Math - tearing my hair out, feeling awful

[Mommy22alyns]

Admitting failure and defeat....

 

I guess I was trying to have Becca do too much math too soon, or maybe I have the wrong curriculum, or maybe I just suck as a teacher. We made it through Singapore 1A and I tried to go slowly, working with the HIG, and adding reinforcement with worksheets from other K and 1st grade math workbooks. We moved into 1B... I still tried to go slowly, teaching directly from the HIG... but she cannot seem to retain the slightest bit of information. She doesn't know her math facts, but she can calculate them. We were working with numbers up to 40 and adding and subtracting the tens and ones - she seemed to grasp the "tens and ones" concept, but when it came to actually applying it, she went flat out blank.

 

Is it a maturity thing? She'll be 6 in March. I don't know if she's not "getting" Singapore (and we've already tried Saxon, too slow), if I'm doing something wrong, if she should be in kindergarten math, or WHAT.

 

I'm sure I fell into several traps, one of which was the fact that her reading is unbelievably advanced so I thought her math might be at least a little past K level. And I fell into the trap of pride too. :sad:

 

At least I'm realizing this relatively early, so there's still a chance for her to have a good math foundation, right?

 

May I please have some help and words of wisdom from those who have BTDT, especially with kids who have asynchronous development?

[StephanieF]

Been there!!

Exactly the same situation as you. I wrote the SAME post a few months ago!

It is soooo hard with maths. Literacy, easy, you just find a reading scheme and go for it. Ds is very good at reading. Maths is a whole different game.

 

I have to admit that I dropped Singapore at the same stage as you because ds would "perform" but I knew it was just a performance and he hadn't a clue!

I went for right start because of the games and I liked the visual element but lots of people will suggest different things.

I remember ds not understanding number bonds to 10 and I was nearly in tears (he was!) because I just couldn't get why he couldn't understand it-even with the blocks.

With right start he had the number facts nailed withing a few goes of one of the games, I was stunned and he begged for more! Do any of the games and he gets it. We did facts to 11 today and again he got them after a few minutes.

Thats not to say he will not forget them, but at least I know he understands the concept.

I do get the occasional wobble when I worry that he is taking too long to understand something, but leave it a day and it is a lot easier the next day. It is a developmental issue, you just can't hurry.

I often have a day when we just do the games and he can spend time consolidating what he is learning.

I think that these days are really important to get right and make sure that ds loves maths (he didn't before!).

Stephanie

[Karen in CO]

Your dd is just fine. Singapore starts kids in school older than we do in the US so their 1A is intended for a 7yo brain. It looks easy enough and if your kid is an early reader like mine, you are sure to think that you have failed somewhere - I did and with many programs not just SIngapore. Right now my dd is ahead in Singapore, but at 6, she was on a "math strike" caused by me pushing her too fast.

 

I say stop math for a week or two to let the bad feelings surrounding the math start to heal. Then look carefully at where she was. Evaluate what she was actually having trouble with. Which problems made sense to her and which confused her? Maybe drop back to the Early Bird 2A / 2B or maybe just play games - Peggy Kaye has a good book on Math Games. At 6, most kids still need concrete things for math. Let her have them. The abstract thinking about it will come with time. It is a developmental thing. If you try to rush it, you will just end up frustrating you both.

 

I found that my dd loves the word problems. They make sense to her. She didn't learn her "facts" until this year and somedays I swear she doesn't know them, and other days she flies through complex computations like they are nothing.

[Wildiris]

My DD will be 6 in April. We have used Singapore 1A, but we are also using Calvert Math Grade One. I've done this sequence twice. What I've done is work through Singapore 1A midway, then switch to Calvert and complete the grade doing up to three lessons a day depending on the material, then I return to Singapore and complete 1A and go onto 1B. I like Singapore Math very much, yet it does not provide enough reinforcement of of basic facts. I'd be hesitant to keep switching programs. A child can become confused with so much switching. Perhaps it is time to slow down and review to build a solid foundation rather than zipping ahead. What would be the point of that?

