Singapore math: spell it out for me....

[ajfries]

Let's pretend for a moment that I'm still looking at different math curriculum for my 1st grader.

 

What books would we need? I keep hearing about HIGs and Challenging Word Problems and, Standards & US Edition. I see text books and workbooks and HIGs, OH MY!

 

And each book set (1A, 1B) is one semester, correct?

[EKS]

For 1st grade, I'd use the textbook and the workbook.  I prefer the Standards edition (but have only used it from level 3 up).  You'll need the HIG to do math the Singapore "way," especially in the level 1 books as a lot of it is done with manipulatives.

 

If you child needs more challenge, you may want to add the IP or the CWP.  I prefer the CWP myself, though it's not overly C(hallenging) at the 1st grade level (at least the old edition wasn't--the new edition may be different). 

 

If you child needs more practice, get the extra practice book.

 

And you're going to need a plan for fact practice--flash cards or an app or online thing.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

There are lots of optional extra books for SM.  What you will definitely want is the HIG, TB, and WB for each level, and the Standards edition is considered to have a much better HIG than the US edition, which is great if you are learning Asian style math along with your kid.  The only additional book we use is the CWP. 

 

Extra Practice is good if you have a kid who needs extra practice.  Intensive Practice is a VERY challenging book IMO, so good for very accelerated students. 

 

I found having cuisinaire rods (check out www.educationunboxed.com to learn how to use them) a very helpful addition instead of the linking cubes recommended.

[happypamama]

Roughly one semester, yes.

 

For my rising fourth grader, I have bought the following (and I prefer Standards version over US, because it's more comprehensive):

4A and B textbooks

4A and B HIGs

4A and B workbooks

4A and B Intensive Practices

4 Challenging Word Problems

(Nine books.  Yeah, it was a lot.  I justified the cost because he has three little brothers coming after him -- hopefully the Singapore approach will work for at least one!)

 

I have it roughly scheduled like this: each day, we will, together, go over whichever pages in the text that the HIG says, plus any activities that the HIG includes (some of it is just notes to the teacher about how to teach the topic, but sometimes there is an activity or something that would be good), and we'll do, together, orally when possible, a few of the practice problems from the text, just enough to make sure that he understands the concepts.  Then I have it scheduled so that he'll do the corresponding workbook pages, written, on his own.  I have it scheduled so that he does four pages a day; if the workbook pages themselves are only one, two, or three, I will add some of the Mental Math pages from the HIG and some IP pages to bring it up to four.  Every so often, he'll do just the IP pages, and if/when we finish all of that, we'll move on to the CWP.

 

Now, I think that is a lot.  I don't think he necessarily needs to do all of it.  He's a strong math student.  But when I asked him what he thought, he did not like the idea of skipping any problems or pages in any of the books.  I'm going to see how it plays out and make adjustments as needed.  I expect that the first thing I'll cut out is the workbook, because from what I've heard, it's going to have the easiest problems in it (compared to the text, IP, and CWP), and if they're too easy, I'll suggest skipping them because they'll become busy work.  I know some people skip the workbook entirely.

[ajfries]

So the HIG is the TM, does the student use both the text book & the workbook?

[73349]

We use the Standards Edition. For 1, we just bought the Extra Practice book. Now he's in 2A (textbook) and I've bought the CWP but won't use it until we get to 2B. I allotted 13 weeks for 2A and 16 for 2B, and that looks like it will work fine.

I haven't bought the HIGs because they look like exactly what I would expect from looking at the student book, but I might for 2B or 3A to make sure I'm not missing anything.

We also use Miquon, so I feel like the SM workbooks would be overkill.

[happypamama]

So the HIG is the TM, does the student use both the text book & the workbook?

Yes.  The HIG is the TM.  So then you use the text to show the student the concept, and use its practice problems to make sure the student understands.  It's not meant to be written in.  The workbook is meant to be consumed by the student, and it's how you can have your student practice the concept independently.

[Dana]

So the HIG is the TM, does the student use both the text book & the workbook?

Yes.

 

I'd say the absolute minimum is text, WB, and HiG.

 

I disagree about Extra Practice. I didn't think it had enough practice. I used some Spectrum books instead and then started getting the tests and just using some of those pages for extra practice.

 

We also used CWP, IP, and iExcel.

[ajfries]

Now I see what everybody means about it being a very customizable curriculum. So for manipulatives, I have linking cubes, and all of the RS manipulatives for A. I'll probably get cuisinaire rods...would you guys recommend anything else?

[Five More Minutes]

Let's pretend for a moment that I'm still looking at different math curriculum for my 1st grader.

 

What books would we need? I keep hearing about HIGs and Challenging Word Problems and, Standards & US Edition. I see text books and workbooks and HIGs, OH MY!

 

And each book set (1A, 1B) is one semester, correct?

