Singapore Guru's, How to incorporate IP and CWP and accelerate

[Mom2TheTeam]

My son is finishing up 1st grade. He is 7.5. We are in the middle of Singapore 1B. He is finishing up multiplication, probably tomorrow. He has a math brain and finds the WB very easy, too easy. I bought the IP and the CWP. We have used both a little and he enjoys them even called the CWP "fun math."

 

But, I'm struggling to know how/when to incorporate it in the lessons. I've seen some people use one or the other a book behind. I've heard of people using the IP instead of the WB (not leaning toward that). I'm just not really sure about how to use these. Right now, I've had him do it a topic or two behind as review. But, I feel like maybe we should be doing the IP on topic to get more challenging work of what he is on. So far, I have not taught him even one thing that he didn't already figure out without formal instruction, except terminology. ;) All math is easy to him...so far. I'm trying to challenge him and keep him from being bored. Also, how do I use IP once we change over to Standards Ed starting in 2A? Just follow by topic? I assume that is what I would do...silly question....

 

So, how do you incorporate the IP and/or CWP? Suggestions?

 

Also, accelerating: is it ever okay to skip entire WB excises or even lessons? With multiplication that he is learning now, I almost want to laugh because it feels so pointless to be going through it. He just gets it. I think we are going to spend 3 days, maybe 4, on multiplication total, but the HIG suggests 2 wks. There is NO way it could take him that long. If I didn't have 5 other little kids and we could spend a full hour or so on math, it would be done already after only 2 days. Later in the book it has a unit on numbers to 100. If I were to use the HIG's schedule, it has us on that for 4 wks. I seriously can not imagine. Having looked through it, he already does it and gets it. Not formally, but he does it orally all the time. I'm not really into skipping entire lessons (and definitely not entire units or topics!), but sometimes it seems almost silly to teach it and he is like, "Mom...this is so easy!" We do the WB, but it's so easy for him. I have him skip entire pages sometimes. I can't have him only do some of the questions on the page because if he starts the page he wants to finish it...which includes coloring the pictures too and ends up taking forever even though the math is done is within a couple minutes. By the HIG's schedule, we are in wk 8, but have been doing 1B for maybe 2wks if you take out the days we have skipped (6 kids 7 and under...we get derailed a lot). So, what are some ideas for accelerating? Is there such a thing as "too fast?" As I said, he just gets math. I don't think we are going to fast for him. I actually think he is bored, which hopefully will be helped by adding the IP and CWP more consistently. I'd love to teach him some math he doesn't already know. LOL!

 

Thoughts? Thanks!

[Flowergirl159]

This is only from my own experience with my children. If he is 7.5yrs old and finding 1B easy, here is what I would do. Move onto 2A and then 2B and work through them as quickly as he would like, but forget about the IP and HIG and CWP. If the workbook is below him then these books will be a waste of time. Just get through the workbooks to get to the level he is at, and then add in IP, CWP and HIG at that level. The books you have already purchased though will not be wasted as you have younger children to use them with, and I would start 1A at an earlier age with the younger children than you did with him, and just see how they go.

[boscopup]

I also would not worry about IP/CWP while you're accelerating to where he really is. It sounds like he's very much not there yet. Get him there, THEN add in the challenge. Even IP/CWP can be boring if they're well below the kid's working math level.

 

As far as skipping lessons... Absolutely, you can skip exercises/lessons! If you know he knows something, maybe give him a few problems on the white board to test his knowledge, then move on. I also do multiple exercises in a day sometimes. My K'er is in 1B, and it's easy for him as well. We've had a lot of 2-exercise days recently. I'll usually have him write one exercise, then I write the other while he just gives me the answers. I haven't accelerated him as much as I could, since I'm trying to keep math "easy" this year, but we may do more acceleration later on, like my oldest did.

 

My oldest wasn't using Singapore when he first started accelerating, but we used Math Mammoth halfway through his first grade year, and he skipped whole chapters and even one whole semester book at one point. First and second grade math are sometimes easily picked up by mathy kids on their own, and you just have to fill in any details that are missing (in the case of Singapore, the main thing to hit is the mental math techniques). When we got to 3rd grade material, we slowed down and did most of the exercises. When we hit 4th grade material, we didn't really skip anything. Same went for 5th. But first and second? Plenty to skip there. For example, we skipped MM2B because it was mostly addition/subtraction of 3-digit numbers with regrouping. Well, when we did 2-digit numbers, he automatically expanded that to any number of digits. He demonstrated this over and over again. The other main topic in MM2B was a basic intro to multiplication and division (like what is in Singapore 1B). He had figured out multiplication and division when he was 5. He didn't need this basic intro. He was ready for the real thing, where you work on learning the facts and such. So we skipped 2B and moved on to 3A. He finished Singapore 5B a few weeks ago and has a strong foundation in elementary math. I don't at all regret skipping stuff in those very early grades. There is so much repeat.

