How to get the most out of Singapore Math® Live

 
When I was homeschooling my elementary-aged children,  I loved the feeling of knowing that we were completing enough today in order to accomplish our year-long goals. So when I created SML, I started with a Weekly Schedule which lists the pages to complete in each book for each week. Following this plan will allow you to finish the set of books in 34 weeks. It's not broken down by day - just by the week so you can fit it into your schedule in whatever way works for you.

In our house, each day we generally did one exercise, one or two pages in Intensive Practice, and one page in Challenging Word Problems. Although most curricula comes in one big book, doing math out of three books means you can break math down into three bite-sized chunks each day! And I love the fact that students will have exposure to a couple of word problems each day. Over time, that will greatly increase their critical thinking skills and help them learn a lot of problem-solving strategies and methods.  These books provide the rigor that develop the excellent mathematical skills that Singapore Math is known for. But without support, many parents find this curriculum to be too difficult to teach.

Here's how Singapore Math Live can help you:

1. Use the Weekly Schedule to plan which pages to do each day. It's best to do about one Workbook exercise, one or two pages in Intensive Practice, and one page in Challenging Word problem each day.
2. The Class Recordings are a crash course for the teacher. Plan a time each week that you can watch the recording from start to finish or just watch them when your child is stuck on a homework problem in the Workbook or Intensive Practice book. When your children have questions - you'll be prepared to answer them!  
3. Before your child does an exercise in the Workbook, they can watch the corresponding "Student Recording." On that recording, Brenda uses Singapore Math terminology and strategies to teach them the concept. You can watch it together if you like, or you can send them to the computer to finish that part on their own. 
4. If your student gets stuck on a problem in the Workbook or in the Intensive Practice book, use the "Class Recording" for that week to find the help you need. Scroll below the recording to the comment section where the video is annotated so you can find the page you need help with.
   
5. If your student is stumped by a word problem, you can click on the "IP" or the "CWP" recordings for the solutions to all of the word problems assigned in those books. Again, scroll to the comments to find the exact time that each problem is being worked and explained. 
   

Note: The Intensive Practice book is divided into two sections per unit - practice problems and word problems. When your child is doing the Practice Problems, help can be found in the "Class Recordings." When your child is doing the Word Problems or Take the Challenge section, help is found in the "IP" recording. The Intensive Practice book gives more practice, which allows students to master the concepts. But it also provides the rigor that is necessary for a student to have an excellent math education. You won't have the results that Singapore Math's reputation implies if your student doesn't complete the rigorous coursework found in this book. But you will have plenty of help in the support recordings! 

The word problems are my favorite part of the Singapore Math curriculum! They really make you think. Many people write to tell me that although they can solve the problems, they have to resort to using Algebra skills to do so. When they watch the CWP and IP solutions recording, they see how to solve the problems in a much simpler way. The beauty of the word problems is that although they seem so complex, they are solved quite simply by organizing the information and using logic. The solutions recordings help you and your child to solve the word problems the easy way! 

So, at the first of each week, Mom watches the Class Recording and uses the Syllabus to plan the week. At the beginning of each day that has a Workbook exercise assigned, the student watches a Student Recording that corresponds with that assignment. If need help with the Workbook or Intensive Practice problems, use the "Class Recording." 

All of the help you need is at your fingertips! You CAN give your child the best mathematics education available and maximize their math potential!

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