 

You are correct: each grade level is broken into semesters A and B.

 

I agree with pps: the HIG , textbook, and workbook form the core of the program. I use the HIG (along with ideas from Education Unboxed, as Monica mentioned) to introduce concepts concretely, with manipulatives. Then we look at the textbook together, doing many problems orally in younger years. Then the student works as independently as possible in her consumable workbook.

 

I add in the CWPs a bit behind (up to a full year behind). I wouldn't get CWP 1; IMO, it wasn't worth it at that level. A far better resource for me was the FanMath Process Skills in Problem Solving books, which helped me teach age-appropriate problem solving skills. After Level 1, though, CWP is well worth the investment.

 

The IPs take the concepts from the TB/WB and use them with larger numbers or more complex problems. They have functioned as a good review for us when I use them a few weeks to a full semester behind where we are in the TB/WB.

 

Extra Practice books provide problems at a simpler level than the WB. They could work as a supplement if a student is struggling with a concept and needs easy practice to reinforce it. That said, there's not a lot of practice for each topic in those books, so their value is minimal.

 

HTH!

[Five More Minutes]

Now I see what everybody means about it being a very customizable curriculum. So for manipulatives, I have linking cubes, and all of the RS manipulatives for A. I'll probably get cuisinaire rods...would you guys recommend anything else?

 

C-rods have been my favourite manipulative for Singapore. If you've got those, plus all of the other goodies you have on hand, I think you'll be in great shape.

[Crimson Wife]

Textbook, either WB (for average students) or IP (for bright students) or both, and HIG if you're not familiar with teaching the Singapore way. The second time through, I'm finding that I use the HIG way less.

[Dana]

C-rods have been my favourite manipulative for Singapore. If you've got those, plus all of the other goodies you have on hand, I think you'll be in great shape.

Agree. They were great for visualizing bar diagrams.

 

I also found a set of base 10 blocks to be invaluable. We used them to show long division in particular. Also did some with different color blocks for negatives and positives.

[Guest]

Triangle flash cards go super well with Singapore.

[happypamama]

C-rods, yes, and fraction circles (or blocks, but I like the circles better) later when they get to fractions.

[J-rap]

We usually used the textbook and the workbook.  I liked using the standard edition vs. the U.S. edition because I wanted my kids to learn the metric system.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

I use the TB and WB US edition (it seems I'm in the minority there). I'm not completely sure what the differences are but the US edition DOES teach the metric system. I believe standards is common core aligned if that's important to you. It may also b  better for kids who have to test at the end of the year. My kids don't. I started with the US edition not realizing there another option so I've just stuck with it. :-)

 

I haven't used the HIG guides. I did buy it for 3B but haven't used it. The way things are explained in the TB makes perfect sense to me and is the way I've always done math in my head. I'm not sure if I'm missing anything important or not. Maybe I'll start getting them with the last couple of kids since I don't have to get TB.

 

I have used sections out of the EP book with one of my DD but only when she really just needed extra practice with something. I bought CWP to use in the fall based off of recommendations here. I got them a year behind. 

 

I have Mortenson Math blocks (basically the same as MUS blocks - my mom gave me some of the stuff she had from homeschooling us). I just bought base 10 blocks which I think will be more useful for some things in 2a and 2b. I also use flash cards/speed drills/computer to work on facts.

 

One last thing - each set is meant to be a semester but don't worry too much about that. My oldest is "behind" (but making very fast progress now), the middle one is "just right", and the youngest is "ahead". Mastery is what's important to me. Singapore is a rigorous program and it's ok to take longer than recommended. :-)

[Walking-Iris]

I've been a bit clueless as well OP. I'm switching my 6 year old to SM. I went with the Standards edition. I'm going to try to get by with just the textbooks, workbooks, and the HIG. I'm going to continue with Miquon. Continue playing the RS games. And continue with extra math activities (Living Math books, Family Math games, Pinterest ideas), so I feel as though I wouldn't need to buy a ton of extra SM workbooks.

 

As far as manipulatives, I have a ton of them for math. Too many to list. I tend to make them as well. C-rods are golden. I'm dropping MM for tactical reasons. I'm tired of printing it all out and then organizing all the loose math papers. And I like the idea of having the texts to use with my dd. It will save me a bit of money in future to not have to buy (or continue to print out) the entire math program for her all over again. 

 

 

[JessReplanted]

Let's pretend for a moment that I'm still looking at different math curriculum for my 1st grader.

 

What books would we need? I keep hearing about HIGs and Challenging Word Problems and, Standards & US Edition. I see text books and workbooks and HIGs, OH MY!

 

And each book set (1A, 1B) is one semester, correct?

 

If we were talking IRL and you said that you were looking at SM, I would tell you how much we hated it. I had ALL of the books, and it did not work for us at all. The lack of defined space in the workbook (here is where you work out your problem, here is where your answer goes) was a huge issue for my messy writer. Honestly, I really just hated every part of it.

