First Grade Math - Singapore?

[Guest]

My older children used MUS or CLE for early elementary math.  I am looking at other options for my younger two though.  I am really drawn to Singapore Math because I like the samples, and the colorful textbook.   Is Singapore difficult to teach everyday?  

 

I am also considering Math Mammoth or CLE.  Of these three, which one would you choose, and why?

Edited May 6, 2016 by Guest

[luckymom]

When I asked about this recently, the majority of recommendations were for Math Mammoth.

[Guest]

CLE...

 

 

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[Janeway]

I love Singapore Math. I do not use a teacher's guide. I teach straight from the textbook and the workbook is done as independent work. I pull together a visual way to show the lesson most of the time. So, if we are adding, I might pull out beads, dolls, hot wheels, but I have base ten blocks too, MUS blocks, etc. If we are learning measurements, I might have them measure things around the house, measure themselves. I use real coins to learn how to count money. It is really easy! I am not one to want to follow a TM if I do not have to.

[wendyroo]

I love Singapore, but it just got too complicated and expensive to do it "right".  I wanted to add in a bit of Intensive Practice to up the challenge and some Process Skills to explicitly teach the bar model and some Challenging Word Problems to practice using the bar model and suddenly I was juggling bits and pieces of 6 books at a time (HIG, textbook, workbook, IP, Process Skills, CWP) AND still had to schedule fact drill!!

 

Now we use Math Mammoth.  Period, end of story - thorough, challenging, easy to implement, easy to customize.  Peter does occasionally work in Beast Academy, and I allow him to count that as the day's math, but it is just a fun option, not a planned supplement that I feel is necessary.

 

Wendy

[Porridge]

There is a learning curve to teaching Singapore and it does have a lot of parts to juggle (teacher guide, text, work book).  That being said, many people don't really use the teacher's guide. I would try to look at a text book to see whether it's self explanatory enough for you to teach from the text. Some older kids might be able to teach themselves from the textbook.

 

That being said, Math Mammoth teaches many concepts in a way similar to Singapore. It's not as pretty, but it's super-easy to implement. The text teaches directly to the learner. Your older children would likely be able to work mostly independently. MM is also cheaper.

[Janeway]

The Teacher's guide only came out well after the books were out. They were made after the fact for the American home school market. Many people on these boards were using Singapore Math well before the TMs came out. I use the textbook as a TM and the workbook for them to work out of. We do the textbooks together. The activities we do, I got from one of the WTM books that I owned. I may have had both the first and second edition. SWB suggested the home made manipulative and such. 

[Targhee]

Singapore levels K-2 are deceptively simple looking. You could teach them without a lot of instructional activities, but that's not how they are designed to be used.

 

I don't think it is difficult to teach, especially when you understand the Singapore approach/method. I *HIGHLY* recommend you use the HIG in order to understand how to teach it. You could do it without, but then you miss out on what makes Singapore different (and conceptually stellar).

 

Don't skip over the process of teaching Singapore the "Singapore" way. While most kids can seemingly "get" 1st grade math without too much trouble they often "get" it superficially. Later, when it gets more complicated, they won't have they foundation needed to continue their understanding of math (even if they can do computations).

 

Singapore is a solid program.

[fralala]

We're almost finished with Singapore 1B. I use the Home Instructor's Guide, Textbook, and Workbook and find it very quick and easy to teach-- about 5-10 minutes a lesson. I intentionally move really slowly, so I might do a lesson one day and save the corresponding textbook/workbook pages for the next day. It seems inexpensive to me-- we've been able to use common household objects as manipulatives or make our own. For this level, it has been perfect for us.

[craftyerin]

I have used Singapore exclusively so far (finishing 2B right now) and have always found it very straightforward to teach with the HIG, textbook, and workbook. Additionally, my 2nd graders have EXCELLENT number sense and problem solving skills. I have no experience with CLE, but I am in general agreement with everything Kate writes about SM and MM in her reviews of each program on her blog: 

http://kateshomeschoolmath.com/curriculum/

[arliemaria]

Singapore levels K-2 are deceptively simple looking. You could teach them without a lot of instructional activities, but that's not how they are designed to be used.

 

I don't think it is difficult to teach, especially when you understand the Singapore approach/method. I *HIGHLY* recommend you use the HIG in order to understand how to teach it. You could do it without, but then you miss out on what makes Singapore different (and conceptually stellar).

 

Don't skip over the process of teaching Singapore the "Singapore" way. While most kids can seemingly "get" 1st grade math without too much trouble they often "get" it superficially. Later, when it gets more complicated, they won't have they foundation needed to continue their understanding of math (even if they can do computations).

 

Singapore is a solid program.

 

Could you elaborate on this?  We are currently the middle of 1B and I have not used the HIG only the Textbook and Workbook.  I do have the HIG's for 2A/2B.  I do feel he is understanding the math very well, but of course worry that I am will miss something.  He does keep surprising me that he understands stuff with little instruction.  When I introduced the addition/subtraction of say 8 + 7 = he instinctively knew to make a 10 and then add the remaining number. So, 8 + 2 is 10 + 5 = 15.  We had done a little big of Professor Pig's Magic Math and he looked at me after completing the page and said, "It's just like the magic numbers."