math u see and Singapore math

[homeschoolkitty]

Starting 1st grade here. I wanted to know if anyone uses MUS and complement it with Singapore.

 

has anyone done the alignment of both. for instance. when MUS is doing place value in chapter 13 let's say, what chapter corresponds to that topic on Singapore?

I am interested in alpha and primer from MUS.

 

thank you!

[KeepItGoing]

In general, you will have troubles using MUS as a spine and supplementing with Singapore, I would think, unless you use a Singapore text of a much lower level. The sequence of Singapore is extremely tight, meaning that if something is taught in chapter 3, it's likely to turn up in every chapter after that, without warning. So, for example, you can't skip ahead to a "measurement" chapter and think that you won't be practicing addition and multiplication there, if these are introduced in previous chapters. Singapore texts really shouldn't be done out of order, in others words.

 

For first grade in particular, maybe it would work out okay, depending on your child. But it strikes me as trying to do two very different curricula simultaneously.

[jessj]

They are completely different.  They will rarely align. MUS covers a single concept in a year.  Singapore covers many.  I have used both, and I don't see how they would align at all. 

[homeschoolkitty]

oh, thank you! I already have MUS and some of the student texts. hence I wanted to combine. my dd likes the 'preschool' type workbooks of little brother and I thought that I can let her use the colorful Singapore books...

 

I was under the impresion that singapore was not a spiral program but rather mastery one... anyone have handy the S&S link for it?

 

thank you for the heads up!

[HS Mom in NC]

I used MUS with my older two (now in college) up to algebra then handed them over to my husband who used other things (mostly Jacobs.)

 

With my youngest (now 8) I switched to Singapore Math but use some MUS as a supplement (the manipulatives are useful and so are the skip counting songs.) If you're expecting them to somehow match up, that's not going to work very well, but if you use one or the other as a spine and then add in the relevant parts from the other as needed, that can work.

[Lulabelle]

We use them both, but we don't try to align them. It has worked fine. I like the mastery of the facts from MUS and the deeper thinking of Singapore.

[matrips]

I've used MUS and Singapore together since PreK. I think they work great together and complement well. Both have a similar philosophy and teaching style in my opinion. And MUS provided lots of extra practice. I didn't try to align them and match them or anything like that. They dont match, but they do complement. We just did each program daily. I started with Primer and Singapore Earlybird in Pre-K, Alpha and Singapore 1 in K, Beta and Singapore 2 in 1st, Gamma and Singapore 3 in 2nd, and now we are doing Delta and Singapore 4 for third grade.

[homeschoolkitty]

Thank you!

My school corporation is doing Math in Focus which is a branch of Singapore, and in case I need to send my kids to them in 8th grade I wanted them to be exposed to the method. (far into the future! the school might change again their math curricula)

 

NOW, can you finish Primer AND early Bird in one year? or alpha and singapore 1 in one year? For those of you who combine, what does your week look like? ALso, how do you file your papers, do you put both maths in one binder after the student is finished or do you store each book in a different binder? Do you buy the teacher edition for singapore? the workbook and the book, tests and extra stuff? I apreciate the input.

 

I found scope and sequence of Singapore here: http://www.singaporemath.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/SSUSandSTD2009.pdf and I could not find something similar for MUS, but I found this:

http://www.love2learn.net/samples/mathusee.htm

 I was trying to put it together in a file.... and see where they intersect....taking too long, as the MUS site does not have a S&S table... anyone ever seen one?

 

I was leaning toward picking and choosing from singapore 1 what looked like she could do.

[HS Mom in NC]

I'm not of the "grade level" mindset, so I don't worry about finishing a particular amount by a particular time. I have no compulsion to finish a book in a year or any other span of time.  I diligently introduce, practice and review each concept/skill with my children until they can do it very well before moving on to the next concept/skill. For my middle daughter (15 and in college now)  it meant burning through math at a break neck pace.  For my oldest (17 and in college)  and youngest (8), I moved through things more slowly as needed.   Because of this approach I'm not worried about Scope and Sequence much beyond knowing which workbook supplemental materials would be in. If I don't have a Scope and Sequence I just look at the table of contents or flip through the workbook to find relevant pages.

We get out the Singapore Math books as our core.  We use the manipulatives from both MUS and Singapore Math when introducing each new concept. If she (8) needs more practice on a concept/skill we supplement with the MUS workbooks as needed. I just open up to the relevant pages and tell her which to finish.  I don't tear them apart and rebind them or put them in weekly folders because early arithmetic is like Phonics-different children master the basics with different amounts of explanation, demonstration, practice and review.  (I do use weekly file folders for other subjects like History, Geography, English Grammar, and Science which aren't as dependent on previous skills at this stage.)

Once my kids do really get it, we move to the next thing-I'm not afraid of unused pages. I'm opposed to busy work on principle.   It pays far higher dividends making sure a child really gets it before moving on-even if it takes two or three times longer than you expect it to or want it to.