 

Kids develop at different rates and in different area especially when young. Not all kids learn to walk at one year but at ten they can all walk and run. The same for learning. My DD is just getting the hang of reading. I can see her development clearly. Learning at his stage is a lot about remembering a lot of little details and juggling all those details at once. We adults take this for granted, but these little once are just figuring it out. I watch little kids in ballet class and you'd think they'd never learned to walk. Walking across the ballet floor they have to remember to stand up tall, look straight ahead, point their toes and hold their arms in position. All of this is a lot for little minds to hold all at once.

[sandra in va]

First, it sounds like you're doing a great job...so don't be too hard on yourself. :) I think taking a break from 1B could be the thing she needs. I bet if you came back to it in a month, or a few months, down the road, she'd pick it up without any problem. Sometimes kids just reach a mental stop place and need time to grow into the next level.

 

You could use this time drilling math facts, switching to a different curriculum that has a different approach/pace, or just re-doing the 1B you've already done, but more slowly. One other thing....she is young...there's nothing wrong with just taking a little break from math.

 

Just some ideas....

[Testimony]

I know that in Singapore they do not do 1A until about age 7 years old.

 

I did not start any of my children in 1A at age 6years old. I would wait to do Singapore and just do math games or Math-U-See. Use more manipulatives at that age. Play more games. There is also Right Start math which is expensive but it offers a lot of games. Wait and play more games. Your child will get math.

 

 

Blessings in your homeschool journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Edited January 19, 2009 by Testimony

[mims]

I do the combination of Singapore and Miquon. Miquon is inexpensive and really works great in conjunction with Singapore. Lots of visual and 'playing' with numbers and ideas. At this point I would take a break from Singapore and start with something like Miquon. Then after a period of time slowly pick up Singapore again. I actually did 1A the spring of her first grade year and fell like she missed too many of the big ideas so repeated it the fall of her 2nd grade year. She just commented a couple times and I said we were reviewing. I'm not saying I recomend repeating it but really just give her variety and repetition over the next year and she will advance that much quicker in the upper grades because she will have a great grasp of the why and the how.

[Kfamily]

E is 5 but will be 6 towards the end of Feb. She too was a strong early reader. We are in 1A but I knew we would most likely hit a wall and I think we hit one today. Singapore makes big jumps sometimes in concepts (my humble opinion) and we experienced one today. I bought R&S grade 1 for this very reason. We will probably rotate back into R&S for awhile. I am also considering the Right Start games. Rotating was perfect for us because sometimes R&S was not a good fit. R&S 1 required a lot more writing. When we started she wasn't ready for that. Now we are in Italics B and she is able to write more.

 

My older dd11 did not do well with Singapore for this very reason.She could not handle the concept jumps in Singapore. All kids are different and my older dd is a perfectionist in the worst way. She wants it to be perfect the first time and does not handle having to do something over or carefully very well.This is something we pay attention to with regards to her. Latin, Math and Piano we require because it works on the very skills she does not like to work on. Having said that Singapore was not a good program for her except in reverse. Instead of doing Singapore first and supplementing with something else we do R&S first and supplement with Singapore. We are working in Singapore 4 right now, but since she is in R&S6 she has already seen everything when she gets to it in Singapore. This allows her to feel confident yet see math concepts presented differently.

 

Don't worry. She will be just fine. As others have suggested, taking a break by playing games or using something else is all you need to do.

 

Hang in there! You're doing great!:001_smile:

[angela in ohio]

She is K, and on the young side for K. I wouldn't worry about her not being able to do a first grade math program.

 

Reading early is not necessarily a sign of anything. She may be advanced in language arts or not, even. Go by what you actually see in her, not what you expect of her. :)

 

Back up and work on kindergarten math skills. Watch for signs of developmental readiness to handle things like tens and ones and memorization of math facts. There is really no hurry. :)

[Haiku]

 

Is it a maturity thing?

