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Singapore Math Manipulatives (Dimensions 2, 4 and Primary 6)


Ting Tang
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It seems like there are a lot of math manipulatives to buy for this curriculum.

What are the essentials?  If you don't have something, can you make do? The Singapore and Rainbow Resource sites sell a few kits.  Does anyone else sell essential manipulative kits?  

We are new to Singapore math.

Thanks! 

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Singapore is famous for its "concrete - pictorial - abstract" approach, and this really does continue all the way through the primary mathematics series.  It's one of the program's strengths.

Having said that, I'm not sure any specific manipulative is really "essential" for Primary Mathematics.  You can definitely make do.  We're using the US edition and my eldest about to finish level 6.  Over the years, I'd say the base 10 blocks have gotten the most use (but at times we've used craft sticks for 10s and paint chips for 100s), followed by place value discs (but we've also used milk bottle tops with numbers written on), followed by multilink cubes (but we also use marbles, toys, plastic spiders and mini erasers).  In my house manipulatives were most often used to introduce place value in the earlier grades, to physically model what's going on with long division, and to introduce decimals in 4th.  Some suggested games for reinforcement use basics like dice or cards, but they can be dollar store versions, nothing fancy.

A compass and protractor set will be important from grade 4 up.

We were given fraction bars and circles and they're nice to have on hand, but before we had them, photocopying the paper ones in the back of the Home Instructor's Guide was perfectly good.  The HIG also has other copiable manipulatives like place value cards for the relevant levels.

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10 hours ago, caffeineandbooks said:

Singapore is famous for its "concrete - pictorial - abstract" approach, and this really does continue all the way through the primary mathematics series.  It's one of the program's strengths.

Having said that, I'm not sure any specific manipulative is really "essential" for Primary Mathematics.  You can definitely make do.  We're using the US edition and my eldest about to finish level 6.  Over the years, I'd say the base 10 blocks have gotten the most use (but at times we've used craft sticks for 10s and paint chips for 100s), followed by place value discs (but we've also used milk bottle tops with numbers written on), followed by multilink cubes (but we also use marbles, toys, plastic spiders and mini erasers).  In my house manipulatives were most often used to introduce place value in the earlier grades, to physically model what's going on with long division, and to introduce decimals in 4th.  Some suggested games for reinforcement use basics like dice or cards, but they can be dollar store versions, nothing fancy.

A compass and protractor set will be important from grade 4 up.

We were given fraction bars and circles and they're nice to have on hand, but before we had them, photocopying the paper ones in the back of the Home Instructor's Guide was perfectly good.  The HIG also has other copiable manipulatives like place value cards for the relevant levels.

Thank you!  This is very helpful.  I was going to purchase many but not "all the things."  It is good to know if we don't get something, we can make do!  

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I bought a ton of used manipulatives from a teacher's garage sale.  There are many that weren't really used.

We used Math in Focus, and I would say the base 10 blocks got the most use. We did use a balance for a few things. See if you can get one used though. We didn't use it a lot. 

I really liked the 3-D solids too for visualizing, but you could replace those with other objects like an ice cream cone, a can of soup, a ball, half of an orange, etc.  

 

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20 hours ago, cintinative said:

I bought a ton of used manipulatives from a teacher's garage sale.  There are many that weren't really used.

We used Math in Focus, and I would say the base 10 blocks got the most use. We did use a balance for a few things. See if you can get one used though. We didn't use it a lot. 

I really liked the 3-D solids too for visualizing, but you could replace those with other objects like an ice cream cone, a can of soup, a ball, half of an orange, etc.  

 

Thanks so much!  This is very helpful.  I have been trying to look through my teacher guides and see what is commonly used.  Base ten blocks and the number discs seem to be used a lot, too.  I actually own a balance, oddly enough, lol.

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I made a lot of my own. And then, through the years, we did pick up various manipulatives that were for sale used. In the end, I have felt that the homemade ones were just as good as any of the store bought ones.

I used beads. The kids worked with me to string them in groups of ten. Then, because there are ten tens in a hundred, they were the ones who attached ten tens to make a hundred. I think this really drove home place value. (just buy a random large bag of beads)

I also made place value numbers. Basically, I cut out squares in the size I wanted on paper. Then, double sized and then triple and so on. I wrote the numbers 1 through 9 on the squares, 10 through 90 on the double size, 100 through 900 for the triple size, and 1000 through 9000..you get the idea.

I simply drew a ten frame on paper (which is a five by two grid). My children love using those little glass rocks on the ten frame, but you can use anything. 

Only thing I really prefer to buy already made is a Judy Clock. I also have a meter stick, which I could not buy local and had to order online. And of course, everyone should have regular rulers and such around. 

This gives you everything you need, and great quality too, for no more than $20. 

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On 6/30/2022 at 9:17 AM, Janeway said:

I made a lot of my own. And then, through the years, we did pick up various manipulatives that were for sale used. In the end, I have felt that the homemade ones were just as good as any of the store bought ones.

I used beads. The kids worked with me to string them in groups of ten. Then, because there are ten tens in a hundred, they were the ones who attached ten tens to make a hundred. I think this really drove home place value. (just buy a random large bag of beads)

I also made place value numbers. Basically, I cut out squares in the size I wanted on paper. Then, double sized and then triple and so on. I wrote the numbers 1 through 9 on the squares, 10 through 90 on the double size, 100 through 900 for the triple size, and 1000 through 9000..you get the idea.

I simply drew a ten frame on paper (which is a five by two grid). My children love using those little glass rocks on the ten frame, but you can use anything. 

Only thing I really prefer to buy already made is a Judy Clock. I also have a meter stick, which I could not buy local and had to order online. And of course, everyone should have regular rulers and such around. 

This gives you everything you need, and great quality too, for no more than $20. 

Thanks so much!  So as it turns out, they have many free resources on the Singapore Math page.  They are only listed for Dimensions but can be used for all the different Singapore curriculums.  I did end up buying the place value discs, base ten block set, math link cubes, two-color chip counter, and fraction tiles/circles.  It looks like I can print and laminate other things.  Otherwise, we'll have to make do. Dimensions also gives suggested storybooks, and I found that many are available as read alouds on YouTube.  So that is helpful.  I've just bought a lot this year, so anything free is good, LOL.

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