4th grade DD places in 1A or 1B Singapore

[Mumkins]

Hopefully last Singapore thread.


I looked at the tests, I will have her take it, just to be sure, but I don't think she'll place out of 1A, certainly not out of 1B. I have Beyond here so I can do the activities. She's struggled all along with math. But really, I can't have her 3 grades behind. Even if I did two this year and two next or something, but she needs to catch up. My oldest son, who's math minded, I think will place into 1B, just because he hasn't covered that stuff yet. This is his 2nd grade year, so I'd want him to go through 2 as well. But mostly I'm concerned about DD.

Any tips on how I should handle this? Maybe double up lessons or set a timer? If we set a timer for 20 minutes, then stuff she knows she could fly through and do several pages, but stuff she has to learn, we could slow down with.


What should I do?

[MomtoJGJE]

1A/1B would typically be thought of as starting when the child is 7.... it is an advanced program.... so if your 2nd grader did 1A/1B this year, they would be right on target (from what I understand)....

As far as grade level goes though, if she' snot getting math now, and if she gets it with Singapore, you could probably easily go 3 books in a year.... like 1A/1B/2A, and then the next school year do 2B/3A/3B, and then by the next one she'd be "caught up" pretty much....

What guide do you have her in? Beyond does 1A/1B, Bigger does 2A/2B, and so on... Just saw that you've got her placed in Bigger.... She's not that far behind!

[daybreaking]

I wouldn't worry so much about her being behind grade-wise, as I would be with having her placed correctly. If your dd struggles with math, trying to push her ahead to catch up will only frustrate her more. Between Singapore being advanced (some say by a year) and your dd being young for her grade, she's really not that far behind anyhow. I would think it would be much better to give her a strong foundation, even if it means she's a little behind.

[Mumkins]

Do you think she can do it? I've read it's for math minded children and can be difficult to understand. I just can not switch again. When I choose this fall, it absolutely must be it all the way til it's finished.

[my3sons]

I agree with the pps. I know this seems discouraging, but I think math is like reading in that there is a need to go back to the foundation of it and build it to be strong without gaps before trying to build up. I do think she can do it! But, I think it will be very important to do the hands-on parts of the HOD plans with dd too, as they are short and will help her have a visual and bodily/kinesthetic way of viewing steps that become more mental steps as she goes. I wouldn't rush so much that you would miss those hands-on lessons - they will be key. I think I'd keep the lesson a day concept, but do math every day Monday-Friday, all year, as much as possible. This lets dc have time to "sit" with a concept for a bit, until the next lesson the next day, which usually helps it take hold better than cramming for it. On days you don't do school on the weekdays for whatever reason (like through the summer or weeks of breaks depending on when you school), I'd still try to do 20 minutes of math those days, maybe first thing in the morning. I'd let her in on this plan that you want to give time for math to make sense, for her to enjoy it more as she goes, and for her not to be too overloaded with too much math in any one day, so instead you are opting for the CM style of short lessons more often, which will require her to do math more days than she does the rest of her school - but it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes a day then. I wouldn't start your ds ahead of your dd either, as this could be tough for her and starting with 1A won't be holding him back. He can for sure start with 1A, and she can start wherever she places. Those are just a few thoughts you can consider your thoughts on.

In Christ,
Julie

[MomtoJGJE]

I agree with Julie.... that's what I was meaning by doing 3 workbooks in a year... was to do it every day, even during breaks. It doesn't take long ....

I don't know that I'd say it's for math minded people... I think it teaches why you do math, so it would be easier for someone NOT math minded to get it.

[my3sons]

...I don't know that I'd say it's for math minded people... I think it teaches why you do math, so it would be easier for someone NOT math minded to get it.

Very true - I am a math-minded person, but my ds does best with Singapore when I just follow their directions and do it as they suggest. The times my ds has had a difficult time with Singapore have been when I've tried to teach him "my way" or "my shortcuts" for doing things. I just wind up confusing him. I've found Singapore does teach those "shortcuts", but through letting the student realize them by doing the mental part of it first rather than the rote steps of it. I have enjoyed learning Singapore's way of doing things too, but my ds already has a better grasp on the mental math end of it than I do. He rarely needs scratch paper, while I live for scratch paper. Excellent point, MomtoJGJE!

In Christ,
Julie

[blessedmomof4]