 

Yep. Facility with math has a lot to do with developmental readiness. No matter how bright, most five year olds simply aren't developmentally ready for certain math concepts. Your dd is a young kindergartner. I think it's pushing it too much to expect her to accomplish a math program intended for seven year olds. My dd is in first grade and she isn't even seven yet.

 

I would recommend either going backward in Singapore and having her do the Early Bird stuff, or switching programs entirely and putting her in the K level math. Either way, even if it's too easy for her, it will build up her confidence and she'll be able to work quickly, allowing her to "catch up" even if she starts a K-level course halfway through K.

 

Tara

[Kuovonne]

I also have a 5 year old who is an early reader, but not as strong in math. We finished the kindergarten math program (RightStart A) just before Christmas, and I've been delaying starting the next level (B) because I know that it will quickly get very difficult. I've been filling the time with worksheets and games, and when we start Level B (1st grade math), we will go through it slowly.

 

As for your daughter, since she's already gone through 1A, there's no point in backing up to the Earlybird books. Since she's really struggling in 1B, continuing would probably frustrate both of you more. So, your best bet is probably to set aside Singapore math for a while and do something else.

 

Oh, and don't worry about that good math foundation - she'll get it.

[Mommy22alyns]

I also have a 5 year old who is an early reader, but not as strong in math. We finished the kindergarten math program (RightStart A) just before Christmas, and I've been delaying starting the next level (B) because I know that it will quickly get very difficult. I've been filling the time with worksheets and games, and when we start Level B (1st grade math), we will go through it slowly.

 

As for your daughter, since she's already gone through 1A, there's no point in backing up to the Earlybird books. Since she's really struggling in 1B, continuing would probably frustrate both of you more. So, your best bet is probably to set aside Singapore math for a while and do something else.

 

Oh, and don't worry about that good math foundation - she'll get it.

 

 

 

I'm considering Right Start as well; I was thinking of going back and doing level A at a comfortable, easy pace. How has it worked for you? How long did it take you guys to work through it? I like that it uses a lot of games and manipulatives - that's my weak point, but I think Becca really likes them.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

First we backed up to the point where the math was easy. We combined Singapore with Miquon to get in some extra practice, and we did a lot of math facts drill before restarting 1B. For my second DD, we just did Singapore 1A and Miquon Orange for K and worked on math facts to 10. The slower pace seemed to help alot. HTH

[ElizabethB]

My daughter is right there with you. We're just starting 1A. We switched from MUS. Her reading is very good and she memorizes and retains information very well for everything but math. For math, she needs a lot of repetition before things sink in, and also a lot of review.

 

Do you do the Intensive Practice books? The challenge problems are my daughter's favorite parts. She can do the puzzle part of math, the facts are just hard to retain. We got a Flashmaster, that helps. We did just Flashmaster for 2 weeks after dropping MUS before we switched to Singapore. Now we do a bit of Flashmaster twice a week for reinforcement.

[Allearia]

I'm considering Right Start as well; I was thinking of going back and doing level A at a comfortable, easy pace. How has it worked for you? How long did it take you guys to work through it? I like that it uses a lot of games and manipulatives - that's my weak point, but I think Becca really likes them.

 

I don't have experience with Singapore but I do using RightStart with a bright boy. He is also much more advanced in reading/language than in math.

 

We love it. He just turned 7, and we are halfway through C. We started A when he was 5 1/2 and it was too easy. I think if you have gone through Singapore 1A you should start with B. Then when you hit a tough part in RightStart - we did in B when we hit double digit mental addition - you can stay there and use lots of the games for a while.

 

One of the things about working with advanced kids is, don't be afraid to work with them where they are if it is ahead, but then if they do get really stuck don't be afraid to stay there or go sideways, try other things until they are ready for that concept. Don't worry for one minute about it being pride or being a poor teacher or whatever. As long as you are aware of stopping when there is something they are not ready for. Which is what you are doing. Don't go too far the other way. Also, we try to stick with age-appropriate times for working on subjects but go with materials with the right challenge. Obviously you will make mistakes on either side - too easy for one thing, too hard in another area. That is OK.

