Transitioning between curricula - How do I make it go smoothly?

[Alexigail]

How have you handled switching to a new curriculum?  Is there anything that you do to make the adjustment easier?  Take a break in between to do review?

 

 

Specifically, I've decided to switch from MUS to Singapore.  My son (6) has taken the placement test and he's ready for Primary 1B.  

 

However, I don't think that he has as thorough a grasp of basic facts as he may need to do the switch.  We're leaving MUS mostly because I don't feel like it's teaching him sound concepts.  It's not a bad program, but nothing is really sticking and I feel like it isn't cohesive enough for him.  

What I'm concerned about is that we will be switching mid-level and I don't want it to be too confusing.  

 

- Is there any resource I could read as a parent to help me understand the philosophy behind Singapore and how to teach it?  I will be getting the HIG at least in the beginning, but would it be useful to read up on how things are taught in general?

 

-Would you jump right in with 1B or do some re-teaching of addition and subtraction based on Singapore methods?  He's not strong on his facts yet, so a review wouldn't be a total waste of time anyway.  

  

 

 

Thanks for your help!

 

[ByGrace3]

When we switched after Saxon 1 to MM, I did most of 1A orally just to give a strong foundation. We went quickly and did a lot of 1B orally as well. I am very glad we did it that way.

[boscopup]

Let him use manipulatives in 1B. That will help with facts.

Also, check out the mental math section of Education Unboxed. You'll want to know how to add/subtract across ten the mental math way. That was the big, scary topic in 1A. Other than that, you should be fine.

When I switch curricula, I jump right in. I've never had a difficult transition.

[HS Mom in NC]

We use MUS and Singapore together some, so combining them for a while can make for an easier transition. I did MUS with my older two until Algebra and then my youngest did Singapore from the beginning, but we use a lot of the MUS manipulatives and supplement with some of the MUS workbooks sometimes as needed.  We always use and recommend the MUS skip counting songs because it makes multiplication a breeze.

[jengjohnson]

I don't think you'll have much trouble, especially switching at such a young age.  I'm looking at switching my rising 4th grader from Horizons to Singapore or maybe a combination of both.  She'll soon finish grade 3 Horizons, but I'm going to continue right into Singapore 3A.  I think the work will be easy, but the transition to thinking about problems the Singapore way is what we'll work on through the summer.  By fall I'll know for sure how I want to go forward.  Thanks, boscopup for reminding me about the Education Unboxed site. 

[mmasc]

I agree with ByGrace3 on doing 1A orally. Even though your DS placed in 1B, I would at least get the 1A Textbook to go over the initial teaching of this method; the number bonds, mental math strategies, etc. Then with 1B I would use the HIG, Textbook, and workbook. I feel that the HIG showed me how to teach it without reading anything additional. We have used 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. As far as knowing facts, in our experience DS could do the level 1 workbooks fine, without me ever realizing he didn't have a quick recall of them. That really makes the levels above difficult. I would strongly encourage drilling facts in addition to Singapore. If I would have just added in five minutes of daily drill, I think things would be going much smoother now that we are at the third grade level. HTH!

[PeterPan]

 We're leaving MUS mostly because I don't feel like it's teaching him sound concepts.  It's not a bad program, but nothing is really sticking and I feel like it isn't cohesive enough for him.  

 

 

 

Alexigail, this is just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks, but sometimes switching curriculum doesn't solve the problem because the curriculum wasn't the problem.

 

With that age of dc, it's very possible you're seeing developmental readiness or a bit of something that will later turn out to be something needing extra attention to teach to.  In another thread you mentioned your 5 yo has autism.  Any indication of anything (adhd, whatever) going on with this one? (It usually runs in families, so I hope you don't mind the question.) Math facts not sticking would be pretty common in that scenario, and changing programs doesn't solve it.  In fact, you'd be leaving a very kinesthetic, easily visualizable curriculum for a program that is more abstract and more dependent on language.  

 

Math facts take a LONG time to gel with some kids.  The fact that it's slow going doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong.  My dd (now 14) was 12-13 before hers gelled. We did triangle flashcards, flash master, math shark, drill books, quarter mile math, etc. etc. for years.  The spiral of TT helped her a lot.  Math facts gelling later is a VERY COMMON scenario with some kids.

 

I'm curious whether he gets the conceptual part of the MUS and just doesn't have fact speed?  Or maybe neither is gelling?  If the conceptual isn't gelling, you could just be hitting a developmental wall.  It's not like Singapore is so much better conceptually, mercy.  It's going to be harder in fact in every way.  If there's a discrepancy between conceptual and computation, that's common.  Have you done any standardized testing yet?  And if you don't mind me asking, with that birthday is he a typical 1st grader by age or young for his grade?  Whatever, that's just what I'd be looking at.

 

For my ds, I'm using the Ronit Bird materials.  He's got more serious problems with math than my dd had.  My dd always had that discrepancy between conceptual and computation scores, but the conceptual was there. With ds, he needs a lot more help. The Ronit Bird materials break down instruction much more carefully, eliminating assumptions that regular curriculum make to make sure they REALLY get it.  

 

Just dig in on nuances like that and figure out if he's getting it conceptually but not with the computation, or if the conceptual isn't there either.