Hey friends and acquaintances, anyone have experience with using Singapore Math as part of their home education curriculum? I'd appreciate knowing your thoughts on strengths, weaknesses, and suitability of the approach. Thanks. I'm looking specifically at second grade level.
7 comments:
I use Singapore Math for my boys. I really like it. My oldest is in 2nd grade, so we are using the Primer 2a and 2b this year. The pace is good. He is doing 3 digit addition and subtraction. There is just enough repetition not to get boring. Does that help or do you have other questions?
Hi Pastor,
We started using Singapore with our 3rd & K kids at home. Our oldest didn't test into 3rd grade as we had hoped at Hill Country. Upon speaking with the Hill Country principal, she recommended we use Singapore Math as they are switching to Singapore Fall 2011. She said Regents has been using Singapore and it is working well for them. Because we are behind we also have our kids in Kumon Learning Center. Kumon and Singapore are very similar. Our kids are enrolled in math and reading there. We are very impressed with all that they are learning at Kumon.
But I find that Singapore Math is easier to teach than our old Merrell math book. They practically teach it to themselves as they start at an easy level and work up. Kristin started at 1B in August and is now at 2A -almost 2B.
I have K-3rd grade text books and work books if you'd like to look at them.
We knew it was going to be a tough year of homeschooling with baby #5 coming right at Christmas time and that's why we wanted to send them to Hill Country.
Also, I like Singapore so much that I ordered their English programs and their Science too. At least just to get us through this year. Next year we'd like to go back to Bob Jones Science and Shurley Grammar.
You're in our prayers as you travel to Dallas for this biopsy. Praying for clarity and peace in your decisions with education too.
Jasmine Reischling
~And Patrick can speak much better as to how the Singapore method is different and how it works, but he's in Indiana til Friday. He used to teach middle school science at Colorado Springs Christian Schools.
I'm a bit promiscuous with math curricula, so at some point I've used everything including SIngapore. I encountered no problems in the early years with SIngapore. You need to order the word problems (an extra book) and it doesn't have a step-by-step teacher's manuel. That's not much of a problem in 2nd grade but it is by 5th grade.
It doesn't have much drill/memory component, so you just need to make sure the automaticity component is met somehow. There are great websites that are fun that can do this.
Math is the only curriculum choice I'm really unhappy with at our christian school so I have singapore at home as a supplement and my daughters and I really really like it!
I have used Singapore 1 and liked it. It is very, very strong at a conceptual level, and not so good at repeated practice. If you end up using it, they have a supplemental book that is very helpful, even if only to choose a review exercise here and there since it is very unit oriented, and review of previous concepts isn't necessarily incorporated into new lessons.
Just wanted to add my recommendation of Singapore Math to the others. This is our second year using Singapore; Sarah is about halfway through 2B and Will is starting 1B. I absolutely love the emphasis on conceptual and mental math. We switched to Singapore after K because we were seeing that Sarah could get all the right answers on a worksheet but not be able to set up the correct equation in a different context or apply what she had learned in practical situations. Singapore's very strong in this area and we're very pleased.
I agree that drill and repetition is not emphasized, but this is not a problem for us. There are so many easy ways to add in fact practice (www.mathfactcafe.com, Math Ladders, etc.). For reinforcement of past concepts, we use the Intensive Practice workbooks one book behind our current textbook level. The IP book provides review through word problems, puzzles and the like in an interesting way.
Some folks may not yet be aware that there IS now a very useful teacher's guide that accompanies the Standards Edition. I much prefer the Standards Edition to the US Edition for a couple of reasons, the first being the Home Instructor's Guides. They offer lesson schedules and plans as well as ideas for review games, tips for explaining difficult concepts, etc. I think they're a must have. The second reason is that the Standards Edition is more closely aligned to standard US scope and sequences (it's been adopted in CA), which means it's also fairly well aligned with standardized test content.
Lastly, for diving in to the pedagogical underpinnings of the Singapore approach before making a decision, get a copy of Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics by Liping Ma. It highlights differences between Asian and US teaching models.
We also have a set of Standards Edition 2A that's currently between kids if you'd like to thumb through the teacher's guide & books.
I can't add anything of substance to what has already been said except for that you can have Anna take a diagnostic test through Singapore to see at what level she places in their curriculum. If you go to their website, under "placement" you can download a test under whatever level you think she is. If she passes that one (there is an answer key), then have her take the next level until you find where she is. (Reportedly, they are 1 academic year ahead of most classroom standards. So, their 2nd grade is supposedly equal to public ed's 3rd grade.)
http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm
I used it with Connor in grades 1-3 and then we changed to "Teaching Textbooks" which has been a Godsend for this math-challenged mom! I recommend it highly. It is all done independently on the computer. It is beautiful! I know some don't like computer teachers, but it is salvaging Mary Kate's math education and all the damage I did. And Connor is prospering well with it. He thinks it's fun!
Check it out!
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/?Click=9171
They only go down to 3rd grade so far or I'd say check it out for NOW. Next year they should have 2nd grade finished. You could have her do the placement test and see if she could start with third grade now. Not sure where she is. Teaching Textbooks has taken the headache and stress out of the math equation for me and put joy into it for my kids. (How's that for a sales pitch?)
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