[Kuovonne]

I'm considering Right Start as well; I was thinking of going back and doing level A at a comfortable, easy pace.

 

Since your daughter is close to 6, I'd recommend starting level B at the beginning. Level B covers everything in level A, just at a faster pace. (When we start Level B, we'll start in the middle of the book since we've already done A.)

 

You'd probably go super fast in the beginning (2-3 lessons per day), and then slow down as it gets harder (spread out one lesson over 2-3 days). The beginning lesons are easy, but the presentation is totally different from Singapore (manipulatives and oral, no worksheets).

 

How has it worked for you? How long did it take you guys to work through it?

 

I've been really pleased with Level A. I've adapted it slightly to fit us better (skipped the thing with the taps, made many of my own manipulatives, skiped the handwriting worksheets, skipped the calendar work, etc.). We started late last summer, and finishing just before Christmas, so about six months. We went really slowly because my daughter had just turned 5 when we started, and math isn't her strong subject.

 

We haven't started level B yet. However, I'm prepared to take up to a year and a half if necessary, since it is really a first grade program (with four digit mental addition!), and we are only halfway through kindergarten now. (It will probably go faster than that.)

 

I like that it uses a lot of games and manipulatives - that's my weak point, but I think Becca really likes them.

 

The manipulatives are great, but some are not used much for the price. The abacus is *awesome*. Be sure to get the proper abacus with the beads color coded in sets of 5's, and not a toy abacus. The games are good, but you have to remember to do them, as they aren't scheduled into the manual.

[lionfamily1999]

Need to start supper, so I can't stay......

 

FLASH CARDS flash cards FLASH CARDS

 

The week before last my son took three hours to do twelve stinkin' problems. Last week, we drilled every single day. Simple, one digit addition, 1 through 10. Every day, for at least twenty minutes, we drilled. Over and over and over and over and over.

 

Friday, I put up an addition chart, 1-10, and timed him.... 13 minutes. We went from three freakin hours for twelve problems to 100 problems in 13 minutes.

 

Flash cards flash cards flash cards

 

I am a new convert.

[bigdogs29906]

I do the combination of Singapore and Miquon. Miquon is inexpensive and really works great in conjunction with Singapore. Lots of visual and 'playing' with numbers and ideas. At this point I would take a break from Singapore and start with something like Miquon. Then after a period of time slowly pick up Singapore again. I actually did 1A the spring of her first grade year and fell like she missed too many of the big ideas so repeated it the fall of her 2nd grade year. She just commented a couple times and I said we were reviewing. I'm not saying I recomend repeating it but really just give her variety and repetition over the next year and she will advance that much quicker in the upper grades because she will have a great grasp of the why and the how.

 

 

This is just about what we do. We use Singapore with Miquon. I love how they work together!

[inashoe]

I'm considering Right Start as well; I was thinking of going back and doing level A at a comfortable, easy pace. How has it worked for you? How long did it take you guys to work through it? I like that it uses a lot of games and manipulatives - that's my weak point, but I think Becca really likes them.

 

Rightstate is a good program for K, but less so later on.

Have you considered Math U See - this is very good all the way through to high school.

 

Don't expect your six year old to have memorized her math facts yet. You are too early. Continue to work with manipulatives that help her to calculate math, even though she can do it already , keep giving her practice in it. Don't go any higher than up to 40. She is already very advanced in math for an almost 6yo.

 

Do addition and subtraction up to 40 with manipulatives every day.

Have her write out the number sentence with the answer.

Substitute with manipulatives, meaning, say to her: if you have 20 apples and I have 12 applies how many apples do we have altogether - and then ask her to use the manipulatives to work out the answer - and then write down the number sentence.

 

Start with a first grade math program in the Fall.

