Great 1st day with Singapore Math!!! No more Tears!

Today was our 1st day "Back to Homeschool" even though we usually go all year I have had the last month off for curriculum and lesson planning. I was trying figure out for months what to do about math cause we just couldn't find a fit that was easy for me to teach and that she loved and grasped the concepts without breaking out into a crying episode. It was not a favorite subject in this house. Math always left us fustrated. I researched all kinds of programs at the Convention from Saxon, MathUSee, Rod and Staff, and one of my favorites to look at was Right Start. I ended up not going with RightStart cause it was out of my price range but that was a blessing in disguise cause thats when i went to the rainbow resource booth and walked into the World of Singapore Math. This is our 2nd grade year but I felt like my DD was more suited for the 1b level so that is what we are doing this year the 1b and 2a. We will probally get to 2b over the summer.



The instruction guide was well layed out and easy to follow. Most of the manipulatives I already had laying around or found at the dollar store. There is also a helpful yahoo group that had some great card games and number bond cards. Here is the link for anyone interested. She loved it and I am finally feeling like she is confident in math. Yeah Singapore. Oh and we are using the US edition for those who want to know. There are two versions US and Standard Edition(goes along with California State Math Standards Schedule)

Math Woes!!!

So its about that time of year where it seems like all the progress we made and curriculum we plugged through in math is beginning to unravel. I mean its sometimes as if nothing was retained. But I know that is not true its just like with anything else you do systematically every day burnout will eventually set in.

Now I must ask myself what do we do to bring these numbers back to life. At first I was drawing blanks. Then I thought to myself why not just x out the textbook for a while and do some creative stuff. I was thinking maybe we could do some file folder games, card games, computer games, grocery store trips, straight manipulative play, and whatever else I come across. I have been doing some searches for resources and I have even came across a set of living books that are for math. And I found that my local library carries them. I have been on the forums and message boards for homeschoolers lately and it seems that I am not alone in my year end math madness. There have been even dozens of blog post popping up about this same subject. Here are some links to ones I found helpful:

Epi Kardia
Homeschooling in a Bilingual Home
Homeschool Articles
One of the other reasons I feel like we are having difficulty with math is because I don't think our curriculum is a great match for my learner. My daughter is a young first grader and this year we have been using Horizons k from Alpha Omega Publishing. She started mid summer on the 1st book and is now finishing the 2nd book and should be done some time this week. I mean Horizons is a wonderful program and I highly recommend it for early elementary grades but it might not have been as conceptually strong as I needed it to be for my child.

We have been looking into using MathUSee from Steve Demi this next go round. I went on the website and watched the Demistration as they call it and I think its exactly what we need. It uses a See, Say, Do method. Meaning you see the problem with the manipulative's, you verbally express the the problem, then you write the expression. They use lots of word problems as well. I have read tons of reviews this far. Most all who have used it are great fans of the program. I have also read it is a great program for those who follow a Classical style or Charlotte Mason approach which makes it another plus for me. So now lets pray we receive the funds to get the ball rolling.