Singapore 2A question....

[amsunshine]

My dd will soon be finishing Singapore 1B and moving on to 2A. For those of you who have gone through or are currently using 2A, what weight sets did you feel were necessary for teaching the section on weight? I've read the Singapore recommendations, but I am confused because, for example, they say the ounce and gram weight sets are optional b/c one could use things like pennies instead (?) They also indicate the kilogram set is necessary.

I've also been looking for weight sets that might be less expensive, but not a lot of luck.

Thanks for any advice on what you used, what you liked/didn't like, and what you thought was essential!

[Alana in Canada]

Um, maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I didn't buy any weight scale or weight sets at all.

I did and do make the kids weigh all our produce and bulk food purchases at the grocery store, though.

[nmoira]

We didn't use weight sets. Instead I used a kitchen/postal scale to fill bottles to different weights of water.

[amsunshine]

Um, maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I didn't buy any weight scale or weight sets at all.

I did and do make the kids weigh all our produce and bulk food purchases at the grocery store, though.

LOL! When I saw the prices of these weight sets, I was thinking about foregoing the purchase myself! But then my guilty conscience started to kick in and I was thinking it might be nice to demonstrate weight concretely, esp. the differences b/w the metric and the customary system.....but good to know you had success without these extras! :)

[WendyK]

I didn't buy any weight sets. I have an electronic kitchen scale that can do g/kg (and us measures too). We practiced weighing things around the house to get a sense for what a kg and a g are. You can also look at labels of cans/boxes of food.

If you buy a weight set you will literally use it for not more than a week and that is about it. I think at this point you can easily live without it.

I used the Singapore edition so only g and kg were covered. I supplemented by getting a library book that talked about all of the various measurements. I figure emphasizing g and kg was more important. We live with pounds and ounces on a daily basis. One would pick it up just from everyday life. g and kg, not so much, yet I think they are more relevant in terms of science (not to mention easier to calculate and deal with).

[bonniebeth4]

I'm currently using 2A (standards edition). I haven't gotten that far in the book yet, but looking ahead, there is one place in the book where it specifically mentions a 1 kg weight. It says, "Hold a 1-kg weight in your hand. Feel how heavy it is." Then the rest of the chapter is occupied with the weights of everyday objects. It's the same in the chapter in lbs. While having the weights around might be useful, I have no intention of buying them. As long as you have a kitchen scale you should be fine. I'm just going to put together a bag of beans for my dd to hold and see how heavy it is.

[amsunshine]

We did use weight sets. Instead I used a kitchen/postal scale to fill bottles to different weights of water.

This was something I was also thinking might be an alternative. Thanks!

[amsunshine]

Wow -- such fast replies! Thank you so much! I feel more confident now that the weight sets are not really essential and thanks for all the great ideas.

[dhudson]

I had a food scale (a cheap $10 one that I had for a previous diet :001_smile:)that had both metric and english measurements and that worked well. I just found things around the house to use to measure. We had fun trying to find things to weigh.

[USDGAL]

Go with a kitchen scale, cheap at your local WM. I took advantage of living in Mexico and got a scale at one of the outdoor narkets. The kids got a kick out of that. Also, they help me pick out and weigh the fruit at the store. Then we figure out the cost. (A little household budgeting lesson snuck in) My oldest is becoming a pro at picking fruit that isn't bruised.

[matroyshka]

I used a balance from IKEA someone had given me - I think it was meant for kids because the center is colored like a peppermint stick. It came with a set of metric weights ('cause IKEA is Swedish :001_smile:) and it was all I ever needed for those sections in Singapore.

[A.J. at J.A.]

Um, maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I didn't buy any weight scale or weight sets at all.

I didn't either!
Angela

[WendyK]

I just happened to have a scale. Otherwise I wouldn't have even bothered to buy one. You can read food labels. That helps. My son liked doing that.

[tajott]

I didn't use a weight set. If your child needs to "see" a balance I'm sure you could find instructions somewhere out in cyberland to build a simple balance scale, but if you just want to see that things have weight a simple kitchen scale works fine.

[CKaye]

I have the kids help me weigh things at the grocery store. We also have a kitchen scale. :)

[EKS]

None.

I have a kitchen scale and filled bags with 1 kg and 1 lb of beans. I did have some gram cubes from some other thing (science maybe) that I pulled out for grams.