[inashoe]

I'm considering Right Start as well; I was thinking of going back and doing level A at a comfortable, easy pace. How has it worked for you? How long did it take you guys to work through it? I like that it uses a lot of games and manipulatives - that's my weak point, but I think Becca really likes them.

 

Rightstate is a good program for K, but less so later on.

Have you considered Math U See - this is very good all the way through to high school.

 

Don't expect your six year old to have memorized her math facts yet. You are too early. Continue to work with manipulatives that help her to calculate math, even though she can do it already , keep giving her practice in it. Don't go any higher than up to 40. She is already very advanced in math for an almost 6yo.

 

Do addition and subtraction up to 40 with manipulatives every day.

Have her write out the number sentence with the answer.

Substitute with manipulatives, meaning, say to her: if you have 20 apples and I have 12 applies how many apples do we have altogether - and then ask her to use the manipulatives to work out the answer - and then write down the number sentence.

 

Start with a first grade math program in the Fall.

[Amber in AUS]

I'd put Singapore on the shelf and play some games, use what you have around the house for manipulatives and just do loads of fun problems. You could refer to the material you have just covered in 1A and do things to build or reinforce those concepts but without working in a workbook. Once you think she is coping OK with that then perhaps pull the book out again, it might be 3 or 6 months from now. You'll both enjoy the break and i bet she will pick it up much better with some fun and reinforcement.

[athena1277]

She is K, and on the young side for K. I wouldn't worry about her not being able to do a first grade math program.

 

Reading early is not necessarily a sign of anything. She may be advanced in language arts or not, even. Go by what you actually see in her, not what you expect of her. :)

 

Back up and work on kindergarten math skills. Watch for signs of developmental readiness to handle things like tens and ones and memorization of math facts. There is really no hurry. :)

 

:iagree:Stick with the basics. Give her time to totally master the k material. It will giver her confidence now and the foundation for later math.

[camibami]

You've gotten great advice! Development is not even, in any kid really, and in some kids it is way off.

 

My 7 year old knows only some math facts by memory, the rest she calculates and uses her fingers sometimes. Yet she can remember complicated routines and dance passes, because those are physical activities. She's always been really precocious physically (riding bikes, cartwheels and handsprings, complicated eye-hand coordination stuff with rhythmic gymnastics). But reading? S-L-O-W. Math concepts are good, memorizing facts is not so much. I'd love for her to be a complete klutz and a math whiz, but alas, she is who she is. Your DD is, too. You (and I) have plenty of time!

[Mommy22alyns]

Reading early is not necessarily a sign of anything. She may be advanced in language arts or not, even. Go by what you actually see in her, not what you expect of her. :)

 

 

 

She's past reading "early" - she reads and comprehends at a high fifth grade level and has no trouble with every other subject we do - spelling, grammar, science, and history - even geography. Math is the complete opposite. She enjoys everything else, but not math.

 

I don't even know how much of Singapore 1A she's comprehended and retained well. I didn't get the HIG until about halfway through. I feel like we need a math detox, but I'm afraid she'll forget what a number even is.

 

I tried to do a simple math bingo with her today using candy hearts as markers and calling out answers to simple addition and subtraction problems. She wanted a card like Sylvia's with numbers, not math problems. :glare:

[Haiku]

I feel like we need a math detox, but I'm afraid she'll forget what a number even is.

 

She wanted a card like Sylvia's with numbers, not math problems. :glare:

You feel like you need a detox. Your story about the bingo indicates that your dd feels like she needs a detox. She's only five. If you shelve math for six months and come back to it in the summer, no worries. Really, she's very young. Even if she doesn't "get it" now, she'll get it then.

 

:)

 

Tara

[kiana]

Seriously -- even if she forgets what a number is, she'll remember later. The important thing now is that she isn't allowed to become convinced that she is either stupid or bad at math, because if she gets that in her head, it'll be really hard to convince her otherwise.

[Cindyg]

At age 5, your daughter's age, my son was very advanced in reading, and hadn't really started math yet.

