Thoughts on Singapore Math - Good and Bad

[MomN]

I used RightStart C with my son last year, and we flew through it.  I decided to switch to Singapore 3A & B this year mostly because I wanted my son to be more independent with his math.  I chose the Standard Edition because I read that it provides more instruction in the HIG.  

So, we are half way through the year.  I like that Singapore feels more challenging that RS.  But, at times, everything feels rushed.  In order to get through reviews, tests, cumulative tests, and the daily workbook is quite a challenge.  In fact, I feel like there is enough in 1 book to fill out an entire year.  So, a couple of questions:

1)  3rd grade math - how long should we be working in a day?  We currently work a good 20 minutes daily, maybe 30 minutes, but my son can't do much after that. It doesn't seem like that amount of time will allow us to finish both books (not that that's the most important thing).

2) I haven't found the HIG as helpful as I thought it would be.  I don't particularly like teaching from the HIG and the textbook, but I also don't find the "Singapore Way" much different than anything I was taught.  Yes, there are the occasional bar graph models, but that's it as far as I can tell.  Am I missing something here?

3) Everything feels rushed at times.  Maybe this is because we still need to fully master the multiplication and division facts, but at times it feels like we are just surviving through it.  Like nothing is mastered and we are just finding our way.

Can anyone relate?  Lately, maybe because of the pandemic, I feel like I just need that extra affirmation like "yeah, I know exactly what you are talking about."  

 

Laura

 

[Lori D.]

There is not much "fat" to Singapore, so if your student needs to spend extra time on a topic, that's when I would go to a supplement. Which gives you the added bonus of seeing math from a different perspective, and aids in building math thinking / math connections.

Also, when we did Singapore, lo these many years ago 😉 , it consisted of only a thin teacher book and the student workbooks. We didn't have all the extra books/materials, but apparently we did just fine without them. 😄 

Singapore was a great fit/perfect amount for math-minded DS#1; he whizzed through it with no troubles.

Singapore was NOT a fit for math-struggler DS#2; we tried it in 2nd grade and it moved too fast with not enough practice and not enough help to "see the big picture" for him. Lots of math melt-downs every time we returned to it after taking a break with a math supplement (which would go well). We went with something else that was a better fit for him. Later on in grades 6/7/8, I was able to use excerpts of Singapore 4/5/6 with him to boost problem-solving skills, and that worked fine.


ETA -- PS
If it's taking longer than 20-25 minutes for a lesson, you can always stop and "loop" what is left for the next day, and then start into the next lesson, go till you hit 20-25 minutes, stop, loop remainder of the new lesson to the next day. Rinse. Repeat.

Or, you can extend time on a topic by using a second math program that comes at it from a different angle as a supplement. That will give you time to "sit" on a topic and really absorb/master it before switching back to the spine of Singapore and moving on to the next topic.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Lori D.

[ElizabethB]

RightStart is similar to Singapore, so you may not notice too much difference in the method, RightStart is also conceptual.

With my son, 20 to 30 minutes a day was enough to finish the book in a year. 

My daughter needed extra time and work, best to do math twice a day or on weekends or in the summer. If you do twice a day, do other subjects between.

You will go 2X or 3X as slow if math facts are not mastered. Flashmaster is good for independent work, it's now an app.

https://flashmaster.com

I like the 60 second sweep for multiplication facts, I do a few rows at a time, keep 2 copies, one with answers. If they can't answer within a second, look up on copy with answers, work until they can do them in 1 second each. You say "2 twos, 3 fours," etc to say the facts fast, don't say times or multiply. 

https://www.rcsdk8.net/cms/lib3/CA01001036/Centricity/Domain/302/60 second sweep.pdf

[caffeineandbooks]

I use the US edition, which is similar to but not identical to the newer standards edition.  I have one kid in 3A at the moment, and another in 5A.  I do think the level 3 year is a particularly big one.  They're not totally solid on their times tables yet (even though you've drilled them until they *seem* solid, perhaps more than once!), and suddenly they're being asked to apply those facts while they grapple with multi digit division.  We limped across the finish line the first time, and I was pretty sure I was going to have to re-teach all that long division the following year because he didn't seem to quite get it, but it seemed to magically sink in for him during the holidays when we were doing no school at all.  I do want to encourage you that the 4th grade material was not nearly such a slog for us, and he seems well set up for trickier stuff like dividing fractions in 5A.  

