taffnus Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 Actually, I'd be more willing to say the the teacher teaching Singapore 1 didn't do a very good job. I have taken one child through SM K-4 and now, child #2 is struggling to finish 1B. I think I'd like to try a different program this summer to remediate 1st grade. Can anyone give me a recommendation on something I could do that would give a different presentation of addition and subtraction but still give a solid base? I'm wanting to return to SM 2 but I feel like I need a different approach (possibly spiral - she got really bogged down with the mastery approach for addition and subtraction). I'm looking at Horizons. Have never liked the look of it before but am thinking it may fit her a bit better. Any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 I really like Right Start's approach to addition & subtraction. The full program is rather expensive but you could get the tutoring program Activities for the AL Abacus to supplement Singapore. Miquon is a popular program for supplementing Singapore, though not one I've personally used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taffnus Posted May 18, 2013 Author Share Posted May 18, 2013 I'll add that to my list. I'm headed to our homeschool conference in a couple weeks so I'll see if I can look at the book. Thanks! She understands the concept of addition and subtraction. She could do it all with manipulatives and number charts. It's the SM mental strategies and working with tens that she can't seem to get her head around yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 CLE? You can just buy the "light units" that you contain what you think she needs to work on. (Scope & sequence document here. Level 1 math is on pg 35.) They are pretty inexpensive & definitely spiral. If you think she just needs practice, I'd pick up one of those "1st grade review" workbooks from the grocery store. If you want her specifically to work on the "making tens" - I'd play a card game with her. Take a regular deck of cards and pull out just the black or red Aces through 10s plus both Jokers. Call Jokers "zero" and Aces "1". Shuffle. Turn them upside down and play Memory except you are "making tens." To get more out of it, make sure you are verbalizing as you go. I play "against" her and we count up our matches to see who has the most & "wins" at the end. So, she picks a card & let's say it is a 5. She says, "I have a 5. I need another 5." Then, she tries to remember where there is a 5. If she doesn't turn over a 5, both cards are turned back over and it is your turn. You pick a 3. You say, "I have a 3. I'm looking for a .... 7." Then, you look for a 7. We play where you get to keep going if you make a match. Does this make sense? (My dd#3 LOVED this game. My ds#1 is currently using it to learn his addition & subtraction facts because you can adapt it for different "making #" amounts.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 [whispering] What about The Complete Book of Math (gr. 1-2), and use what is needed/work ahead over the summer, using it as a "summer bridge math"? It's cheap, it's all in one, it's a traditional approach to math so it's easy to teach/explain, the pages are simple without too many problems on them, and it includes some pretty fun games... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taffnus Posted May 19, 2013 Author Share Posted May 19, 2013 CLE? You can just buy the "light units" that you contain what you think she needs to work on. (Scope & sequence document here. Level 1 math is on pg 35.) They are pretty inexpensive & definitely spiral. If you think she just needs practice, I'd pick up one of those "1st grade review" workbooks from the grocery store. If you want her specifically to work on the "making tens" - I'd play a card game with her. [whispering] What about The Complete Book of Math (gr. 1-2), and use what is needed/work ahead over the summer, using it as a "summer bridge math"? It's cheap, it's all in one, it's a traditional approach to math so it's easy to teach/explain, the pages are simple without too many problems on them, and it includes some pretty fun games... Thanks for the advice. She loves playing games and we did do a little more of that to prepare for the standardized test. I do think that I should try a different approach to it all. She's gone from loving school to not wanting to do it at all. When I ask why, it's mainly because of math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 It's the SM mental strategies and working with tens that she can't seem to get her head around yet. The way that SM teaches making tens seems needlessly confusing to me. Right Start's way makes a lot more sense to my mind. Singapore will teach 15 - 8 = 7 by having the child break down 15 into 10 + 5, take away the 8 from the 10, and then add 5 + 2 = 7. Right Start, by contrast, will break the 8 down into 5 + 3 and then do 15 - 5 = 10 and then 10 - 3 = 7. The child winds up with the correct answer either way, but the RS way seems much less convoluted to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegirlwhopaintedtrees Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 Thanks for the advice. She loves playing games and we did do a little more of that to prepare for the standardized test. I do think that I should try a different approach