 

One thing you could do now is give your son the placement test for 1B. If he passes it, move on to 2A. I used MM's chapter tests to determine if my son could skip a chapter (and in the case of the 2B skippage, I gave him the 2B end of book test). He usually scored right around 100 when I gave him one of these tests.

[jennynd]

I will agree with the pp to skip. Have him to a placement test on SM's website and place him accordingly

[Five More Minutes]

I would move quickly to his level, as pps have said. Can you quickly touch on topics orally first, and if he "gets" it, assign him one or two problems from the WB just to make sure the understanding is there. (Write them on the white board so that the "finish-the-page syndrome" doesn't take over -- that happens here all. of. the. time.) Alternatively, the placement test is a good way of finding his working level.

 

Once you're working close to his level, then bring in the CWP and the IP. I use the CWP pretty much on-level (maybe one or two topics behind) and the IP almost a half-level back for review.

 

I use the Standards Edition, and haven't found there to be any difficulty in using the IP, especially since I'm using it behind and don't need to worry about matching topics up.

 

How I use the books changes from week to week, depending on where my dd is at. Right now I give her the IP to work on independently as a warm-up (this works because she's using it a bit behind). Then we work on a couple of CWP problems together to talk about different problem-solving strategies. Then we do the lesson from the HIG, discuss the text, and she completes the appropriate pages in the workbook. Some days I may ask her to work independently using the CWP instead of doing a lesson if I think that's more what she needs / wants, or will use the CWP to warm up instead of the IP.

[Dana]

We moved as quickly as my son could. We did the text orally, he'd do the WB on his own, and I'd have him do pages from CWP and/or iP as they fit in. We use on level and with the Standards edition...yes, match topics.

 

I don't follow the schedule in the HiG. If we can move faster, great!

We typically have done all problems in CWP but skip around in IP. If the early practice that is basic computation is easy, we move past it. Spend more time on the more challenging problems towards the back of the units.

 

[beishan]

I have a 7.5yo first grader as well. He is in public school. They use everyday math and I supplement with SM at home. He takes both methods well. I grew up in Asian so that I am very comfortable to teach SM without HIG and I skipped lessons as well. I only use textbook and workbook at the beginning but found the practice is not enough especially word problems. My son is ok with math facts and computation but seems still weak at word problems. Therefore, I just ordered IP 1b and CWP 1. Hopefully those 2 books will be a good summer review before we move on 2A.

[Mom2TheTeam]

Thanks everyone! We won't worry about the IP and CWP's right now. I may incorporate CWP for a change and "fun" once a week, but we won't worry about it. We finished up multiplication today. We will skip the review and start division tomorrow. I'm not going to skip straight to 2A because he does need the money and time. (We have never formally done either one because of not finishing Singapore Essentials K last year...it was a total bomb because it was too easy.) But, I'm probably going to let him skip the numbers to 100 section. I'll just have him do a few problems in the workbook to make sure he knows, but I already know he does. Hopefully, he can move onto 2A by early June. (We school year round.)

 

I really appreciate the encouragement from everyone. From now on, I will not hesitate to breeze through or skip things he already knows.

 

Oh and just to clarify...I don't think we should be following the schedule in the front of the HIG. I know it's just a guide for the "average" child. I was just using that to show how much faster we are moving than the "average." Whatever average is... ;)

 

For example, we skipped MM2B because it was mostly addition/subtraction of 3-digit numbers with regrouping. Well, when we did 2-digit numbers, he automatically expanded that to any number of digits. He demonstrated this over and over again.

 

This is exactly my son. He has no problem translating the basic to higher levels.

 

This is only from my own experience with my children. If he is 7.5yrs old and finding 1B easy, here is what I would do. Move onto 2A and then 2B and work through them as quickly as he would like, but forget about the IP and HIG and CWP. If the workbook is below him then these books will be a waste of time. Just get through the workbooks to get to the level he is at, and then add in IP, CWP and HIG at that level. The books you have already purchased though will not be wasted as you have younger children to use them with, and I would start 1A at an earlier age with the younger children than you did with him, and just see how they go.

 

To the bolded, I will definitely start my youngers earlier than I started him and just see how it goes with them. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I know now I should have skipped K Essentials (which was way too easy and didn't get done because he disliked it...because it was too easy) and put him in 1A starting in K last year. I was too afraid to skip anything. I feel like he should have done 2a and b this year in 1st and now he is behind where he should be (not where other students should be, but for him)....mommy guilt....but, I'm working on moving him ahead quickly. So, yes, my youngers will be starting sooner...this fall when they would technically be starting K. When I order his 2A stuff (in the next couple days ;)), I'll get them the Essentials B for over the summer and then move them to 1A in the fall.