Is your struggle that the material moves too quickly and your son doesn't have time to grasp the concept before the book moves on, or is it that there is too much on the to-do list?

If you need MORE time with concepts, don't be afraid to slow it down.  Singapore is paced so that if you do one exercise or review each day, four days a week, for a standard American school year, you should get through it - but it is MUCH better to take more than a year and be solid on the material, even if a little behind official "grade level", rather than rush on to the next level with gaps in his learning.  It's much harder to catch up later after bad habits and a hatred of math are ingrained.  You could try doing any teaching of concepts and textbook work one day, and saving the workbook exercise to the next day (perhaps he could complete this independently while you work with another kid or do some housework if need be), planning to work five or even six days a week instead.  Or you could split the work into two chunks, with something very different in between - whether that's an "easy" subject, or lunch, or running around for a while to let his brain process and recharge.  Are the tests adding value for you?  We don't use any; I can tell if he's getting the material, and that is confirmed if he can complete those periodic review exercises independently.  If you dropped the tests you might pick up some time.  You could also use the "extra practice" books if you want to spend more time understanding/practicing a concept before moving on, or use some of the games in the Home Instructor Guide for reinforcement (do you have the one by Jennifer Hoerst?).  I have been known to help a kid eke out that extra ten minutes of concentration time needed to finish a lesson with a strategically timed plate of brownies on occasion 😉 

If you need LESS time with concepts - if he understands the material quickly and easily - then don't feel you have to do all the different bits.  We seldom crack open the textbook, and if he's ready to tackle the exercises after a five minute intro, I certainly don't make him sit through a whole big "lesson".  Again, you might consider cutting the tests unless they add value for you.  When there are those workbook pages of 20 problems in a row, make a deal with him that if he gets the left hand column all correct, he doesn't have to do the right hand column.  Definitely keep some kind of light, five minute a day times table drill running in the background.  The "mental math" pages in the home instructor guide could fill this need, or the flashcard apps that @ElizabethB linked to, or playing multiplication war, or whatever works for you.  You can do it while he's brushing his teeth - it doesn't have to be in "math time" - but if he's not rock solid with the times table facts, he'll be using too much brain power to work them out and will likely struggle with concepts like multi-digit division or multiplying fractions.

[Clemsondana]

I did Singapore with both of my kids, who are different from each other.  We did the workbook and the cumulative tests, but only used other resources if they were needed, which they usually weren't.  We used the textbook if they needed it, but often a short explanation sufficed, or maybe we looked at the first example in the text - the one with the pictures showing what happened.  We only worked other problems in the textbook or the 'daily test' problems if they needed more practice at a concept...which maybe happened once every year or 2, if that often.  

Not knowing arithmetic facts can make math go excruciatingly slowly.  I do volunteer tutoring, and that's been one of the biggest issues that I've seen - multiplication, division, and equivalent fractions all take forever if students can't multiply quickly  You could take a break to work on facts, but I'd probably add 5 minutes of facts drills, whether online, flash cards, or a page of 'minute drills', a couple of times each week.  

As for speed, we have co-op once a week so we only school at home 4 days.  We got through the Singapore program in that time.  Occasionally we'd slow down to fix something, but we would also move much more quickly through the geometry at the end so if we wanted to 'make up time' we'd double up on those (although that usually left us finishing a bit early, so one lesson a day would have probably been fine).  My older kid is very intuitive with  math so isn't really a great example of how any program works.  My younger is very capable but also a...much less enthusiastic learner...no matter what program or subject we do.  

