Would Singapore 1A be ridiculous for a three year old?

[Sarah0000]

Has anyone done it?

 

About a month ago shortly after my son turned three I decided I wanted to add a little bit of structured lesson time into our day. Mostly just for routine, but also because I just had a baby and I knew I wouldn't have as much time for all the on the fly types of learning we were doing before. I have the Right Start Activities for the Al Abacus book and games, and various manipulatives we had been doing.

 

So I started with piano and handwriting because I figured that was the easiest to just follow along in a book things. Then I added in math with Mep Reception. Well I am surprised at how quickly we've been blowing through it. Because we had been doing some RS style things all the number sense stuff is way below his level. There's so much variety that some stuff is new to him, but he's understood everything very quickly.

 

So I ordered Miquon Orange. It seems really easy for him too, although I haven't looked through everything in depth yet. He plays Sum Swamp without difficulty, and I don't think Miquon Orange gets any more difficult than that. Again, there are new ways of doing things, new ways of showing the same thing, so he is expanding, but not learning any further. And he's done twelve pages in two days.

 

I know that's already more than sufficient math for a young three year old. But I do want to continue slightly challenging him in thus area. I knew he was advanced before this (reading early, spontaneously writing, etc) but I didn't realize math came so easily to him. I didn't realize this until we started an actual curriculum.

 

Anyway, I plan to continue Miquon for the long haul, but that's a more independent play kind of activity. I also read lots of living math books and do some spontaneous math stuff and of course games. We have both enjoyed the sit down math time we've had with Reception though, and I'd like to continue with our math lessons (the other stuff doesn't really feel like a lesson). I've heard Mep Year 1 is very different from Reception, and harder than Singapore 1a.

 

Given all this (thanks for reading the novel), do you think its a good idea to try out Singapore 1 after we finish Reception in a couple months? Is there something else I should consider instead? I feel like he's ready for the math, but back when I was just researching homeschooling I fell in love with the better late than early ideas and swore I wouldn't start any kind of structured curriculums until he was compulsory school age, and now I feel ridiculous considering this new plan.

[Sarah0000]

Forgot to add that he can write just fine. Speech is where he's more average, which is probably part of the reason I didn't realize he could handle math so easily.

[Barb_]

No but 1B would be ridiculous for a 4yo. It really jumps! I suggest taking 1A nice a slow and use it for inspiration for games and things.

[rebbyribs]

My 5 year olds are finishing it up after breezing through Singapore Essentials A & B.  It was sometimes a bit too much writing for my son,  My daughter has had trouble with the section on subtracting from teen numbers.  1A teaches the addition and subtraction facts through 10 and then teaches the strategy that you can solve 12-7 as 10-7 +2.  That has proven to be a difficult concept, and she requires prompting to work through it.  I think it's the only big leap in 1A though, so it sounds about right for where your son is.

[go_go_gadget]

If you're planning to continue Miquon and the supplemental stuff, what's prompting you to consider adding in yet another program for a three year-old? You could, and assuming you don't force him to do more than he's ready for I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but unless *he's* asking for more work, I think what you have going already is plenty.

[SeaConquest]

What about more math games? 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Math-for-Love-Prime-Climb/dp/B00PG9590G

 

Or some of the logic games by Think Fun?

 

 

[Sarah0000]

I'm actually looking for something that isn't a lot of games since we do RS games and Miquon, plus lots of other random things including board games. I am looking for something that is more parent led with him following specific instructions. I know that sounds odd to want that, but for some reason that is nice to have for a short time a few times a week.

[Sarah0000]

If you're planning to continue Miquon and the supplemental stuff, what's prompting you to consider adding in yet another program for a three year-old? You could, and assuming you don't force him to do more than he's ready for I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but unless *he's* asking for more work, I think what you have going already is plenty.

It's just because it is nice having something open and go that we can sit down and do together in a structured way. I'm not sure why it's a nice routine for us. Math is just fun I guess. But you are right. For some reason it never crossed my mind that I could simply do a different subject to replace the time we currently spend on Mep Reception. Right now we do structured regular lessons in piano and handwriting in addition to Mep. What else, in any subject, would be a fun open and go program that can be done sitting at the table while eating a snack? Something that would prompt discussion and that would require puzzling through concepts?

[Um_2_4]

I'm not familiar with MEP that much (just looked it over, but decided against it). I would try Mathematical reasoning from CTC? Very much do the next thing,open and go, open for discussion, etc. Little to no prep work. You can do it orally or write in the book, your choice. They also have some other curriculum you might like. Thinking skills is one or balance benders (algebraic reasoning) is another.

