A.J. at J.A. Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 We just got this in the mail yesterday (it shipped quickly from http://www.singaporemath.com) and we LOVE it!! DH and I are so thrilled, it looks like a great and thorough program! We got the texts, activity books, homework book and high order thinking skills books for both levels (I have one son starting 3rd and one starting 5th so the timing was perfect for me!). $176 for 4 years of science...can't beat that! Now I need to sell all my Noeo stuff. It is also a good program, but it just didn't work for us. Thanks to all who recommended it! Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 When you get a chance to work though it I'd love to hear more feed-back. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 When you get a chance to work though it I'd love to hear more feed-back. Bill I've already gone through the Cycles book for my 3rd grader and it looks great. I've sort of hand-written up a lesson plan of what goes with what to make sure I have everything on hand and can handle it all. So far so good. I decided to start with Cycles because of the time of year...we've started a garden and so it will go perfectly! I will keep you updated on our progress. I'm going to work through the 5/6 Cycles today to get a feel for the program as well. As I glanced at it last night it definitely builds on what they learn in Cycles 3/4 but is much more detailed. I'm so excited! Blessings, Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I've already gone through the Cycles book for my 3rd grader and it looks great. I've sort of hand-written up a lesson plan of what goes with what to make sure I have everything on hand and can handle it all. So far so good. I decided to start with Cycles because of the time of year...we've started a garden and so it will go perfectly! I will keep you updated on our progress. I'm going to work through the 5/6 Cycles today to get a feel for the program as well. As I glanced at it last night it definitely builds on what they learn in Cycles 3/4 but is much more detailed. I'm so excited! Blessings, Angela Thank you Angela. May your garden flourish :001_smile: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It looks great. I'll have to keep it in mind just in case my choice for next year is a bust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Girl Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 How much lab work is included in the books? Are they actual experiments or things more like demonstration and modeling? Are they doable? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 How much lab work is included in the books? Are they actual experiments or things more like demonstration and modeling? Are they doable? Thanks! I am amazed at the quality of what they are having the kiddos do. I've only read through the Cycles book (and corresponding homework and work in the Thinking skills book) in both levels (3/4 and 5/6) but I am greatly impressed. There are experiments and lab work with questions that require a lot of thought. I've been impressed also that most of the stuff I have on hand. However, we will be purchasing some beakers, cylinders, petrie dishes and DH is looking into a microscope. I can let you know more as we begin. Blessings, Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Girl Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I am amazed at the quality of what they are having the kiddos do. I've only read through the Cycles book (and corresponding homework and work in the Thinking skills book) in both levels (3/4 and 5/6) but I am greatly impressed. There are experiments and lab work with questions that require a lot of thought. I've been impressed also that most of the stuff I have on hand. However, we will be purchasing some beakers, cylinders, petrie dishes and DH is looking into a microscope. I can let you know more as we begin. Blessings, Angela Thanks for the info and I'd love to hear more as you continue through the program! I've quickly looked through the samples before but now I'm off to spend a little more time on their website. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.MacGyver Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I just received all of our books, and I am excited about them, too! Have anyone worked out a schedule yet? I will have DS doing 3/4 and DD doing 5/6 next year and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed about getting a plan going. Maybe it is just the end of the year exhaustion setting in :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) I just received all of our books, and I am excited about them, too! Have anyone worked out a schedule yet? I will have DS doing 3/4 and DD doing 5/6 next year and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed about getting a plan going. Maybe it is just the end of the year exhaustion setting in :). No real schedule. Just working through the text and corresponding activity pages for a few days until we finish that chapter. Then having them do the homework pages for that chapter a couple days (there are quite a few) and then following up with the thinking skills pages (another couple days) before we move on to the next chapter. They really enjoy additional library books too so we scatter those in. My boys have LOVED it so far (we've completed chapter 1 in the cycles books - a good fit right now since we're doing a garden). They even ask to do Science first now...that's a change. Not sure if I make any sense: * Work through text and corresponding activities in the Activity Guide. (several days) * When we finish the chapter in text/Activity guide then we move on to the Homework Book for the chapter (couple days) * When the homework pages are finished we move on to the thinking skills