[MomN]

Thank you so much for your comments!

I think the real struggle is that there is too much on the to-do list.  He is understanding long division, for example, but he's slow at it, so trying to complete a test on it takes a long time.  And of course I don't expect his multiplication facts to be perfect because he needs mastery which takes time.  But, everything gets done slowly because of this.

"Singapore is paced so that if you do one exercise or review each day, four days a week, for a standard American school year, you should get through it" --- question about this.  So in my Standard Edition 3A HIG - it shows an 18 week schedule (half the year).  If I look at, for example, Unit 4 Chapter 2.  There are 4 days of learning about multiplying and dividing, 2 more days of practice, and two long unit tests on it (which my son usually can't finish in a day).  Plus, extra practice.  So, that would make at least 8 days of learning for me in a week's time.  What am I missing about finishing in four days a week?  As far as I can see, this is the only schedule given.  Another example, Unit 4 Chapter 1 has five days of learning new skills, 1 day of practice, and two long tests again - again that is at least 8 days of learning for me that should be complete in a week.  Do I need to double up on days and do two textbook lessons and two sets of workbook lessons?

Thanks for the drill ideas!

Laura

Edited February 12, 2021 by MomN

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, MomN said:

... I think the real struggle is that there is too much on the to-do list.  He is understanding long division, for example, but he's slow at it, so trying to complete a test on it takes a long time

... And of course I don't expect his multiplication facts to be perfect because he needs mastery which takes time.  But, everything gets done slowly because of this.

... Do I need to double up on days and do two textbook lessons and two sets of workbook lessons?

re: tests are slow
We never did tests/quizzes -- I could *see* from our daily working whether was DS was comprehending each lesson or not. No need for a test to tell me that. 😉 So that's one way to speed it up -- drop the tests. And only do the extra practice *as needed*. Only use what is on the to-do list *if it actually helps* with learning, practice, or reinforcement. Busy work and unneeded elements should be crossed off that list immediately.

re: slow working because of not having multiplication facts perfect
You can hand him a multiplication chart to use while doing the exercises to speed things up, and then spend 5-10 minutes at a later time in the day to practice daily math facts. Eventually facts embed and he won't need to refer to the chart.

You might look at Times Tables the Fun Way (visual & silly sentence embeds the fact into long term memory), or Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication videos (a catchy song as memory aid) as a fun way to embed math facts.

We found that triangle flash cards worked the BEST for drilling math facts. They streamline math facts by 75%, as each triangle-shaped flashcard has 3 numbers that make up a "fact family" of FOUR "facts" all in one place. It also visually reinforces the connection between multiplication and division. For example, a card may have a 6 and a 7 in the bottom 2 corners, and 42 in the top triangle corner. Now you can drill 4 facts: 6x7=42.  7x6=42  42/6=7. 42/7=6 -- just put your thumb over one corner and drill 2 facts -- say you cover the 7, now you can drill 42/6 = ____ ,  AND you can simultaneously drill 6x____=42 -- which is great for Algebra thinking. 😉 

re: do I need to double up
NO! Foundational math skills are WAY too crucial to rush through. Students are NOT going to absorb 2 lessons in a day, especially if already moving slowly and not fully getting through 1 lesson in a day. Slower workers need more time (i.e., more weeks) and a slower pace for their brains to absorb the concepts. So DON'T double up.

The schedule is *arbitrary* -- YOU drive that math schedule school bus, slowing and stopping, or skipping and speeding up, as needed by your student. DON'T let the that printed schedule drive your math bus!! If it takes you into the summer to finish up, do it! You can treat it like a "summer bridge math" and have less loss of skills for next year. 😉 

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Lori D.

