Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Need Singapore Math Help

Does anyone have the latest info. on Singapore math. I see Amazon are stocking it now - the US edition. Not sure what to purchase - as still working with a tutor to assess grade level - but September rapidly approaches....

We purchase the standards edition, I feel it is more challenging. The only issue you would run into is the standards will use the metric system for measurements.

Where do you purhcase from, if you don't mine me asking? I grew up using metrics anyway - so that would suit me just fine - but probably mess up my kid now that we are in the US!

Thanks.

Just to the muddy the waters, we use the U.S. edition because we think that the US edition is more challenging. IMHO, the standards edition dilutes what is so great about the Singapore curriculum because it is designed to cover all of the same topics that the typical US curriculum tries to cover. Although I'm sure that it is still far superior to most US texts, I preferred to avoid the "Mile Wide but Inch Deep" problem.

YMMV, of course.

I use the Standards edition, aligned to CA. I purchased it here
http://www.singaporemath.com/Default.asp

The site also goes through all the different editions as well as scope and sequence and sample pages. They also sell the Home Instructor's Guides.

And are you using the text book, workbook and teacher's guides and the math "word problem" books?

I am. I have used the textbook, workbook, teacher's guide and practice books with my oldest. I finished the Essential Math with my twins and am using the textbook, workbook, instructor's guide, and tests with them since they are at a younger level.

I've only used the U.S. edition, but would add that I think the Challenging Word Problems supplement is quite good. Also, when I was in B & N the other day, I noticed that they were carrying books that appeared designed to go along with the Singapore, although I don't think they are put out by the same company. I only had time for a quick peek, but the word problem book looked decent.

There are two new lines of Singapore math books. You can find them at B&N and at teacher stores. These are geared for the US afterschooling market I believe. These are produced by US Publishers and are not used in Singapore nor have been. The 70 Word Problems...series is similar to CWP but have only 1 problem per page and each problem is worked out in detail. The other Singapore Math book looks similar to SM Primary Math series. I read at the SM forum that these new series are a bit watered down from the Singapore versions. SM CWP series has been discontinued so HSers everywhere have been buying them like hot cakes. I bought levels 3-6 for my kids and will just have them work the problems on paper rather than buying 3sets of 6 levels (my oldest has already done level 1 and 2).

In addition to the two new series, there is a new Singapore math which is the California Standards Edition. It's very similar to SM Primary Math series but the scope and sequence is a bit different with some topics added in such as probability and statistics. I read that the Home Instructor guides for the CA Standards Edition is much better than those for the Primary Series.

hth,
Dazey

I really like the Home Instructor's Guides for the CA standards edition, which is what I use for my twins. We bypassed the extra practice and use the Sadlier-Oxford Progress in Mathematics workbooks also aligned to CA instead. It changes it up a bit but follows the same basic sequence as SM.