My kids liked Stepping Stones by EPS for a critical thinking/logic program for Kg/1st. You do need the teacher guide as it has some things to be read aloud to the student. Might work for your son.

 

Singapore 1A does make some jumps rather quickly, but you could take it slowly.

 

[go_go_gadget]

I found lots of great ideas in Montessori and Reggio Emilia books for that stage. You said he's reading; what does that mean? Is he reading beginning readers (Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, etc.) or novels? 

[Sarah0000]

Is there something suitable in science actually?

[Guest]

Have you exposed to things like tangrams? I agree that Singore jumps quite quickly and I'd be doing more exploratory play and puzzling with him. Spatial reasoning and logic are quite appealing to many math adept students and it could help slow his pace a bit so he doesn't hit Singapore B too hard and too quickly.

 

And? Geoboards. Nobody gets tired of those silly things, especially when rubber band launching is allowed at the end ;)

[crazyforlatin]

Thinking back to that age for DD, I would say learning a foreign language is more important than learning math from Singapore. We did Spanish and Chinese, but I sure wish we had kept going to the local German and French schools. Math can done quite quickly with a math-oriented child (like yours) if you wanted to delay Singapore 2 years later, and if I had a do-over I would focus more on languages. And, if I had to add more math, I would do what Artic Mama suggests. Spatial reasoning shows up in math contests.

 

For science, I would borrow library books.

[Sarah0000]

We read lots of science books already.

 

For foreign language I read him bilingual Spanish books on beginner topics like colors, meal time, etc and also try to ask him questions and make simple statements in Spanish when it comes up. We listen to music in Spanish and German. I haven't found a program that would be interesting to such a young one that wasn't just memorizing vocabulary (like Song School Spanish). Is there one?

[Sarah0000]

Yes, he has tangrams and a geoboard and free printables from the web to go along with them. Math, and probably logic in general, is kind of saturating our day, isn't it?

[wendyroo]

When Sum Swamp got too easy, I changed out the dice for ones with higher numbers.

 

If you are looking for a sit down subject, what about introducing some geography?  I used Maps, Charts and Graphs A with my 3 and 5 year olds this year.  It was too easy for the 5 year old, and not overly difficult for the 3 year old, but it covered a lot of foundational topics.  Next year we are switching to Down To Earth geography.

 

Wendy

[SparklyUnicorn]

Not ridiculous.  Worst case you just set it aside if it doesn't work out.

 

You might like some of the books from The Critical Thinking Company.

 

Here is a link:

 

http://www.criticalthinking.com/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?grade[]=all&subject[]=121

 

(I am not associated with this company.   Just sharing info.) 

[EKS]

It's not ridiculous if that is what he enjoys.  However, you might want to check out RightStart as it is very good for younger children.

[crazyforlatin]

We read lots of science books already.

 

For foreign language I read him bilingual Spanish books on beginner topics like colors, meal time, etc and also try to ask him questions and make simple statements in Spanish when it comes up. We listen to music in Spanish and German. I haven't found a program that would be interesting to such a young one that wasn't just memorizing vocabulary (like Song School Spanish). Is there one?

Have you seen this site? http://www.gpb.org/salsa/term/episode

 

Each episode has a transcript in PDF if you are not fluent in Spanish.

[Tanikit]

I don't think it is ridiculous - my 3 year old did a lot of Horizons K and then we slipped Singapore 1a in now as she is 4, but I adapt everything for my children and work at their pace. In the early years with both my children I tend to use a lot of different things - some really basic with stickers that are just fun and others where a concept is presented without all the testing, a lot of manipulative play and real life Math, plenty of living Math books, and then the curriculum in some or many forms because they ask for it (my youngest loves workbooks).

 

This means that the writing takes a back seat - my eldest did very little writing at age 3 or 4, but my youngest likes to write and form letters and numbers - teach them what they want to know.

 

 

 

 

[acurtis75]

We did Song School Latin starting at around that age (been a while so I can't remember exactly when we started). It wasn't around when we started but I like mathusee (MUS) primer and plan to use it when my youngest is ready to start playing with numbers. You could also go straight to alpha if he already knows some numbers. My daughter loved playing with the blocks when she was 4/5 and learned a lot of math concepts on her own using them. 

 

I know MUS isn't always recommended for accelerated kids but I have a 10 year old who started with alpha after suffering through Horizon and Singapore for K/1st. She could do the math easily but didn't enjoy the pace. She then moved very quickly through all the mus programs including pre-algebra. I slowed her down some with supplements like singapore cwp, life of fred, beast academy, etc but now she is easily working through AOPs pre-algebra so I think MUS gave her a solid basic math foundation.