[gradchica]

Supplements:

I’m on my third Singapore student (currently have students in 6A, 5B, 2B) and although I have all the supplements we rarely use them. I will assign extra practice wb if we actually need extra practice OR if we have hit a wall and are frustrated. I’ll then take a break from moving ahead and use extra practice book for a week or so and then go back to main text/workbook. All of mine are working half a year to two years ahead, so we do occasionally need to slow it down and let everything sink in. 
 

pacing: we generally do 1 lesson and one wb lesson per day (exception: long reviews are split over 2 days, textbook practice is done on its own without any additional work bc they usually take a bit longer). I’m not exactly sure how long it takes us to get through a year—Sometimes we need an extra week, sometimes we end early, but I don’t stress about timing. We just pick up where we left off (our summer break is usually about a month), whether it’s mid book or mid year (I will close out a chapter when we’re heading into a big break). My 3rd grader just started 5B this week. He’s unlikely to finish before summer break, but that’s fine. We’ll just pick it up where we left off. 
 

Drill/review: my only quibble with Singapore is it doesn’t include a lot of review. It also doesn’t have drill work because it assumes you will be doing that in addition to the main program. Well, I didn’t realize that at first and got rather frustrated. So we added drill/review as morning independent work (I started off with worksheets, but I get lazy printing them off so now they do their grade level Rod & Staff independently, which covers review and math fact/arithmetic drill). Another easy drill option would be something like Ray’s Arithmetic. we used to do that together orally bf I went to R&S independent work. 

Overkill? Maybe, but they feel confident and capable in math and that’s a win for me. 

 

the Singapore Way: I find this more pronounced/different in 4th and up. The way they approach word problems in particular (basically teaching algebraic thinking in a visual way—finding the value of one unit) was different from my hazy memories of elementary math. Going through similar topics in 5&6 simultaneously with two kids lets me see how the complexity ramps up and builds on the modeling/problem set up from earlier years. So definitely don’t neglect teaching the set up! I did at first bc it felt foreign to me (I am decidedly not visual—I just wanted to solve for X!) and had to relearn/reteach it later. 

[Emily ZL]

Sometimes with any math curriculum it's easy to get caught up in teaching the *curriculum* rather than the skills. We feel stressed trying to get all the pages and lessons taught, as if finishing our book is the goal. But it's not the goal - the goal is to teach the child math skills and we use a curriculum as a tool to do that. 

When I'm getting stressed about a math curriculum and it just feels like "it's all too much and yet it's going too slow and we'll never cover it all this year!!" I always do the same thing: get a grade-level brain quest workbook. It provides a fun new format, which makes kids temporarily a bit happier. And it contains all the stuff that "they" (the public school folks etc) think a child should know by the end of the year. And it's a finite, manageable amount. If your kid can get through the math sections in the BrainQuest book, he will be totally at grade level for math, and you can relax. At that point, you can give yourself permission to do all the deep dives and problem solving that Singapore provides, while knowing he has all the "meat and potatoes" skills down. Remember, a 3rd grader only needs to work on a finite set of skills, like times tables and borrowing and carrying and such. He doesn't actually need to see, experience, and complete every single page in somebody's math book. 

 

 

 

 

[MomN]

Thank you.  I think I must be doing too much.  Every test.  Every review. And tests and reviews can be super long.  I think if I speed things up according to mastery, we should be fine. 

I'm just curious about the 4 days per week schedule.  Is this only the US edition?  I can't see this in the Standard Edition of 3A.  If you do everything according to schedule one day at time, it adds up to much more than 18 weeks (I'm only looking at 3A).  It looks like each week except maybe the first 3 weeks have at least 6 or 7 activities.  Unless I'm looking at it wrong.  

[Emily ZL]

I don't know about their schedule, but I have never seen a math schedule that was realistic for doing each page.

