DD confused with Singapore Math

[Lil' Whitney]

Up until recently, my dd (7) and I did mostly math in real life--money, games, etc. She does pretty well with addition and seems to understand subtraction but says it's harder because she has to count backwards to find the answer. Because she likes doing workbooks, she has done some adding in those--but they were all problems without pics.

I decided to get Singapore Math !A to provide some structure in her math learning. Personally, I love the way Singapore Math teaches (from the little I've seen of it). Since getting these books, my dd stopped saying she loves math. Finally, this week she tells me that she finds the pictures in the workbook and textbook confusing and she'd rather just work the number sentences and not look at the pics.

So my question is--do I keep on with Singapore and add more games and manipulatives or should I find a different curriculum? and if so, any recs? I think I need to better understand how she learns. Any suggestions?

[Lil' Whitney]

After doing some reading online, my thought is my dd is mostly a linguistic learner. Any suggestions for a math curriculum? Is there anything like Life of Fred for the early math students?

[LuxPerpetua]

RightStart is supposed to be really good. It's heavy on the manipulatives and games.

As for stories, Waldorf math is done through stories, so perhaps check out A Little Garden Flower or Christopherus for math. Also, there's Noble Knights of Knowledge but it's rather pricey because you have to buy the pieces.

[Lil' Whitney]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the waldorf curr again. I'm disappointed because I really like the Singapore presentation.

For anyone reading with experience with different methods and different learning styles, did your children hit off right away with the "right" curriculum or did you have to keep trying different ways for presenting the information? This has been hard for me, I think, because I'm a math mind and she isn't. I thought math would be so easy to teach, hhaahahahaha. Love the curves life throws you!

[theretohere]

If you like the idea behind Singapore but she doesn't like the pictures- I really suggest Math Mammoth.

[mom2ponygirl]

A free resource to check out: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
MEP math, also has a yahoo group to help with placement or other questions.
It is a great curriculum, but I'm not sure about amount or type of pictures. The price is right to try!

[LauraLoo]

DS didn't like Singapore when we first started it - I'm still not sure why, because he's a mathy kind of kid. We tried Miquon and he loved it. Many people do both Singapore and Miquon together, which is what we eventually tried after he did Miquon for awhile. (Which was good, because I also loved Singapore!) Miquon workbooks are "cleaner" than Singapore's - not as visually distracting, there's limited text in the workbooks (you'll need the Lab notes to know how to give the directions) and uses Cuisenaire rods for the manipulatives. It has a different approach to exploring math than many other programs. And it's very inexpensive - like Singapore.

[Lil' Whitney]

Thanks so much for all your suggestions!! I'm looking in to them!

[craft_media_hero]

I have heard that Ray's Arithmetic is really language-based. Plus, those books have major aesthetic and pass-me-down value. I also really like the look of (but do not yet own) Dr. Wright's Kitchen Table Math and The Verbal Math Lesson.

We do Singapore and Miquon. DD goes in phases of really digging either, so we're going to keep going with both. That is too bad your dd doesn't like Singapore; luckily if you've just started the book maybe you could re-sell it used?

[skueppers]

Originally Posted by mom2ponygirl

A free resource to check out: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
MEP math, also has a yahoo group to help with placement or other questions.
It is a great curriculum, but I'm not sure about amount or type of pictures. The price is right to try!

We're using Year 1, and it has a lot of pictures. I imagine there would be fewer pictures in later years. I have no idea how it compares to Singapore, which I've never seen.

The heart of the MEP program is in the lesson plans.

[dotnetdiva]

I know Singapore is a great program. We tried it, and didn't really like all the pictures/colorful workbooks, even though I originally thought that was what we'd like.

My daughter's favorite subject is now Math, and that's because we switched to RightStart. If you want to see how we use it in our day, check out our blog: http://satorismiles.com/tag/rs

Today we get our first money lesson... Off to go play with RightStart now!

[Lil' Whitney]

Last night I looked at Math Mammoth and Miquon. Let me just say that I'm so happy that Math Mammoth had sample pages! Sooo helpful! I printed out a few and gave them to dd this morning to look at. She buzzed through them, no problem, without much help from me. The sheets were concerning the very same subject matter that she was getting frustrated with in the Singapore book. I think she got some of her confidence back. I really wish the other curriculums would have samples to view.

I'll check into the others tonight, I hope. Thanks again!!

[pigpokey]

I mostly used free printable addition and subtraction worksheets or give them problems on plain paper, but I keep Singapore 1A and 1B around to check that we've mastered all content. I find the books a little too New Mathy for me [while realizing that they are not considered such at all], and my kids do OK with straight numbers and drawn number lines, but the placement / exit tests are fine with me, so I'm not too concerned. I think I'll like them more in later grades. I don't feel the need to get a new curriculum. I certainly think mastery for my kids -- mastery at the level I expect -- would involve much more practice than the book anyway.

[Altair]

Just an aside-- you can teacher subtraction through counting up too.

7-4

start with the smaller number and count up until you hit 7 (can use your fingers to start). 3 fingers are up.

[babycarrier]

We use Singapore and like it. Currently in 2a. My son loves math but got really frustrated when we started subtraction. I bought the Kumon subtration book and shelved Singapore for a while. The pages are all numbers and drill the subtraction facts. For him it worked and was a hit. He got really confident using the book - though he is a kid that likes filling in lots of math problems. When we went back to Singapore, he was able to enjoy it again.