 

At age 11, my son is still very advanced in reading, and uneven in math. Great at comprehending complex concepts quickly, but STILL can't remember his math facts!! Arghh!

 

But your daughter is 5.

 

If I were you, I would buy a K (not 1st grade) math curriculum. This would be cute, colorful, with lots of connect-a-dots, little bear pictures, and manipulatives. We would do a single lesson a day. No more. And if that were too easy, we would do it anyway, and we'd celebrate how simple it was. And if that were too hard, we would do it anyway, and pat ourselves on the back for getting through it.

 

If it were WAY hopelessly too hard, I would hold her back a year in math and start K math when she turns 6. (I did indeed start my super-smart, early-reader in K math at 6. He needed the extra year.)

 

It's a lovely gift that she can read beyond what one would expect of a 5YO, but that's a gift. You can't assume she has that gift in every area. It's still a gift!

[Jen in PA]

I can totally sympathize! My dd will be 6 in July, and we are about a third of the way through 1B. I was just discussing my dilemma with dh tonight. She understands everything in theory, and actually does quite well with the lessons, but we have not spent any time drilling facts. There is something that seems exciting about a 5 year old who can figure out a multiplication problem, but something that seems sort of pushy about drilling those facts with a child that age, IMO. So we are going to finish up with 1B, since it gives some nice breaks for money and time lessons, which are very useful at this age, then stop and drill until those basic addition/subtraction/multiplication facts come easily. We like Singapore and intend to stick with it, but I think it will become frustrating if she has to keep figuring out sums instead of just recalling them. So I'm planning on lots of math games and worksheets, and that means putting Singapore on hold for a bit.

[StephanieF]

Even if you drop maths for 6 months there is so much of it in everyday living. Looking at door numbers, sign posts-oh look at that number, is it an odd or an even number etc etc.

My ds is interested in money and if he wants a chocolate bar in a shop I give him a handful of change and ask him (with my help!) to find the coins he needs. Nothing like chocolate to get those brain cells working lol!

 

You just have to be a little imaginative and get away from the idea that maths is done at a table with a workbook.

My ds is very interested in spys, he is in fact the next James Bond:D. So I told him that all these numbers are part of a secret code and he needs to work them out to become a spy. He needs to know how many bullets are left in his gun so that he has enough to shoot the baddie-you get the picture!

 

Cooking is another area, look at the numbers in the recepie, are they odd or even, what if I need to make double, how many eggs will I need etc etc. How many cookies for each of us have we made. Perhaps if you made it a little more practical at this stage. She will retain what you have taught her and perhaps see the point of it a bit more. I think with little kids unless they see a reason for something they aren't interested.

Can we count those books of yours in 2's it will be a lot quicker etc

Stephanie

[oakmom]

We use Miquon and Singapore also. We use one until the child is bored or frustrated and then switch to the other for a while. It works for us.

 

This is just about what we do. We use Singapore with Miquon. I love how they work together!

[Mommy22alyns]

You feel like you need a detox. Your story about the bingo indicates that your dd feels like she needs a detox. She's only five. If you shelve math for six months and come back to it in the summer, no worries. Really, she's very young. Even if she doesn't "get it" now, she'll get it then.

 

:)

 

Tara

 

 

Honestly... thanks for this. We're detoxing for right now. I'm not asking her to add or subtract anything. Actually, we're taking a couple of days off school altogether. I need to regroup!

[siloam]

I know that in Singapore they do not do 1A until about age 7 years old.

 

I did not start any of my children in 1A at age 6years old. I would wait to do Singapore and just do math games or Math-U-See. Use more manipulatives at that age. Play more games. There is also Right Start math which is expensive but it offers a lot of games. Wait and play more games. Your child will get math.

 

 

Blessings in your homeschool journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

 

What Karen said!

 

Heather

 

[Ali in OR]

One more voice chiming in!

