Purchase the Singapore Textbook, or not?

[sweetpea3829]

More planning for curriculum for next year. We're sticking with Singapore for DS6 who is accelerated in math. He will be starting Singapore 2. Throughout Singapore 1, we have barely cracked open the textbook, though we have used the workbook, Extra Practice and CWP books quite frequently.

 

What says the great hive mind? Buy the level 2a and 2b textbooks, or save the money?

[sweetpea3829]

So it is more necessary for 2A and 2B, then? Poo....I was hoping to trim our budget a bit by cutting it out...lol.

[Greenmama2]

Skip the textbook and buy the HIG instead. There is a lot of extra, meatier stuff in there. We hardly touch the textbook either, my dd prefers the b&w format of the workbooks.

[boscopup]

I would skip the Extra Practice book. It's at the same level as the workbook (easy). Do the textbook instead, which is a bit harder than the workbook.

 

Also, as you get up in levels (I haven't used 2A/2B yet, but started at 4A and am in 5B now), teaching from the HIG alone isn't as easy, because they don't tell you what the problems are. You need the textbook for those. I do wish they'd stick the problems in the HIG. Also, in 4A and up, there are Practice sections that, again, are harder than the workbook. So at least by then, I would recommend the textbook... Plus in all levels, the *pictorial* portion of the teaching is in the textbook, so you're missing a big piece of the program by skipping it.

 

I'm currently doing HIG/TB/WB with my K'er (in 1B). I already have CWP2 and IP2A/2B, though I'll probably just use CWP2 and not bother with IP. I will continue to use HIG/TB/WB.

[sweetpea3829]

Thanks everyone!!!

[UrbanSue]

If I were going to skip one, I'd skip the workbook, not the textbook. If all you've needed is the amount of practice in the workbook, you can get that same amount with textbook problems and just solve them on a whiteboard.

 

Also, for an accelerated kid, you might look at the IP book rather than the workbook or rather than the EP. It only comes in the US edition but it lines up fine.

[Dana]

I agree strongly with UrbanSue about using IP rather than EP.

The EP books don't have much practice and are at the workbook level of challenge.

 

The workbook doesn't have as much practice as the text does in upper levels (we're finishing up 5B now).

If I were going absolute bare minimum, I'd have text, IP, CWP.

 

Personally, I also really like the HiG and find the occasional idea I find helpful in teaching - and I teach math at the community college, so it's not like I don't know the material. There's some good stuff in there. The bar model approach was really weird at first, but I think it's amazingly nifty and a great bridge to algebra. (The Heuristic Model books are great for learning about the bar models. Don't know if they've pulled some of that into the new CWP.)

[Five More Minutes]

I would skip the Extra Practice book. It's at the same level as the workbook (easy). Do the textbook instead, which is a bit harder than the workbook.

Agreed! The EP books are definitely easy, and in our limited experience (we quit EP halfway through Level 1) they were easier than the workbook. Good for reinforcing concepts for kids who are finding the lessons challenging; not such a great fit for accelerated kids.

 

I find I'm using the textbook a lot more with 2A/2B than I did in 1A/1B, although we by no means do every problem in it. We use HIG/Text/Workbook and CWP/IP a half-level behind for review. If I really wanted to streamline and accelerate, I'd probably go with HIG/Text/IP/CWP.

[blondeviolin]

We're doing 2a and 2b with my girl. The text problems definitely are harder than the workbook. I wouldn't skip the text at all.

[Esse Quam Videri]

We always buy the textbook but almost never use it. We do love the IPs though.

[sweetpea3829]

I think I confused the EP with the IP. We have IP, not EP. I didn't even realize there was an EP book...lol. I find the IP books give him a bit of a challenge, and he needs that, because the rest of it, he just blows right through.

 

I do like the CWP books, too, but I wish there were MORE word problems. We also have used the other books sold on the Singapore site...the Express Strategies (which I probably won't buy again, but haven't decided for sure) and I can't think of the others now...lol.

[Crimson Wife]

I would drop the workbook before the textbook for a bright child. Level 1 is my least favorite of the Singapore PM levels and it's not representative of the challenge level in the higher grades.

[Mama2two]

I would skip the Extra Practice book. It's at the same level as the workbook (easy). Do the textbook instead, which is a bit harder than the workbook.

 

Also, as you get up in levels (I haven't used 2A/2B yet, but started at 4A and am in 5B now), teaching from the HIG alone isn't as easy, because they don't tell you what the problems are. You need the textbook for those. I do wish they'd stick the problems in the HIG. Also, in 4A and up, there are Practice sections that, again, are harder than the workbook. So at least by then, I would recommend the textbook... Plus in all levels, the *pictorial* portion of the teaching is in the textbook, so you're missing a big piece of the program by skipping it.

 

I'm currently doing HIG/TB/WB with my K'er (in 1B). I already have CWP2 and IP2A/2B, though I'll probably just use CWP2 and not bother with IP. I will continue to use HIG/TB/WB.

 

This is good to know, I had no idea the textbook was harder. We rarely use it. (Kids almost done with 2B and 3B). Do you just teach out out of the textbook?

[amsunshine]

I would definitely not skip the textbook, and if anything, skip the workbook and the EP. However, I would keep the IP. It's too good to pass up. Also, I liked the HIGs for mental math drills and the challenge problems in the appendix.

 

Personally, we don't skip the workbook, though. We just add in the IP after the workbook exercises are done. My dds are currently in DM 7a and SM 5b.

[UrbanSue]

 

This is good to know, I had no idea the textbook was harder. We rarely use it. (Kids almost done with 2B and 3B). Do you just teach out out of the textbook?

 

 

We do. My ds does not need a lot of repetition so we do problems from the TB mentally or on a whiteboard. I use the workbooks with dd6 because she just loves math and love workbooks and would be flying through levels if I didn't give her a huge volume of work but she doesn't really need the extra practice of the workbook either.

[boscopup]

 

This is good to know, I had no idea the textbook was harder. We rarely use it. (Kids almost done with 2B and 3B). Do you just teach out out of the textbook?

 

I look in the HIG to see how to teach the concept (the Singapore way), then I go over the textbook info with the kid, doing problems orally or at the white board (most can be done orally). Then I send him off to do the workbook (or in my 6 year old's case, I sit next to him and read each problem to him and/or occasionally scribe, though I don't have to do that much).

[sweetpea3829]

What I do actually just changed, as the material in 1B was finally a bit more challenging for him. Prior, we just briefly reviewed the concept on the whiteboard and then I'd give him WB pages, IP pages, CWP pages and stuff from the Fan Learning, and Express Math books. But those worksheet pages would be spread out over several weeks, and even months later, as review and practice of previous concepts.

 

Right now, I teach from the HIG. Occasionally, we reference the textbook, but it's pretty rare. He does the assigned WB pages from the HIG with me, then I give him the additional pages as practice/review for the next several weeks, months, etc.

 

I forgot to mention, we also have the 1A and 1B tests as well. Those make good review from time to time. He really doesn't need all of the extra pages, but I think it's better if he reviews previously mastered stuff from time to time, even if he is accelerated.

[twoxcell]

Yes you should get the textbooks. Starting in 2a I find them essential.

[sweetpea3829]

What about this book I'm seeing, "Visible Thinking in Mathematics"? I don't remember seeing that one last time I bought from Singapore. In my notes, I put that it would be good practice for my math LD daughter.