Singapore Math Questions???

[Marie in Oh]

Singapore seems great for the Mathy student. How about those who are weaker in Math? How do they do? THanks.

[AudreyTN]

I think it works well for any kind of kid. My ds7 is so mathy that he doesn't even need me to teach him. He does it all himself.

 

My dd8, on the other hand, needs lots of explaining and lots of help. I find that the HIG is very useful with her. I don't use it at all with ds.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I think Singapore math would be great for a non-mathy kid. I happen to have a pretty mathy kid, though, so I dont' know.

 

I will say this though: I think it would be helpful to have a pretty mathy mom. I am so poor at math I . . . will stop there. For the full depth, breadth, and richness of the program one needs to include the Intensive Practice and the Challenging Word Problems books. Even I can get along with just the TB and Wkbk (as long as I have the Home Instructor's Guide) but the IP and CWP are beyond my ability to undertand, much less teach.

 

We finally enrolled in an online Singapore math class because I truly believe in Singapore maths (we're trying to say maths instead of math b/c that's the way the teacher says it) I wasnt' willing to give up b/c of my own iniquities when i believe it's the best thing going for my kiddo. Today was her first lesson so I can't really give a review.

 

I want to say that i really recommend singapore maths for the non-mathy.

[Marie in Oh]

I am a bit math phobic myself, and I looked at some of the later math placements for Singapore and they do look hard. I am wondering if I can teach them. I am switching my youngers over and I think it will be a good fit. My oldest is not mathy in an abstract way. He can figure, but he can't apply. I just don't know where to put him if I pit him in it. He's finishing MUS Epsilon. Any ideas? How far back should I put him? I am afraid if he has to go too far back it will deflate his ego. I am trying to decide between Singapore and Teaching Textbooks for him next year. As I said, my Mathy girls who will be 5th, 3rd, and 1st I am switching to Singapore.

[AudreyTN]

Have him take the placement test. Try not to worry "how far back" he might go. Singapore teaches things in a different way. He may need to do what seems super easy to him to get the new way of thinking.

 

http://www.singaporemath.com has a scope and sequence of the books to help you decide where to start testing.

[swimnactmom]

Plain and simple: My ds does not like math. However, using Singapore has helped him immensely. We started in 4th grade but he had to start with 3A. He is finishing 6B now as he we close out his 6th grade year. We did spend a little extra time catching up in the summer, but once he got the concepts he missed in school in 3rd grade, he flew through a lot of the lessons.

 

The pros for him were the simple uncluttered pages and the emphasis placed on actually understanding what he is doing and why. I can't express how important this is! I think this is where a lot of programs fail.

The cons for him were the lack of pure computational practice. Even though we did use the Challenging Word Problems book, he found the "Take the Challenge" problems very difficult. This is a book of word problems so he couldn't get the repetition of practice he needed. He also used the Intensive Practice book, but he didn't like it because it was harder than the what was in the textbook and workbook. Also, my ds is resistant to figuring problems out visually and that is how the math is taught. He realizes that the visual techniques work, he just doesn't want to do math that way.

 

I know it seems that there were so many cons for him, but understanding math was more than half the battle for him. If your child is not mathy, I don't think he/she will become mathy. I think the best thing you could do is offer your child a program that leads them to understanding which will reduce their frustration with a subject that is not intrinsic to them.

 

Don't be afraid to try Singapore with your child. It is inexpensive so if it is not right you haven't wasted a lot of money. I recommend getting the Home Instructor Guide. Even if you're good at math (I am) the guide will help you explain the math the Singapore way. I found that helpful.

Edited April 23, 2009 by swimnactmom
changed a word

[Ibbygirl]

My daughter is a non-mathy kid and I'm a non-mathy mom. In fact, it is our worst subject. I was always afraid of teaching math since I am so bad in it myself and I just had no idea how to actually teach it. I gravitated immediately to Saxon in my early homeschool career because I loved that it was so scripted and I could just read it and not have to figure out how to actually teach the concepts to her. That was fine and dandy while she was doing kindy, 1st and even 2nd grade, but as time went on, she just began to hate Saxon's repetition so much. She dreaded doing math and would give me alot of behavior problems when it was math time. A friend of mine recommended Singapore to me and so I went to their website and did the placement test. I was surprised that it was so much more advanced and that kind of scared me too. We switched from Saxon to Singapore for 5th grade, but I had to start her in 4A and 4B. She liked it much much better. They use 3 methods to teach a concept and always she would be able to understand it with at least one of the methods. She liked the drawings of the little kids in the books and and she liked that there are so few problems to work. Singapore is big on Word Problems. My daughter really struggled with them for awhile, but now that she's been doing Singapore for 2 years, she's getting much better at them. She is learning how to think mathematically, not just how to solve a problem that looks a certain way. I really like that about Singapore. One thing that helped me tremendously is the Home Instructor's Guide. It has all the answers to the problems, teaching tips and suggestions, and it has the problems worked out so you can see what it's supposed to look like. In my experience, Singapore has been good even though neither I nor my daughter are mathy people. We're learning to become mathy though. ;) :) Hope this helps. :)