 

Singapore PM 1A/1B are not kindergarten books. My older dd worked through them for first grade when she was 6. After going through them with her, I knew not to use them for K math with my youngest even though she had completed all of the Early Bird books with ease. The 1A book might look easy with all of the pictures, but the thinking required is pretty sophisticated. The child has to be able to hold the numbers in her brain and manipulate them pretty quickly. I'm thinking specifically of say exercise 40 when they make tens to add numbers that sum between 10 and 20. If you add 8+6 using this method, you are figuring out what you need to add to 8 to make a 10, taking that from the 6, figuring out what is leftover from the 6, and then adding that to 10 ALL IN YOUR HEAD. Sure my 42-year old brain sees it all quickly, but that is a lot to hold in your brain at once. Not a kindergarten skill.

 

Last spring when my then 5-yo finished Earlybird 2B, we started Horizons K. We supplement with Horizons anyway for my older dd. I think it has been a great bridge between the EB books and 1A. We'll be done with that in the spring and will then work in Singapore 1A and supplement with Horizons 1. And I have no preconceived notion of whether my 6 yo will be good in math or not. Don't be quick to label your dd as good at language arts and bad at math. Assume she will excel at math when the level is developmentally appropriate. My kids are using Singapore at grade level and they'll have a rigorous college prep math education (and I'm speaking here as a former high school math teacher--there is no need to push math skills at ever younger ages. Plenty of time for that later!)

[Donna T.]

I'd take a break, for sure. My six year old son is using 1B and he's doing well with it. But, I think that's only because he worked through much of MathUSee Alpha before he started Singapore. So far, I'm just not impressed with Singapore. But, he loves it and wants to do it. So, he's doing it, but in my gut, I think he's only doing so well because he had learned alot in MathUSee. I could be wrong.

 

I don't get Singapore. I don't know what my problem is with it. And, I haven't tried the teacher's guides. I guess I should do that? He doesn't seem to need to be taught much. He just thinks through the problems and figures them out. And, enjoys it. I'm just not sure he is actually learning anything from Singapore. Clearly, I need to try the teacher's guides.

 

I'd take a break and play board games, read books about math, make patterns with buttons and legos, make bean sticks (both my boys loved to make bean sticks - glue a bean a day on a popsicle stick - a great way to help them understand place value), learn to skip count.

[EKS]

I had these issues with my son as well. At 6 he reads at a middle school level (at least). His early ability in math (I finally realized) was being fueled by his extreme ability in language and memorization and in finding patterns. This made it look like he was more advanced in math than he was.

 

He did Singapore 1A in his last year of preschool, right after he turned 5. He seemed to breeze through it and to memorize the facts fairly quickly. Then we got to 1B and he had a lot of trouble. So we switched to RightStart B and this helped with his number sense (excellent introduction, better than Singapore IMO). Then we hit a wall in RS so we switched to Singapore 2A (this was in kindergarten) which he again did reasonably well with. But when I looked at 2B I knew that it would be too hard. It starts with mental addition of double digit numbers. So we switched to Saxon 3 (at the end of kindergarten/beginning of 1st grade). He breezed through the first 90 lessons but by the end he was crying every time I pulled out the math book complaining it was too easy. I also saw that his work was getting sloppier and sloppier with lots of careless mistakes. I really think Saxon was making his brain turn off. So we switched back to Singapore. He's doing 2B right now (middle of 1st grade) and *loving* the mental math (which he had so much trouble with before). It was a challenge at first but now he is feeling confident. He doesn't cry when I take out the math book. We are doing the textbook, workbook, IP, CWP, and mental math in the back of the IG. He also does multiplication fact practice on the Flashmaster.

 

This is a long winded way of saying that my son was where your daughter is now. It took a different approach (RightStart) to get ready for 2A and then some time to incubate (Saxon) but now he's doing great. I think the level he's at now (2B) is just right. He is really getting it now and it is so exciting to see.

 

I'd be willing to bet that a different approach, coupled with some time to mature will be just the thing.