In our 3rd grade year with my oldest, I got to March and realized we were only halfway through 3B in Beast academy (the year ends with 3D!) and I panicked. He knew nothing and his math facts weren't sticking. I bought math mammoth and printed out about 10 workbook pages for each of the 5-6 major topics we hadn't even touched on yet. In 6 weeks, he learned the entire year's worth of math. He did the summer BQ book for fun in the summer and we started 4th grade with the 4th grade curriculum, and it was totally fine. All the same stuff gets reviewed, and gets reviewed again in 5th grade. 

 

[MomN]

Thanks Emily!  I have heard great stuff about Mammoth.

[caffeineandbooks]

2 hours ago, MomN said:

I'm just curious about the 4 days per week schedule.  Is this only the US edition?  

I just scanned a page from the 3B instructor guide and attached to this post for your reference.  I haven't looked at other editions, so can't say how different it might be than the Standards one.  Occasionally there are more than four days in a scheduled "week", but other times there are fewer, so we've always found it works out - but bear in mind, there are no tests at all in the US edition, only reviews, so that may be the difference.

20210213_082828.PDF

[medawyn]

We don't use the Extra Practice or the Tests, and I don't own either book.  As Lori pointed out, I'm sitting with them for math; I don't need a test to show me if they have mastered a topic.  And the introduction to the HIG definitely states that the Extra Practice and the Tests are supplemental and not necessary for success in the program.  It also recommends choosing one of the tests (chapter OR cumulative) rather than both if you are using the tests.  If I had a student who clearly struggled in multiple topics per year, I might consider the Extra Practice, but so far the textbook and the workbook are sufficient for us.

We also don't write in our textbooks.  We use manipulatives when helpful and discuss the problems orally.  If need be, we might work through a few on the whiteboard, but I don't spend a ton of time working through every bit of the textbook.

We also do fact drill at a separate time so that our math time is spent engaging new ideas and working together.  

We started the year doing 20 minutes/day and are working up to 30 minutes/day, but that is more of a building stamina thing than being worried about not finishing the book.  I do think we'll finish this book in more or less a school year, but I'd rather take whatever time we need to make sure things are mastered than worry about the time frame too much.

 

[MomN]

2 hours ago, caffeineandbooks said:

I just scanned a page from the 3B instructor guide and attached to this post for your reference.  I haven't looked at other editions, so can't say how different it might be than the Standards one.  Occasionally there are more than four days in a scheduled "week", but other times there are fewer, so we've always found it works out - but bear in mind, there are no tests at all in the US edition, only reviews, so that may be the difference.

20210213_082828.PDF 176.23 kB · 3 downloads

I think you're right.  It's the tests.  Those would take us super long to complete.  Thanks!

[MomN]

1 hour ago, medawyn said:

We don't use the Extra Practice or the Tests, and I don't own either book.  As Lori pointed out, I'm sitting with them for math; I don't need a test to show me if they have mastered a topic.  And the introduction to the HIG definitely states that the Extra Practice and the Tests are supplemental and not necessary for success in the program.  It also recommends choosing one of the tests (chapter OR cumulative) rather than both if you are using the tests.  If I had a student who clearly struggled in multiple topics per year, I might consider the Extra Practice, but so far the textbook and the workbook are sufficient for us.

We also don't write in our textbooks.  We use manipulatives when helpful and discuss the problems orally.  If need be, we might work through a few on the whiteboard, but I don't spend a ton of time working through every bit of the textbook.

We also do fact drill at a separate time so that our math time is spent engaging new ideas and working together.  

We started the year doing 20 minutes/day and are working up to 30 minutes/day, but that is more of a building stamina thing than being worried about not finishing the book.  I do think we'll finish this book in more or less a school year, but I'd rather take whatever time we need to make sure things are mastered than worry about the time frame too much.

 

Yes, you are right.  I think I never thought of the tests and extra practices as supplements and that was a mistake (I should have read the intro!!!!!).  I was working through the book as a way to finish it and that was also a mistake.   Going to approach 3B much differently.  I still love Singapore.