to it all. She's gone from loving school to not wanting to do it at all. When I ask why, it's mainly because of math. My dd went from loving math to strongly disliking it too after SM 1 and using more games in my approach certainly helped her enjoy math more. I have tried switching math programs but so far, every one of them has resulted in the same frustration for her. I just have to accept that math is not going to be her favorite subject, though all the careers she mentions she wants to be are heavy STEM ones. In the end, and after wasting a lot of money, I decided to stick with Singapore and just add more RS games in. I also discovered that she loves Life of Fred so I bought her all the elementary books and she reads those on the side for enjoyment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taffnus Posted May 19, 2013 Author Share Posted May 19, 2013 I guess I'll really need to take a look at RS. That wasn't on my list. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micron4 Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 The Right Start math games set is awesome! It comes with the instruction book and several different card decks. It has many fun math games to practice basic concepts--the memory game suggested by a previous poster is in their book too along with a lot more games. It's about $50 if I remember right, but it can be used for many years as it covers a lot. (And it resales well as an added bonus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 I used Horizons and SM together - I have found however that neither programme has helped my DD work with making tens - playing with manipulatives with me helping her is what has taught her this. Horizons does not deal at all with making 10s - they do do place value though. I do not believe that you need SMs way of doing things to be able to do mental math however - I think though that it needs some practice and what is teaching my own DD mental math better than SM is just making her use it - the best option is to give her money and send her into a grocery store to buy things - no paper and no calculator and she will work out how much things cost and whether she has enough money simply because the motivation is high and the need is there. She is 5.5 years old. I would work on making tens though in whatever way you choose - preferably with manipulatives as this is important. As for RS vs SMs way of doing making tens - this is where you need to use your own brain - both of them are using making 10s so if your child uses either of the ways of doing this and it works for them then that should be fine - the answer is the same, so really who cares which part they split up as long as they understand what they are doing and they get the right answer? You may also find that moving on to SM2 will help her simply because the spiral in SM is over a year - they do cover the same things again and she will be a year older and able to handle them better. Or you could try another programme and think it is fantastic when really it is just that your child is slightly older and has a few more concepts that he/she understands. Of course you could be right that your child needs a more tight spiral and revision of things more constantly - Horizons would work for you perhaps then if this is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 (edited) Nm Edited December 13, 2015 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taffnus Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 I used Horizons and SM together - I have found however that neither programme has helped my DD work with making tens - playing with manipulatives with me helping her is what has taught her this. Horizons does not deal at all with making 10s - they do do place value though. This is good to know. Thanks. Again, I guess games are in order. You could also try MEP. It is a spiral aproach, it gives a solid foundation in mathematics, it's fun and it's free. Here's a link: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/ I have tried MEP but I couldn't seem to stick to it. Maybe I'll take a look at it again. Thanks! Everyone is giving great advice. Thanks! I need to take a look at What we have left of SM 1B and then SM 2 and see what she'd really need to complete to move on. Maybe it really is just a maturity issue and the issues she's having will resolve themselves. I remember my older dd always seemed to have trouble telling time. I got so frustrated that I finally just moved on. We tried every once in a while and she eventually just figured it out without lots of teaching and practice. Addition and subtraction are more crucial in order to move on but, I do feel like I need to stop beating that drum and focus on other math, giving her time to "recover." That's been the main issue with SM1 - she gets stuck and we sit in the same chapter, doing the same stuff til she gets frustrated and bored. I can understand that. I tried adding MM mid-year but that was just more of the same. I now realize that she needs diversity and fun. So, it's only 1G. I guess haven't completely messed her up yet. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 SIngapore didn't work here either, and also left Rebecca hating math. RS games would be fun, and CLE saved us here. We used Horizons for Sylvia for K and really liked it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.