Question about Singapore 1B and math facts

[Penelope]

My 6 yo is in 1B and the home instructor's guide says he should have addition and subtraction facts to sum of 10 memorized before moving into unit 3 (two digit addition and subtraction).

Am I going to cause problems by moving on with him even though he doesn't have all the facts down cold?

He does know some of his addition facts. We have been doing Calculadders daily for a couple of months (only addition, though). We play dice games and card games regularly. Last week I tried both flash cards and copywork-- with the goal of learning 4 facts by the end of the day, going over them several times throughout the day, for several days. But he just can't get instant recall of these :confused:. He does get the right answer, but he has to figure it out (in his head) every time.

And, my second question-- do I need to worry that he can't seem to remember the facts that we have been working on regularly? He has no problem memorizing poems, or anything else. Should I just keep working on it with him the way we're doing, while moving on in the curriculum, or should I pause the curriculum for a few weeks and use manipulatives more and work on facts?

[Arch At Home]

Knowing those fact is nice and speeds up the process. However, if the child can figure out the answer either mentally or with manipulatives, I would keep drilling but also keep going.

[Laura Corin]

Hobbes carried on counting on his fingers, but picked up the facts just through using them.

Laura

[cbollin]

I don't think it is required to have mastery of all of them before moving on in 1B. Use manipulatives, or look up tougher ones, (use fingers too. Laura's children aren't the only ones).

My opinion is that a 6 y.o is a little on the young side in 1B, so if you wanted to slow down and review a bit before going on, you can do that as a break between units without losing any ground. Keep drilling in various ways. Let him practice saying the right answers instead of guessing wrong answers. Let him figure it out with fingers or manipulatives.

The speed and accuracy of math facts will be easier as he gets older. Some children just don't click with all of the rote memory until they are a little bit older.

-crystal

[Confuzzled]

My daughter has similar problems remembering math facts. We've just moved on and she has had no trouble working the problems. She's currently finishing up 3B. She eventually learned her addition and subtraction facts just by using them.

Last year I spent a lot of time drilling multiplication facts and using Times Attack until she had them down cold. Then when she moved into 3B this fall she had completely and totally forgotten them. So I stopped Singapore and went back to Times Attack and drilling so she would have them in her head again. She could retrieve them instantly again and we moved on.

Now, at the end of 3B, she's forgotten them again! So I have given her a times table to use when doing long division. (sigh)

I'm hoping she'll eventually remember them by using them in the same manner she did the addition and subtraction.

She thinks mathematically so very well. I just hated holding her back because she struggles with memorizing the facts.

Kris

[Mommy22alyns]

OP, I could have written your post word for word! What is up with our kiddos??? Becca is the same way - she takes forever to do mental math exercises and can't seem to get to instant recall of her facts although she can solve them. Meanwhile, she's got choir songs and grammar poems and Latin words memorized... but math? Nope. It's making me crazy. Hopefully you'll get even more input, because I need some too! :bigear:

[Linda...inOwasso]

I would continue on... if he's not having any problems. BUT, not knowing his math facts will slow down the speed at which he can complete his assignments.

Ideally, he should know his facts cold. I would set up a system for practicing the facts routinely while continuing with your Singapore text.

Concepts & facts are two different subjects in our house. Facts are drilled in a written format every day (Susan C. Anthony's drill sheets). My kids are expected to know their facts without hesitation. My diligence in this area has paid off tremendously!

Best of luck to you. :)

[siloam]

Knowing their math facts helps them work faster, so math doesn't take as long. Knowing them cold is beneficial but not necessary.

I would recommend playing math games rather than drill. Is your ds a visual/spacial learner by chance? My oldest is auditory and did learn her facts by drill, but my 2nd dd didn't master them by drill, calculators or oh that popular hand held electronic one :001_huh:. Anyway we start RS, which used games and she knew them in a VERY short period of time.

Generally just take any game you already play, use a deck of cards and make the goal to reach 10. Play go fish, but make pairs that add up to 10. Play memory but again make pairs that add up to 10. Play war and only include cards 5 and under, so 10 is the biggest number you can reach (when he masters that add the 6's and so on...). I can't think of any other games right now, but you get the idea.

Heather

[RootAnn]

My older DD took awhile to get her addition/subtraction answers down "cold." I found that manipulatives used liberally and often early on without a lot of pressure helped cement them. Don't the "experts" say that "mental math" is harder at the 5-6 yr old age and easier as they get older?

[Beth in SW WA]

BUT, not knowing his math facts will slow down the speed at which he can complete his assignments.

Ideally, he should know his facts cold.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: