in the CWP.

 

Enjoy.

[Lydia]

Have you been to Singapore's forums? There is a board specifically for asking how to solve problems. The moderator will answer, walking you throught the solution. You can also search for the problem in the forum, because it may have already been discussed.

 

http://www.singaporemaths.com/forums/

 

Singapore (esp 3-6) uses models to solve what are basically algebra story problems that I would normally solve with equations. I do not think I was taught in school how to use models that way, and it took me a little while to get used to it!

 

I assign CW and IP to my girls to do on their own, but there are always some problems that they do not get on their own and that we do together on the blackboard.

 

Best wishes,

Lydia

[Blossom'sGirl]

Oldest ds just finished RS E and is working through Singapore 4B this summer. We have been doing CWP since level 2 and I'm getting pretty good with them. I would approach them as a challenge not an impossibilty. I have an engineering degree and have been stumped by some of the Level 4 problems (without using algebra). As mentioned, the Singapore Forums are great backup. You have to register to get to the forums that answer problems.

 

I also plan on adding IP and the KEY To ... as needed. It seems like so much more work than RS but I think he is ready and needing more practice.

 

I find it rewarding to solve some of the most challenging problems. Many word problems in math are so obvious and that's just not represenative of real life.

[elegantlion]

Also if you haven't joined the yahoo group I would rec that. They are very active and someone was just asking about CWP problems there this morning.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SingaporeMath/

[bkpan]

I had the same question recently and got some great answers. Basically, the posters advised me to start at WP level 2 or 3 with my son, and work through them together, so that we are very familiar with how to solve them using the bar diagrams. That is the key. So, we are quickly going through the earlier levels. They also suggested to do the CWP one level below whatever PM level they are doing.

 

Myrtle was especially helpful. I would link you to those posts, but I don't know how to :blush5:

 

Just do a search for Singapore Word Problems and you'll find LOTS of help. HTH

 

Kim

[Diane]

I will be supplementing with 2A and 2B this year, and my son will be doing grade 3 math...haven't decided on whether to stick with Horizons or move onto another math (was actually thinking about R&S), but I'm definitely starting a year behind with the CWP.