Singapore Math: a Better Method
By: Keith
This photo shows the Saxon math student workbook (first half of grade 2) stacked on top of the teacher’s guide for the whole year compared to both the student textbook and workbook for Singapore math 2A. You can see, in visual format, just how different they are.
I have finally found a math curriculum my boys like. After a few hiccup starts and fails, we have become loyal Singapore Math devotees – a full 2 years late. I should have started the system from the very beginning, but I didn’t. Instead, I wasted a whole year trying to muddle through Saxon math, a confusing tangle of badly organized and overly involved lessons. The difference between the two programs is remarkable. The differences are found in their respective philosophies.
Saxon:
Saxon’s approach to math is to teach your child everything. The books include every math related lesson they could think to include. Both Singapore and Saxon teach your kid all the necessary concepts, including how to use measuring cups, read a calendar, tell time, weather measurements, measuring to the nearest foot, etc… . Saxon, however, repeats these lessons over and over until your kid either begins to think he’s dumb for having needed to hear the same thing 50 times or he gets completely bored and walks away. Saxon is a program that appears intended for kids who might not get much real life interactions with everyday objects. Like I said, if it has anything remotely to do with math, you’ll find it in Saxon, and you’ll never forget it because you’ll see it dozens of times. It’s a popular program, and it must work for some people. But not for me.
Singapore:
Singapore, on the other hand, takes a no frills approach to math. The reason I appreciate its method is that it teaches my kids the things I want them to learn without mindless repetition. We learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; the lessons never deviate from the primary mission of teaching the basics. The kids, for their part, learn because they like it, not because it’s hammered into them. Singapore, too, teaches measurements and money and the like, but it doesn’t linger on those topics; it uses them more for context than rock solid educational concepts. There is a logical progression to the work, and kids can see measurable progress every day. For a parent who believes, like me, that math is straightforward and should, at least at this age, follow a linear path of logical milestones, then Singapore is the right program. The focus of Singapore math is on math, adding contextual information as necessary and relying on you, the parent, to fill in the rest. That’s exactly the kind of program suited for my lifestyle.
The Teacher Experience of Singapore:
There is no hand holding with Singapore math. It doesn’t pretend to know how to teach better than you; it allows you to help your kids understand the concepts in the way you’ve learned that works best for them. Each of the boys has their own workbook and separate textbook. We simply sit at our kitchen table and work through the textbook lesson together (the textbook clearly explains the Singapore method for absorbing the concept). When that’s done, provided the boys are still up for it, I leave them to do the workbook lessons while I read a book and wait for them to ask me questions. When they’re done I correct it, and we go to another subject. No problem. You don’t have to be a trained teacher to get through Singapore. You just need to know a few simple, universally accepted math techniques (which are clearly presented in the text). There are no cute, new fangled ways to teach. It’s just good old fashioned math.
Here are the Table of Contents of Saxon Math 2 and Singapore Math 2A. Notice the difference in the amount of contents. To be fair though, The Saxon table of contents is for the entire year and the Singapore one is for the first half. Even considering that fact, there are 132 Saxon lessons in a year to roughly 70 for Singapore math. You can see, also, that Singapore math uses high quality visualizations as a primary teaching method. Saxon feels like it was written by committee and bound at Kinko’s.
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The Singapore Math people will probably love stuff like this, since it’s an honest review by a parent who cares– not a marketing brochure with stock art kids– one of every race.
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At what age did you start your kids on a program like this? I’m not the homeschooling type, but I also don’t trust the school systems to adequately prepare my children. Might be something I would want to look into to enhance their education.
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PJ: I started on a formal math program when they turned 5. Before that I had just taught them basic addition and subtraction. I had been doing Saxon math for a whole year before I found Singapore which has been super easy to manage with two kids. I know several parents who’s kid’s go to public school and who use singapore math in addition. They also sell supplemental workbooks that a lot of kids use in addition to their public schooling. I’ve seen then and they are quite good, too.
That Singapore math sounds interesting. I’ll have to check it out.
Great article on the teaching of the “universal language”. It’s value in all human endeavors, including the arts, is indisputable.
I am constantly amazed at adults with “math anxiety”, and a lack of understanding of the most basic of concepts.
Calculators and computers encourage neurons to wither and die.
Make a small purchase in cash and hand the cashier a twenty dollar bill. After they punch in the amount tendered, offer a few pennies to avoid getting any back. You will witness a “deer caught in headlights” look, and may be handed your additional pennies back as well as what the computer “told” them to give you.
Hello,
I am currently living in Singapore and see the children studying everywhere there are free tables with AC in this city. There is no doubt that they are devoted to their studies here and in my experience people can do complex math in their head (long division, for example) where I have never seen anybody do that in the US. I am sending my son to an IB school that does not teach Singapore math, much to my dismay, so I was considering teaching him this at home… I am glad to have read that you know of people supplementing their regular school with Singapore Math!
My daughter is not homeschooled; yet I am actively involved in my daughter’s work. I’m wondering how to incorporate Singapore Math into my daughter’s learning without her getting confused. I’ve already started with level 1A (she is in first grade), but with her other homework, I find it hard to incorporate it during the week. Any suggestions?
KWiz: Singapore math also has supplementary workbooks that are intended to review for kids what they learned in school. Maybe you can investigate those workbooks as supplement. I agree with you that it would be hard to keep up on both at the same time.
I so appreciate this comparison. We have muddled through a year of Saxon, and it has been an awful experience. I’m switching to Singapore. I’ve been considering it, but this seals the deal for me. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks for your helpful review. I’ve been looking for a good supplementary system for my children and this sounds like a winner. I have a question that you may, or may not, know the answer to. When shopping online for S.M. textbooks, I noticed a warning that Primary Math U.S. edition is not compatible to Primary Math Standard. Do you know the difference between the two? Thanks.
The difference is that the U.S. edition uses the old math standards and the Standards edition uses the new math standards based upon California’s new math standards. California invested many years in developing new rigorous standards for mathematics–I taught there for 10 years during the development phase which was frustrating at times. The test would become more rigorous and the district’s math program would become out of date with no budget to replace the program. It is one of the reasons that CA kids score low compared to other states—their curriculum and standardized tests have gone through several phases of change and are more difficult. I live in TX now and the state is transitioning to similar CA standards and testing beginning this year. I am investing in the Singapore math materials for my elementary age girls to prepare them over the summer. I am using the assessment tests first, to make sure I make the right purchase.
hello I’m part of school board (parents) we changed to singapore math three year ago and now we can see the great results!! we are a little school in Guatemala, and we are using this math since K to 12. and as a parents is very easy to track the children development even if you don’t know math. like to know our school? http://www.lifeschoolweb.com
Thank you for the review. My daughter is in kindergarten and the school district just switched to “Everyday Math”. Everything I’ve seen so far is setting of huge alarm bells in my head – it seems to be nothing more than the badly failed “New Math” of the ’60s dressed up with a new name. I want to start teaching her at home NOW to begin countering any possible harm she might encounter in 1st grade. Singapore Math sounds like just what I’m looking for – a good grounding in the basics without a lot of “do it just this way” scripting for the parent to plow through.