Math U See and Singapore Math combined schedule?

[sea_mommy]

I am going to be using Math U See Alpha and Singapore Math 1A/B (US Edition).  Does anyone have a schedule on how they combined the two?  Any ideas on the best way to do it?

[Aiden]

No ideas for you, but following because this is something I may well try in a year or so ...

[Lori D.]

In general, when using 2 math programs, pick one to be the "spine" or main program, and the other to be the "supplement". The spine is done regularly, and in order, for consistency of type of presentation and instruction. The supplement might only be done sporadically, or out of order, or not every day -- but that's okay, because it is not the main program.

 

For the specific daily/weekly scheduling, there are options:

- do the full spine lesson in the morning, and then a second shorter math session later in the day with supplement

- do the spine 4x/week and the supplement 1x/week (or, 3x/week = spine, 2x/week = supplement)

- finish a "unit" or topic in the spine math and then do a short "unit" in the supplement (ping-pong your math programs)

- completely finish one math program, and then in the remaining weeks of the school year (or as summer bridge material), do the supplement

- do the spine until the student "hits the wall" with a concept, and then go to a supplement and work on a completely different topic from a different point of view for awhile (a few days, 2 weeks, a month…) to let the troublesome concept "simmer" on the back burner of the student's brain; often when coming back to the spine program and the troublesome concept after a break and something different, the concept is no longer a stumbling block -- this way of scheduling works best with something like Miquon that is easy to start/stop anywhere, or if you have several short supplements (example: pattern blocks and the booklet "Math Discoveries with Pattern Blocks") -- rather than trying to use a full/complete second math program

 

Here's a thread on a similar topic: "If you use Singapore and another math" (how do you schedule it)

 

 

Starting in upper elementary grades, we found MUS as (finally!) a match for our math struggling DS, and supplemented with Singapore 4A/B, 5A/B, and 6A/B. DS has some mild LDs and did better sticking with one thing at a time to keep from getting confused, so we scheduled both by having him complete an entire program of MUS, and then in the remaining weeks of the school year, doing a "skim review" of Singapore levels that was at, or just below, what he had just finished with MUS. In retrospect, I think DS could also have handled scheduled MUS 4x/week, and then Singapore 1x/week.

 

Specifically, for us, scheduling MUS & Singapore in the same year looked like this, with DS usually finishing MUS in about 28 weeks, and giving us 8-10 weeks for Singapore (which we could do quickly, as it was now review, but just from a different perspective with more challenging word problems):

 

MUS Gamma & Delta  <----> Singapore 3A/B

MUS Delta & Epsilon <----> Singapore 4A/B

MUS Zeta <----> Singapore 5A/B

MUS Pre-Algebra <----> Singapore 6A/B

 

 

When DS was in the early elementary grades, the scheduling of a spine and supplements was much more like the last option above -- he would "hit the wall" with a concept, and we would use supplements on some other topic for awhile, and then come back to the spine. That way, we were always moving forward in math -- just not always on the same topic. ;)

 

 

BEST of luck in scheduling 2 math programs! I am a big proponent of that for as long as the student can manage it, as it REALLY helps broaden a student's math thinking, ability to see connections, and in solving all kinds of different problems. Warmest regards, Lori D.

[prairiewindmomma]

We purposefully didn't/don't synch these programs. They act as a wonderful review to each other. Singapore moves much more quickly, so at times we pause on it and continue working in MUS. Of the 4 kids who have used this (we also did this with my ^dd^ who is not in my siggie), only one of them used 80%Singapore with the occasional sheet in MUS for additional fact practice.

[~Victoria~]

I have decided to use MUS Beta and supplement with some topic books from Math Mammoth.  I will walk through Beta and when we get to clocks, money, measuring, and geometry, we will do the Beta lessons and then insert the Math Mammoth book for an additional week or more. 

[sea_mommy]

Lori D--Thank you so much for that information!  I am planning on using MUS as the spine and Singapore as the supplement.  I think that I like the idea of finishing a "unit" in MUS and doing a "unit" in Singapore.  We have been doing MUS for awhile now and I think that my ds can now handle some variety.

 

My one concern: This means that using Alpha is going to take us longer than 1 year.  Should I be concerned about that?

[Lori D.]

This means that using Alpha is going to take us longer than 1 year...

 

Not necessarily.

 

Once you get into doing MUS, you may find that your student goes through it faster than you thought. Every MUS level has 30 lessons, and even taking a full week per lesson, that leaves you 6 full weeks for another math. Your student may also really fly through some lessons, so that you finish one lesson early in the week and start into the next one; that leaves you even more time for a supplement (or to take longer for MUS lessons that don't click right away).

 

Do be prepared for that type of "charging forward / suddenly stalling" learning in math; that seems to be the pattern for learning for a lot of early elementary aged students. The learning curve seems to level out for most students somewhere between ages 9-12. So, spurts and plateaus are quite common. :)

 

And if you're really concerned, you can just keep going into the summer to finish. Lots of families like to do *something* for math and reading over the summer for elementary ages, just to keep young elementary aged students from forgetting so much during a long break, and use some sort of "summer bridge" material. For someone using 2 full math programs, summer is ideal for completing the second math. :)

 

BEST of luck in your math adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Elisabet1]

I would just run them each at their own schedule. If you try to match things up, it tends to be that a child will get bored or overwhelmed by doing the exact same subject in 2 courses at once. 

[Elisabet1]

Please remember, too, that MUS is a mastery program. Demme says only do as many worksheets as a child needs. If you were to get started with SM and then do a lesson from MUS, you are likely going to find that the child already knows the topic and won't need the lesson.

 

In short, I think doing both these programs is a huge waste. I did Epsilon along side with the fraction areas of SM, but even so, I have gotten rid of my Epsilon as I did not feel it was the best way to work with Singapore Math. 

 

Miquon is a beter choice. Or drill of something, or a computer program to drill.

 

 

[Coco_Clark]

Lori D gave you great advice.

 

I wouldn't worry about it taking you over a year. We used Singapore as our spine, Life of Fred on Fridays, and Miquon as our summer bridge. You tend to zoom through chapters on time, measurements, ect. And getting to a topic a second time is always faster as well.

 

I liked the way we did things but I think next year I'm going to implement Miquon more when we hit walls. My knee jerk reaction is to dig in and I don't believe it's helpful.

[AmyinMD]

I don't think MUS and Singapore would match up well if you are trying to coordinate but you could work both programs and skip the parts of each that are overlap or extra review.   I have 9 yo twins and one does Singapore and one does MUS.    I notice a lot of difference in the order of concepts introduced between the programs.  Dd is just about done with Gamma and hasn't really worked with fractions and I don't think it is really covered much until Epsilon.  I know Singapore introduces it much earlier.  My son is about done with 5A and I know he's done several books with fractions already.  

 

Personally I would not use MUS and Singapore together for the same child.  My son has asked if he can do MUS too but really at Singapore 5A he has already been exposed to most everything through MUS Zeta.  Most of what I see in MUS would just be busy work for him.  My 9 yo dd has dyslexia and for her she really needs the way MUS introduces concepts and she needs lots of review to get mastery.  She almost always does all of the sheets.  If you are adding Singapore I can't imagine that you'd be using many of the MUS worksheets and it seems kind of expensive to me.   

 

My son does Singapore and Beast Academy (along with LOF thrown in).  We tend to move back and forth between the programs.  Some days we will do both of them but most of the time we work one or the other.  I did that in part because I didn't want him in Algebra in 5th grade and I was trying to slow him down some.   I don't worry about coordinating the programs and he is usually doing very different things between the two programs.