I agree with what has been said before, and just wanted to share my experience. My daughter, age 10, was doing fine in Singapore 2A/2B as a 3rd grader. She took the placement test and placed there, switching from another program. Due to some life upheavals, I placed her in public school for grade 4, just short of finishing 2B. Well let me tell you, she had an awful experience with a teacher who just read from the textbook, and did not use any other means to explain the concepts (unlike her older sister, whose teacher saw that what they were using at the school was hard to understand, and often wrong! and made up his own worksheets and plans, so his class did well). Her teacher ALSO made awful remarks about homeschoolers, in the classroom and to me! My daughter lost all confidence, and by mid-fifth grade, had actually LOST ground in math. So I decided to quit my job, and bring her home again. She took the Singapore test and placed right back in 2B!
She was dismayed and said , but I'm in 5th grade, and I explained it's an advanced program and we could work on it more days than her other subjects. We started this January, and she finished the rest of 2B, along with 3A and then tested out of 3B, because the measurement concepts she had a full grasp on even at public school. So she is now working through 4A and will be finished with that shortly after starting grade 6.
Her confidence has returned, she is doing much better, and at this pace I am sure she will be caught up by next summer. EDIT: And by caught up, I mean at least done with 4B and 5A. It really is an advanced program, so I'm not rushing to get her through 6B by the end of grade 6.
Another experience: My son, being the oldest, went through many, many math curricula because I could never find something that fit him or me. He could not do basic math through grade 6. Finally, I found something that worked for him. I homeschooled him through grade 8, and he caught up in those two years, earning A's and B's in Algebra in high school. He did well all around during high school, and now he is a college freshman and earned the Millenium Scholarship due to his grade point average.
I guess I'm trying to say, don't be afraid that you have done "irreparable damage", or that your daughter must catch up immediately. I used to feel that way with my son and it just caused us both unnecessary stress, and yet it all turned out all right in the end.
By the way, when you give your daughter the tests, do 1A one day, 1B another day, and so on, and let her stop when she can't work out any more. Follow the placement guide on Singapore and you will get a very accurate placement

[spidermansmum]

I home schooled my son until october last year-he had been doing just finished singapore 1a/b along with LHFHG.
Then we returned to HS [Praise The Lord]in June and we started BLHFHG-But we are doing singapore 1A/B again.Its hard to feel like your going backwards.Its one thing tob homeschool a child who is excelling or at least keeping to the grade expected standard.Its all together a whole other bag -to homeschool a child who is struggling,or below grade expected.I wish I could hug you [and thats not something we English do alot ] .
I share this - to explain our situation and hope that it helps you .For my son, the School enviroment was so damaging because of his special needs-that he lost much of what he knew.Its hard to explain-but his aspergers also affects the speed and ease of which he can decipher speech.We decipher speech in seconds,for him it takes minutes.For him he can only cope with about three key words in a sentance before he gets overwhelmed- and is unable to follow at allI.ts best described as imagining your in France.You know a few french words.If the french speak slowly enough,give a few visual helps and are patient,you might be able to order what you want for dinner...I know that when I was stressed ina a french ER after Nathan broke his wrist -that what I was able to understand was much,much less.He spent entire lessons where everyone spoke another language,where everyone but him understood ,where everyone else could do what was expected.He was utterly lost.He had his confidence that he could figure out the answer totally taken away.
The thing is.I could see re doing 1 A/B as a setback.Im not.Im seeing it as a blessing.Im being broken of the need to prove my ability to homeschool by having a child excelling at academics.Im being blessed by watching my son grow in confidence and as he completes stuff he understands.Im being blessed in knowing that he would never get this personalised education at school.Im also blessed to learn that just because he is x number of years behind according to some assesment-God doesnt care a bit.It doesnt affect the plans God has for him one tiny bit.
Plus we think of education as a steady upward line on a graph and think that it always progress at a given rate.Its not true.There can be times of no growth and times of rapid growth.Just because your child is on 1A now doesnt mean that next year your child will be on 2A.Your child could sudddenly grasp ideas-because she is now developmentally ready and will race through some aspects of the curriculum.So be prepared to tailor her curriculum to your childs strengths and weakness.
I felt mys sons biggest handicap -was the belief that he couldnt do maths.My biggest challenge wasnt the academics it was making sure he didnt give up on himself.He needed confidence

[Mumkins]

Thank you for all your advice and stories. I'm defintely feeling more comfortable.

I have one more question. I've seen the workbooks are suppose to be black and white. Mine our colour. They have the same cover. I think I have 2A and 2B here. Is there something wrong with my books or am I mistaken that they are to be B&W?

[daybreaking]

The textbooks are in color, but the workbooks are black and white. The front covers all have the same picture, but they'll say either textbook or workbook.

[Mumkins]

That's so strange. I wonder if it's possible to have some weird cover switch accidentally happen. I bought both the textbook and the workbook. No wonder I couldn't figure out what the kids were to do, that I thought they just looked at it. I never had a proper workbook!

I just gave her the 1A test. She got 86%, which is a pass. But it took many tears, much frustration and her quitting with 2 questions left still. She passed, but it was still such a struggle.

I'm wondering if for my oldest two, I should use MUS Alpha, get the facts down solid and then switch over to Singapore? Or would it be good to do MUS with Singapore, just for Alpha to get their facts down better. It's only once page a day.

Is Singapore mastery or spiral?

[my3sons]

Here's a link to the Singapore math:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/BLHFHG-math.php

In Christ,
Julie

[Mumkins]

Would you recommend I spend time getting her to master her addition through 9+9 and subtraction through 18-9 and then retest her?

The Singapore I bought looks just like the stuff here, I purchased it through SL. It suppose to be the exact same stuff.

[Mumkins]

Wow. I want to bury my head in the sand. I just went and checked my order history and I did indeed order 1A and 1B textbooks only. No wonder we couldn't make it work for us! We'd do the HOD activity, then look at the book and think there was nothing to do.

I have no idea why I was certain I got the textbook and work book. Perhaps I thought I ordered 1 work book and 1 textbook. And I thought it made no sense even further because flipping from one book to the other for text and workbook didn't line up.

How did I miss that?! I think I have officially made my biggest HS blunder.