We chose to use Singapore Math for our math curriculum. There are many reasons why I was drawn to this program. One of the reasons of course is that students in Singapore have some of the highest math scores in the world. As such the curriculum used in Singapore has gained a lot of attention and a great reputation in the homeschooling communities. But one of the important things to realize about the program, particularly the “Early Bird Kindergarten Series” is that it is NOT strictly a workbook program. It provides a great foundation and framework, but there is additional work for the teacher. To get the most out of the program you will have to provide the manipulatives and sometimes additional drills. Only you can know for sure how much your child will need to do before advancing.
Today the boys began Singapore Math’s Early Bird Kindergarten book 1B.
Our study today involved an introduction to basic geometry terms and they learned about: Spheres, Cubes, Cylinders, Boxes, and Cones. I used Lakeshore Learning’s Hands-on Geometry set before we completed the workbook pages. We currently spend anywhere from 15-30 minutes each session on math studies and we incorporate hands-on learning with manipulatives along with our workbook lessons.
We’ve recently started using Singapore and we love it!
At the beginning of the year, I was trying to be very relaxed about math (see: http://queentomy3boys.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-know-those-skin-coloured-things.html), but now that we’re doing Singapore, Dylan thinks math is just amazing!