 

Thanks so much for the help!

[Not_a_Number]

9 hours ago, MomN said:

And of course I don't expect his multiplication facts to be perfect because he needs mastery which takes time.  But, everything gets done slowly because of this.

If he's still working on multiplication facts, I'd give him fewer long division problems if he demonstrates understanding, but I'd also keep working on multiplication. 

If you don't mind me asking, what multiplication strategies does he use? 

[MomN]

Multiplication strategies - 

So, for 9x7, he would do 10x7 minus 7.  Or he likes the hand trick.

For 8x6, he might do 8x5 plus 6.  Using the 5s as a base. Or 7x7 would be 7x5 plus 14

For 6x4, he might do 12+12.

Those are most of the strategies he has.  Any I'm missing?  I'd love to know more!

[MomN]

8 hours ago, Lori D. said:

You might look at Times Tables the Fun Way (visual & silly sentence embeds the fact into long term memory), or Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication videos (a catchy song as memory aid) as a fun way to embed math facts.

We found that triangle flash cards worked the BEST for drilling math facts. They streamline math facts by 75%, as each triangle-shaped flashcard has 3 numbers that make up a "fact family" of FOUR "facts" all in one place. It also visually reinforces the connection between multiplication and division. For example, a card may have a 6 and a 7 in the bottom 2 corners, and 42 in the top triangle corner. Now you can drill 4 facts: 6x7=42.  7x6=42  42/6=7. 42/7=6 -- just put your thumb over one corner and drill 2 facts -- say you cover the 7, now you can drill 42/6 = ____ ,  AND you can simultaneously drill 6x____=42 -- which is great for Algebra thinking. 😉 

 

Definitely going to check out that book!  And I found the triangle flash cards in my garage - never used them!  Definitely will bring those out.  Thanks for the ideas!

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, MomN said:

Multiplication strategies - 

So, for 9x7, he would do 10x7 minus 7.  Or he likes the hand trick.

For 8x6, he might do 8x5 plus 6.  Using the 5s as a base. Or 7x7 would be 7x5 plus 14

For 6x4, he might do 12+12.

Those are most of the strategies he has.  Any I'm missing?  I'd love to know more!

I hope he doesn't do 8*5 + 6, since that's not 8*6 😉 . But I assume you mean 8*5 + 8. 

There are tons of strategies 🙂 . I tend to discourage the purely memorization tricks like the hand trick, but  I do like the 10*7 - 7 trick. However, you can break up products however you want, and I tend to spend a lot of time with kids on reminding them about that. 

Like, if you're doing 7*6 (for example), that just means you want to add up seven copies of 6. Well... really, if you know ANY other number of copies of 6, that can help! If you already know 6 copies of 6 is 36, you can just add on another 6 and get 42. Or maybe you know that 4 copies of 6 makes 24 and 3 copies of 6 make 18... you can add those together! Or maybe you know that 8 copies of 6 make 48... well, that's one more 6 than we needed, so let's take one away! 

This kind of practice is EXTREMELY beneficial for algebra later, since it really demystifies the distributive property. You always understand the stuff you use a lot best. 

[MomN]

17 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I hope he doesn't do 8*5 + 6, since that's not 8*6 😉 . But I assume you mean 8*5 + 8. 

There are tons of strategies 🙂 . I tend to discourage the purely memorization tricks like the hand trick, but  I do like the 10*7 - 7 trick. However, you can break up products however you want, and I tend to spend a lot of time with kids on reminding them about that. 

Like, if you're doing 7*6 (for example), that just means you want to add up seven copies of 6. Well... really, if you know ANY other number of copies of 6, that can help! If you already know 6 copies of 6 is 36, you can just add on another 6 and get 42. Or maybe you know that 4 copies of 6 makes 24 and 3 copies of 6 make 18... you can add those together! Or maybe you know that 8 copies of 6 make 48... well, that's one more 6 than we needed, so let's take one away! 

