Crosspost from K-8 board...Singapore Math question

[Alice]

I posted this on the K-8 board also, but I thought I might get more responses if I posted here too. Thanks!

I've been reading a lot of the posts about Math lately and thinking about Math education in general. I've decided that I'd like to read more about teaching Math and/or something to help me really understand Math better.
My ds is only 4 1/2 so this isn't a huge issue now but something I'd like to do for my own education and also in order to lay a better foundation for him in the years to come. I know I'm not saying exactly what I'm looking for in the best way...and I think that's partially due to my lack of Math understanding. I can do Math but I want my kids to really get Math...if that makes sense at all.

My Math background....I always did well in Math in the sense that I got good grades but I hated it. It was always my least favorite subject and I'm beginning to think it was because I could do the work but didn't see any "big picture" or really get the bigger concepts behind what I was doing. I liked Geometry but always did it "wrong". I'd get the right answer but with a different approach than the teacher. I liked Calculus because I had a good teacher. I went through Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations in college. I did ok in Multivariate as I had a good teacher. Diff Eq almost killed me. I also took Statistics which I found dry and boring. (I took so much Math due to a Chemistry/Biology major.)

OK...enough about me...just wanted to give an idea of where my own level of math skills are. I've looked at the Singapore website which is the curriculum I am planning on starting with (and continuing with barring unforeseen circumstances). I noticed several books...Knowing and Teaching Elem. Math by Liping Ma, one called Elementary Mathmatics for Teachers and one called Arithmatic for Parents.

Any advice or experience with those books (I saw them mentioned in a post here recently but can't seem to find it)? Or any other "mathy" books that would be a good place for me to start?

TIA!
__________________

[Nan in Mass]

Not in the same class, but I really liked and found helpful Ruth Beechick's pamplet.

[Barb F. PA in AZ]

I posted this on the K-8 board also, but I thought I might get more responses if I posted here too. Thanks!

I've been reading a lot of the posts about Math lately and thinking about Math education in general. I've decided that I'd like to read more about teaching Math and/or something to help me really understand Math better.
My ds is only 4 1/2 so this isn't a huge issue now but something I'd like to do for my own education and also in order to lay a better foundation for him in the years to come. I know I'm not saying exactly what I'm looking for in the best way...and I think that's partially due to my lack of Math understanding. I can do Math but I want my kids to really get Math...if that makes sense at all.

My Math background....I always did well in Math in the sense that I got good grades but I hated it. It was always my least favorite subject and I'm beginning to think it was because I could do the work but didn't see any "big picture" or really get the bigger concepts behind what I was doing. I liked Geometry but always did it "wrong". I'd get the right answer but with a different approach than the teacher. I liked Calculus because I had a good teacher. I went through Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations in college. I did ok in Multivariate as I had a good teacher. Diff Eq almost killed me. I also took Statistics which I found dry and boring. (I took so much Math due to a Chemistry/Biology major.)

OK...enough about me...just wanted to give an idea of where my own level of math skills are. I've looked at the Singapore website which is the curriculum I am planning on starting with (and continuing with barring unforeseen circumstances). I noticed several books...Knowing and Teaching Elem. Math by Liping Ma, one called Elementary Mathmatics for Teachers and one called Arithmatic for Parents.

Any advice or experience with those books (I saw them mentioned in a post here recently but can't seem to find it)? Or any other "mathy" books that would be a good place for me to start?

TIA!
__________________

Yes, I know of Liping Ma's book and would recommend it. I don't know of the other two, but they couldn't hurt. The holes in my own math education were filled primarily by going through the SM books along with or just ahead of my oldest, particularly the Topical Problems (that are now called something else, I believe?).

Barb

[Beth in OH]

I highly recommend the Liping Ma book for someone in your situation--eager to teach yourself about providing a great math education for your dc. It has been 6 or 7 years since I read it, so I only remember the generalities of the book. It is not a "how to" manual, rather it describes conceptually how math instruction in China occurs and is different from American teaching. The book gives a few concrete examples that are helpful. I remember coming away with the feeling that I wished my dc could use Singapore Math with a Chinese math teacher; I was afraid that I would resemble the Americans with the shallow understanding of math. Nevertheless, it gave me some lofty goals, and it was an interesting read.

BTW, we've done fine with math. My oldest dd is graduating this year and has completed both pre-calc and calc in a classroom. She says math is easy. I credit it to the way she learned to approach math as an elementary/middle school student at home.

Good luck on your journey.