If you delay SM (or think it's a good idea)

[mamamindy]

Now that I'm gearing up to use Singapore Primary math with my 3rd child, I really feel like this program is best when you wait a bit…for my kids at least.

 

So my question is, do you start with something else, before using Singapore?  And when (approximately - I know it's so different for each child) do you begin SM?

 

I'm thinking I'd like to use Miquon (I'm currently using some books with my older girls, although we didn't use this as our primary program nor did they start at the beginning) and also use SM (at some point in the future) because I'm most comfortable with it.  I'm familiar with it, it provides some security for me as a teacher.  So I'm just thinking ahead.  Thanks for any suggestions.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have four kids who have finished or are going through SM.  With my first we used Miquon and then MUS. With my second we added MUS.  With my third, things have been complicated due to some learning disabilities. With my fourth, we've used Dreambox, education unboxed, and some Ronit Bird materials---tons of cuisenaire work.  I plan to keep the same mix of things with kid5 when she starts in a couple of years. We've already started fun play and patterning games with cuisenaire rods and we're working on early subitization skills.

[EKS]

We used RightStart B between Singapore 1A/B and 2A.  My son had been having trouble with Singapore, but after doing RS, when we switched back to Singapore it was smooth sailing!

[Spy Car]

I think using Miquon and Miquon-Like methods helps make the Singapore-style math very clear. Education Unboxed has video samples of this sort of teaching/learning.

 

Bill

[sweetpea3829]

I like the idea of holding off on Singapore 1A for awhile.  We are using MUS as a springboard with our youngest two.  Actually, with the middle boy, we tried Singapore 1A at the "regular" time and it was a flop.  So he has completed all of Alpha and half of Beta and will return to 1A in September.  

 

The youngest is working through Alpha over the summer and will begin 1A with his brother in September, assuming he continues to retain Alpha concepts as he has.  

I don't generally love MUS as a stand-alone curriculum, but I do like it as a launching off point.  I think it lays the foundations really well.  And the block "parts" lend themselves readily to Singapore's bar models and number bonds.  

[mamamindy]

Ahh, the MUS suggestions.  I wouldn't mind trying MUS, but IMO it's pretty pricey to use it as a supplement.  It intrigues me though.

 

I think for now we'll try out Miquon from the beginning (since I have it here, DS is very familiar already with the rods) and perhaps start SM mid-year or even late into the "school year" - we're year-rounders anyway - since he'll be a very young 1st grader.

 

I've really liked SM at the right time, and hope it continues to be a good fit for us.

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

For my DS, we started RS B at age 4.5 I think.  He got about 75% through it, then we sped through SM1 and went into 2.  He is entering 3rd grade now and in SM4, so we're covering a bit more than a level per year.  

 

With DD, I was not motivated to do RS again (although I love it as a concept!), but we did a lot of abacus and cuisinaire rod work in pre-k.  In K, we started SM1, set it down for a bit and did lots of cuisinaire rod stuff from Education unboxed, and then picked SM1 back up again with great success.  She is going into 1st grade and starting 1b.  

 

I find that Singapore 1 requires that the teacher bring a lot of ideas to the program to make it work for little ones.  Using either the RS abacus methods or cuisinaire rod methods for concrete explantations changes the program into a very kid-friendly program.  When we had to take a break in SM1 with DD, it's because she just wasn't "getting" subtraction.  So we did a whole lot of number bond and part-whole circle stuff straight from Education Unboxed until she really got the connection between adding and subtracting operations.  When we picked up SM again, she was ready to zoom ahead.  

 

For my son, he was done needing rods by the end of 2a.  DD doesn't like the rods, and I can see she's starting to move things around in her mind now rather than use them.  She will take out an 8 and a 5 to find the sum, but rather than breaking the 5 into 2 and 3, I can see her thinking it through in her mind.  I think she'll be done with rods as fast as she possibly can.