This kind of practice is EXTREMELY beneficial for algebra later, since it really demystifies the distributive property. You always understand the stuff you use a lot best. 

Love this!  I like that word copy. 

[MomN]

18 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I hope he doesn't do 8*5 + 6, since that's not 8*6 😉 . But I assume you mean 8*5 + 8. 

 

😆

[Not_a_Number]

4 minutes ago, MomN said:

Love this!  I like that word copy. 

Thanks! You have a good intuition for useful words 🙂. I've experimented with what words make kids interpret multiplication in the most general possible way, and for some reason "copies" was the most palatable to lots of kids.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Not_a_Number]

2 minutes ago, MomN said:

😆

Sorry! That was snarky. I couldn't resist 😄. 

[MomN]

When I read the word copy I seriously said to my "oh my son is totally going to love that word" lol.  Like he's half paying attention but then he likes a word I say and I can get his attention 😁

[Clemsondana]

I always used the multiple choice tests because I knew that my kids would need to do standardized testing at some point and I figured it was good practice since, as others have mentioned, I already mostly knew whether they understood the material and wouldn't have planned on them taking the test if they were still confused.  It let them figure out test strategies like 'I knew those 2 were wrong because the number ended in 1 and you were dividing by 5 but there was no remainder' or 'I could eliminate those 2 just by estimating'.  It also left the open-ended problems available for the rare situations when I wanted more practice.  While the test strategies weren't the point of the test, it is also a skill that I wanted the kids to learn although I can understand if that isn't a priority for others.  

We copied the tests and didn't write in the book, but a friend used the strategy of alternating multiple choice and free response tests (cumulative tests a and b) with her kids, so that one used a for test 1 and be for test 2, while the next student used the remaining tests and did test b for the first and test 1 for the second.  

We only used the HIG as a loose guide - I'd see if we were sort of on schedule, but we would occasionally be able to do less practice and almost always covered the geometry, and sometimes the graphing/data section, more quickly.  One of my kids likes to finish books with a few weeks to spare - that feeling of 'doing school' but only have a few subjects seems to be irrestible.  What that student did was at some point they'd do 2 lessons, but not 2 adjacent lessons.  The geometry and tesselation stuff is kind of free-standing, so they'd do their regular lesson of fractions or long division or whatever and then skip to the end and do a quick geometry lesson.  Those often involved counting angles and edges or calculating volume and sometimes we'd build with blocks or fold paper to make shapes so it felt more fun and less tedious.  

Edited February 13, 2021 by Clemsondana

[Researchmama1]

We use the Singapore Math US edition and we absolutely love it. It works for us because it is really, really minimalist and very streamlined. That works well with our background. I have no doubt that it is not a good fit for others. 
 

I used Cathy Duffy’s resource book for selecting curricula, and I have found her wisdom and insight to be absolutely phenomenal in terms of lining me up with choices that best suit me as an educator. As I get to know each of my children then I can tweak what I am doing to fit them best. 
 

When I first began homeschooling I did some head banging with Abeka which I used for reading with my eldest. I abandoned it for my second child. Some people absolutely love it. I was not one. I subsequently found Cathy Duffy’s book. 
 

Singapore math has a host of choices - maybe another version will suit you better or perhaps another avenue entirely. I can tell you that, for me personally, I somehow felt guilty for ditching a curriculum that worked for my eldest (not for me), but I love my new curriculum with my second and he does too, so I feel better about it now.  Kids are adaptable, I think it’s important we love what we’re teaching, and that the curriculum works well for us, so we can teach it well. There is no perfect answer for everyone. ❤️

[Janeway]

I do not use the HIG. I have never used it. I have held it and looked it over and I felt it brought nothing to the table for me. I love Singapore Math. You do need to drill math facts on the side, but I would rather drill math facts my own way than have it written in to the curriculum. I have tried other programs but always come back to Singapore Math, US edition, and love it.