 

We switched to CLE, and while math is still challenging for my son, it is no longer an impossible task.

[yinanyinu]

We use SM also, but the New Syllabus offered in Singapore (metric system, Singapore currency). It is the only system we use for math, and I always buy the TB, WB, and all the recommended extra practice books at the same level--A&B (sometimes as many as 8). We just glance at the TB, and then on to the WB which provide just the right amount of basic practice of the material. It wouldn't be enough for DC to achieve any kind of facility, let alone mastery of the skill. The practice books seem to be of varying difficulty, and DC works through them in order. There are a lot of problems, but I don't worry about it being busywork because there is quite a variety. Even the easy word problems are multi-step affairs. The practice books all have answers in the back, sometimes with working. I haven't felt a need for the TM, but once in a while I do have to consult the answer to find out how the problem should be solved. DC usually zip through the WB and one or two practice books without any difficulty. The other practice books will require more effort and thought, with some questions needing to be corrected a few times. DD & DS are not strong in math, perhaps if they were then the practice books would be easier. That said, they willingly work through them and feel pride and a sense of accomplishment after finally solving a problem that previously stumped them.

 

When DC were younger, we had various manipulatives I picked up here and there like counting sticks, chips, etc.... I tend to be very ad hoc with materials and was not methodical looking for them, nor did I invest much in them. When I needed to show something but didn't have the right manipulative, I just used diagrams.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Using SM (Standards Edition) was probably the single best homeschooling decision I have made for K-6. The HIG was central to our success with it. Many people overlook the mental math drills in the back of the HIG (and then complain that there is no facts practice...my pet peeve), so be sure to include that. The supplements provided great flexibility for us. You will especially appreciate this if you have very different types of kids.

[Elisabet1]

I use a textbook and a workbook and I use the US Edition. There are a variety of editions...3rd edition and US edition and now they have others. When I first started home schooling, there was not HIG or any other sort of teachers guides. I do not like the idea of a teachers guide. Since they were not written with them, I sort of feel like they will have the teacher present the topics in the way the TM wants, which was written by curriculum provider here instead of the writers of SM. I already taught the entire series to my older children before the TMs came out, so I am not going to start using them now. 

 

The rest of the books are all supplements. Decide if you want to use them, if they fit your needs. I used Challenging Word Problems before and ended up not caring for it.

[Julie of KY]

I've used SM for four kids now. I have had no problem teaching without the HiG, though I am a mathy person. I've used only the text and workbook for the early years. For some kids, I've added the challenging word problems - currently I'm supplementing with Beast Academy.

 

There is not too much difference between Standard and US edition and both teach metric. I still even use many of the old 3rd edition textbooks alongside the newer US edition workbooks.

[El...]

I am a math-insecure person (!!), and we are using both Miquon and Singapore Standards Edition.  I did not use the HIG much for the first grade stuff, so I didn't buy it yet with the second grade A-book.  If I weren't leaning so heavily on Miquon, I think I would really need that HIG.  I figure I'll order it if I feel lost in a few weeks, but since Miquon introduces the new concepts before Singapore does and I use the Miquon Lab Sheet Annotations to refresh my own memory, we are ok so far.  My dd thinks Miquon is the "fun math" and Singapore is the "easy math". 

[Alte Veste Academy]

I do not like the idea of a teachers guide. Since they were not written with them, I sort of feel like they will have the teacher present the topics in the way the TM wants, which was written by curriculum provider here instead of the writers of SM.

From the Singapore Math web site (bolding mine):

 

I am using Primary Mathematics to teach my children at home. Do I need a guide?

A guide is recommended, but not obligatory. Primary Mathematics follows a concrete to pictorial to abstract sequence of instruction. The concrete introduction is not in the textbooks. Suggestions for introducing the concepts concretely are given in the guides. The guides also provide background notes to the teacher explaining the concepts and how they fit in with the program as a whole, as well as information about what was previously taught. The guide also emphasizes places where concepts are taught differently from most U.S. texts, such as bar models to diagram word problems and the mental math techniques. From just looking at the textbooks, it has sometimes been assumed that learning math facts is not required, since the textbooks and workbooks do not include drills on the math facts. Learning math facts is, however, a necessary part of the curriculum and suggestions on how to help students memorize math facts, as well as some mental math sheets, are in the guides. Therefore, the guides round out the curriculum.

The teachers who are using SM in Singapore have been extensively trained in its implementation. They are taught what is in the HIG (mathematical reasoning and how to introduce math concretely) before they teach SM with a TB in the classroom. The HIG is meant to provide that background knowledge and teacher training for the home instructor. I know many people here have used SM without a TG or HIG, but they exist to make SM more like the math actually taught by professionals in Singapore, as a precursor to the TB, not to get in the way of it.