[LTBernard]

I haven't read all the previous posts, but I did read far enough to see that you want to be able to hang out and think some things out.  I would suggest logic things.  My DS and I worked through a logic links book and enjoyed it!  They have different levels of workbooks, but they also have a puzzle box. We haven't tried it, but I am sure it is great!
http://smile.amazon.com/MindWare-Logic-Links-Puzzle-Box/dp/B000NR4BLY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428809397&sr=8-1&keywords=logic+links

[Gabrielsyme]

I have the same question! I came home from a Homeschool Conference last night with Singapore Essentials A and my barely three year old has blown through 56 lessons in the seven or so waking hours since I pulled in the driveway. I knew Essentials A would be very easy for him but this is his first introduction to structured work and I wasn't sure how motivated he would be (obviously I still don't know how much he'll want to do long term.) I've accelerated my daughter vertically this past year and am now trying to slow down and spread out horizontally. She's 5 and working at or beyond 2nd grade in every subject and while I know that's not nearly as accelerated as some kids on this forum I've been doing a lot of thinking and would like to try and slow things down and spread out. I think mastery is important so I'm not only concerned with whether or not they can get the right answer but in how they work through a problem which in her case is going to require some extra work with Miquon, etc... Somehow skipping a child ahead seems simpler to me than pursuing "more" horizontally. Trying now to work at understanding what that's going to look like. I don't want a 14 year old high school graduate. We're adding foreign language (Japanese) and more advanced map work as we segue into what I'm calling 1st grade in a couple of weeks so I'm hoping that starts to soak up some of their interest. Still wondering if I should order 1A though as there is a point at which the child's just not challenged at all. 

[SoCal_Bear]

You might want to consider adding in Kitchen Table Math as well. The only challenge with 1A/1B is the writing output required. I am thinking back and believe that I was using 1A/1B with my four year old who had decent fine motor skills and could write. My 6yo is currently in the middle of 3B with other stuff throw in to slow things down and build problem solving skills (IP, CWP, Speed Maths, Borac, Zaccaro, Life of Fred) while providing plenty of challenge since I am not interested in getting to Algebra as fast as possible. Beast Academy is going to get throw into the sequence as well as soon as we wrap up 3A/3B. I am fairly certain I am going to insert Hands on Equations, MOEMS and Hard Math as well at some point along the way. 

[Jackie]

Another option for math would be books like Bedtime Math or Math Fables.

 

Since you mentioned something to do while sitting down and eating a snack, I'm thinking episodes of Salsa Spanish or science videos from The Happy Scientist. Those are the things DD and I watch on the iPad while having our snacks.

[Porridge]

Not ridiculous at all to want to introduce the concepts presented in Singapore 1, but might be too "structured" for a 3 year old. When we did it with my daughter, I would adapt the lessons heavily, picking and choosing concepts and trying to present them in an age appropriate way. I also did not expect her to do all of the problems in the work book. Some people complain the workbook doesn't have enough practice problems, but if your child is precocious, having them show that they can do 1-2 problems from a given page or concept might be enough. I allowed my daughter to do the calculations in her and and not write them down, as long as she could verbally explain it to me so that I knew she understood the concepts.

 

another person posted about this, but definitely check out critical thinking company. They have a series called Balance Math and Balance Benders. They were great for my math-loving child and more interesting to her than the rote practice that you find in singapore.

[Sarah0000]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

DS does not like Salsa Spanish, but I'll check out The Happy Scientist. Although I only use screen time when I need it not as a matter of course. In other words...he's bouncing around and I need to put the baby to sleep.

 

One of his strong points is fine motor, so he actually does really well with written work. Not quite on par with the grade level he's working at yet, but I've only just started teaching handwriting. He started filling in numbers in the Miquon book although I never taught him how to write them or even how to write in boxes or on lines.

 

I thought about it more and I realized that what we like about Mep is that its got a variety of activities, is somewhat hands on but with no clean up, and is super easy to pull out and do in short periods of free time. So I've decided to make another binder like it, but pulling together sheets on the subjects we don't get to as frequently as I'd like (art, spelling, poetry) or that we don't do much written/visual work in (foreign language, science, history). I also plan to weave the traditional preschool concepts throughout like manners, community helpers, months of the year, etc. I will probably focus on Spanish and poetry, and throw in other stuff randomly for variety.

 

He's really got plenty of math/logic stuff. He discovered the other Miquon books on the shelf and now he wants to do those too. LOL. But I dont want him to get too much into them because one thing about Miquon is that it encourages the use of the rods, which is fine, but I don't want him to forget how to do math mentally either, like that is encouraged in Mep Reception and Right Start. He doesn't need rods to figure out addition and subtraction within five, kwim?