[MomN]

On 9/21/2021 at 6:00 PM, Janeway said:

I do not use the HIG. I have never used it. I have held it and looked it over and I felt it brought nothing to the table for me. I love Singapore Math. You do need to drill math facts on the side, but I would rather drill math facts my own way than have it written in to the curriculum. I have tried other programs but always come back to Singapore Math, US edition, and love it.

I love Singapore as well.  Can I ask, what do you use after Singapore?  Do you go through 6b?  What do you use for algebra?  

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, MomN said:

I love Singapore as well.  Can I ask, what do you use after Singapore?  Do you go through 6b?  What do you use for algebra?  

Not Janeway, but we initially went to Singapore's OLD (long out of print now 😉 ) NEM 1 (New Elementary Math). We used that, plus excerpts of Saxon, and then moved to Jacobs Algebra 1. DS who loved Miquon and Singapore Primary also loved Jacobs.

[Porridge]

2 hours ago, MomN said:

I love Singapore as well.  Can I ask, what do you use after Singapore?  Do you go through 6b?  What do you use for algebra?  

We went through Singapore standards 5, then moved to Singapore dimensions 6-8 (currently in 7a). Per the publisher, 6-8 encompasses all of a traditional algebra 1 course, as well as some geometry and statistics. The publisher told me that the next step after dimensions 6-8 would be a high school  geometry course.

[Janeway]

12 hours ago, MomN said:

I love Singapore as well.  Can I ask, what do you use after Singapore?  Do you go through 6b?  What do you use for algebra?  

One went straight to Jacob's Algebra and that went very well. Another, we did Dolciani. But with Dimensions out now, I am considering doing that instead with my current child. He is almost done with 6B now. 

[daijobu]

We did the US Edition.  (Do ppl still use that?)  We completed level 5 then switched to AoPS Prealgebra, and it was a seamless transition.  

[MomN]

On 9/27/2021 at 12:25 PM, daijobu said:

We did the US Edition.  (Do ppl still use that?)  We completed level 5 then switched to AoPS Prealgebra, and it was a seamless transition.  

Any reason specifically you skipped 6A & B and went to AoPS Prealgebra?  Just curious.

[daijobu]

3 hours ago, MomN said:

Any reason specifically you skipped 6A & B and went to AoPS Prealgebra?  Just curious.

This was 10 years ago, but the feedback I received on the WTM boards was that 6A&B would be redundant, either with AoPS or with the earlier Singapore Math, I don't recall which.  The message I received was that either way, with our without level 6, was fine.  We skipped level 6 and it was fine.  

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, daijobu said:

This was 10 years ago, but the feedback I received on the WTM boards was that 6A&B would be redundant, either with AoPS or with the earlier Singapore Math, I don't recall which.  The message I received was that either way, with our without level 6, was fine.  We skipped level 6 and it was fine.  

Pre-algebra as done by AoPS is largely arithmetic all over again, so I'm not surprised. 

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, daijobu said:

This was 10 years ago, but the feedback I received on the WTM boards was that 6A&B would be redundant, either with AoPS or with the earlier Singapore Math, I don't recall which.  The message I received was that either way, with our without level 6, was fine.  We skipped level 6 and it was fine.  

Perhaps things had changed from when we did Singapore Primary, back in the early 2000s, but the U.S. edition we used (there was no HIG or other supplemental materials at that time), the 5A/B was rather light (but fun), covering interesting but non-traditional topics such as tessalations, which 6A/B was great at solidifying setting up and solving multi-step word problems, working with ratios, etc.

We DID do all of both 6A/B before moving on to Algebra, and it was VERY worthwhile.

But again, that was over 15 years back, so it is very possible that 5A/B and 6A/B editions we used back then, were different from the ones you used 10 years ago, and again different from the current editions. 😉  And of course, every student is different. So YMMV. 😉 

[MomN]

Thank you!