book for the chapter (couple days) * Then we move on to the next chapter and do it all again. * We mix in library books throughout. I'm actually having my 5/6 grader read through the 3/4 chapters since 5/6 assumes they have worked through 3/4. I've just had him read a chapter a day out of the 3/4 cycles book and it has been an easy read for him and helps him get full appreciation of the 5/6 material. Just my experiences so far, Blessings, Angela Edited May 14, 2009 by A.J. at J.A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.MacGyver Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 No real schedule. Just working through the text and corresponding activity pages for a few days until we finish that chapter. Then having them do the homework pages for that chapter a couple days (there are quite a few) and then following up with the thinking skills pages (another couple days) before we move on to the next chapter. They really enjoy additional library books too so we scatter those in. My boys have LOVED it so far (we've completed chapter 1 in the cycles books - a good fit right now since we're doing a garden). They even ask to do Science first now...that's a change. Not sure if I make any sense: * Work through text and corresponding activities in the Activity Guide. (several days) * When we finish the chapter in text/Activity guide then we move on to the Homework Book for the chapter (couple days) * When the homework pages are finished we move on to the thinking skills book for the chapter (couple days) * Then we move on to the next chapter and do it all again. * We mix in library books throughout. I'm actually having my 5/6 grader read through the 3/4 chapters since 5/6 assumes they have worked through 3/4. I've just had him read a chapter a day out of the 3/4 cycles book and it has been an easy read for him and helps him get full appreciation of the 5/6 material. Just my experiences so far, Blessings, Angela I am happy to hear that your boys are enjoying it! This will be our first year of doing Science for "real", and I am hoping that it will be fun. So, are you doing Science everyday? Also, do you find that the homework books are a "must"? I did not purchase them hoping that they would get enough repetition from the activitybooks and the HOTS book. It's a bit like pulling teeth to get any Science done around here anyway, but I am hoping that will change. Thank you for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I love the experiments in the Singapore Science books. Most can be done with household things, but some require lab thermometers, etc. As we do the reading, my boys are inspired to ask lots of great questions which we do an experiment to find the answer. The experiments themselves are set up where a question is asked (and the answer is usually not obvious) and then the kids test to learn the answer. There is a lot of critical thinking in the experiments and workbook questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 I am happy to hear that your boys are enjoying it! This will be our first year of doing Science for "real", and I am hoping that it will be fun. So, are you doing Science everyday? Also, do you find that the homework books are a "must"? I did not purchase them hoping that they would get enough repetition from the activitybooks and the HOTS book. It's a bit like pulling teeth to get any Science done around here anyway, but I am hoping that will change. Thank you for your input! We have been doing it 3-4 days a week. The boys enjoy it so much. I do find the homework books a must for us. They sort of are an easier step toward the more difficult thinking skills book. The homework books themselves have been a bit of a stretch in thinking for my boys, but it has been a good stretch. Not too difficult but definitely makes them think. We will be doing the Thinking skills book starting next week, but having glanced at it earlier it seems more difficult than the homework books. I will admit that some of the answers are not obvious, and do not come straight from the reading. I think over all that is a good thing, although frustrating for children/parents who are used to being spoon fed the information. :001_unsure: Blessings, Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticaw1 Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Hi, Thanks for the great reviews on this - I'm leaning towards using this next year. Is this doable without the Teachers Guide? Thanks! Carin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I will admit that some of the answers are not obvious, and do not come straight from the reading. I think over all that is a good thing, although frustrating for children/parents who are used to being spoon fed the information. :001_unsure: Yay! I'm glad this is still true -- We used the previous edition and that was my very favorite part of it... The answers were NOT obvious and definitely not spoon-fed. DS really had to put together what he knew from the text and the activities, and then extend that logically to apply to the different situations proposed in the workbook. I've been hesitant to say anything about the new version because I've not seen it, but I'm thrilled that it's living up to the same standard!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Hi,Thanks for the great reviews on this - I'm leaning towards using this next year. Is this doable without the Teachers Guide? Thanks! Carin So far so good. The Homework and Thinking Skills workbooks have the answers in the back...so really the only thing without "answers" is the Activity Guide. Blessings, Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I do fine without the teacher's manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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