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Singapore Math - What to buy?


three4me
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You want the Standards Edition.

 

If money were extremely tight, you could do it with just the textbook.

 

Otherwise, you want the HIG, not only for scheduling and teaching help, but for the mental math practice problems & ideas.

The textbook, which I use as consumable (let the child write in it).

The workbook for most children.

You do not want the tests.

 

Optional extras that are popular here, esp. for mathy children and/or a mathy education. Singapore suggests adding only one of these, at most two:

Intensive Practice books. These offer more complex problems. For a very bright/mathy child, you could do IP instead of the workbook but starting out I'd suggest the IP as an extra, and maybe start using it one level late -- that is, IP 1A when the child is doing Standards 1B.

Challenging Word Problems. These offer complex word problems, and employ the famous Singapore bar model method. I detest them, but many love them. Like the IP, you may want to lag by a level.

MathSprints: meant to improve fact recall. These are very helpful IMHO and the supplement I most strongly recommend.

 

ETA: the supplements are not specific to the Standards edition; that is okay. For many gifted/talented/accelerated children, the parents use both the IP and the CWP; many of these children enjoy the CWP books (I have a child accelerated in math, and we use neither; though we do use supplementary math program). Some use the supplements on-level, as they go through the program; others use them after the textbook for a level is completed.

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You want the Standards Edition.

 

If money were extremely tight, you could do it with just the textbook.

 

Otherwise, you want the HIG, not only for scheduling and teaching help, but for the mental math practice problems & ideas.

The textbook, which I use as consumable (let the child write in it).

The workbook for most children.

You do not want the tests.

 

Optional extras that are popular here, esp. for mathy children and/or a mathy education. Singapore suggests adding only one of these, at most two:

Intensive Practice books. These offer more complex problems. For a very bright/mathy child, you could do IP instead of the workbook but starting out I'd suggest the IP as an extra, and maybe start using it one level late -- that is, IP 1A when the child is doing Standards 1B.

Challenging Word Problems. I detest these, but many love them. Like the IP, you may want to lag by a level.

MathSprints: meant to improve fact recall. These are very helpful IMHO and the supplement I most strongly recommend.

 

I agree. Standards Edition with the Text / HIG / Workbook would be my bare minimum. (I don't use the text as a consumable, though -- we do it orally at that level.)

 

We LOVE the Challenging Word Problems, and have also enjoyed the Fan Math Process Skills problems that lead into the CWP. Fan Math isn't as rigorous, but it's more explicit in teaching problem-solving strategies. I did Level 1 before launching my younger daughter into the CWP Level 1.

 

The IP is great -- we use it at least a level behind.

 

I'd also have c-rods on hand to help with the lessons, if you don't already have those. They were the most versatile manipulative. I have and use Base 10, but could make it work with just the c-rods if needed.

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We use the US edition. I think most people think the HIG for the Standard Edition is much better. We were given a bunch of US edition books before the Standards came out and then I just stuck with it. I like it fine and think the HIG is ok, but my son is pretty mathy so I don’t have to do a lot of teaching or figuring out how to present the concepts.

 

IMO, the extras (IP and/or CWP) are really where the strengths of Singapore are. I’d get at least one to use for the more challenging problems. With my oldest I use the IP book instead of the workbook. With my younger son who is not as mathy we use the workbook but also use the IP book to cement concepts or to work on harder problems together.

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I also use (and like) the US Edition, however I only have the first year 1a/1b so far. I like that it is a little bit cheaper, and I can find it locally. (I am NOT math-minded, nor was I taught this way, but I have found the teaching instruction in the HIG to be adequate for me.)

 

We also use the textbook (as a non-consumable), workbook, and I also have the Intensive Practice books and Challenging Word Problems, but I am using them a semester behind.

 

It does seem like a lot of bits and pieces, huh? But we really like Singapore Math, so it is worth it for me.

 

ETA: We use the c-rods (almost exclusively to other manipulatives) for the concrete part of the lesson.

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Can I ask why not the U.S. edition? I thought the only difference was the units on money. Am I missing something?

 

The SE HIG is generally considered better.

 

Jenny Hoerst, author of both the HIG editions, wrote the SE HIG after the US HIG, taking into account feedback from homeschoolers. She described some of the differences between the US and SE HIGs.

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