I recently talked about switching my Year 1 child’s math program to Singapore Math. When I got his next set of books, I decided to get the Pre-K set for my youngest as well!
We’ve been using Dimension Math’s Pre-K set for a couple of months now (we are taking it slow as he is only 3 years old.) Here’s a preview and our thoughts on the curriculum!
SINGAPORE MATH
What is Singapore Math? Quoting from the Singapore math website: “The Singapore math method is a highly effective teaching approach originally developed by Singapore’s Ministry of Education for Singapore public schools. The method has been widely adopted in various forms around the world over the past twenty years following our introduction of the curriculum to the U.S. in 1998.”
Pre-K Curriculum
What’s Included:
We got the entire set for Pre-K. That’s PKA and PKB, which includes:
- Teacher’s Guide:
- Background information on the lessons and concepts
- Detailed lesson plans
- Suggestions on how to teach and activities to try
- Textbook:
- Main student book
- Introduces the lesson and concept
- Includes practice problems
- Workbook:
- Made for independent use of the student
- Additional practice drills
- Problems are based on the lesson and get increasingly complex
There are no manipulatives included in this set, as they are optional. Personally, we already have most of the manipulatives at home as I’ve used them with my eldest son before. I would highly recommend getting sets of various manipulatives to enrich learning!
What’s Covered
There’s a number of basic concepts included in the PK set. Here are some topics covered:
- Matching and classifying
- Comparing objects
- Patterns
- Numbers
- Ordinal numbers
- Shapes
- Introduction to addition and subtraction
Also sharing a photo of the table of contents above.
Is it necessary? Would you recommend it?
I’ll be honest with you: when my eldest was 3-4 years old, we did not have Singapore Math. In fact, we did not use any Pre-K math curriculum. What I did then was get a Kindergarten curriculum and stretch it out for 2 years! Hehe.
Upfront, I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute must for every homeschooling family. I’m also aware that workbooks aren’t really necessary for their age yet. However, it fits REALLY WELL for our family for many reasons. Here are some:
- My 3 year old loves workbooks because he feels left out whenever he sees his older brother writing for schoolwork.
- He also loves Dimensions Math and regularly asks for Math. “Mommy, you said you will do Math with me today, right?”
- I LOVE FOLLOWING A GUIDE! Having 2 kids to homeschool at the same time now means that it’s hard to multitask. I appreciate having a guide to follow to make sure I cover these concepts with my child.
- The lessons and activities are short and you can spread them out at your own pace.
If you thrive better as a homeschool mom when you have a set workbook to follow, then this is THE ONE that I’d recommend!
You can get the set here at the official website. I had it shipped all the way to the Philippines via a 3rd party courier.
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RELATED POSTS:
- Dimensions Math 1: Singapore Math Review (Curriculum Review)
- Year 1 Curriculum Picks for Luke: 2021-2022
- Kindergarten Curriculum Picks for Luke: 2020-2021
- List of Free Living Books for Kids
- Blending Classical Method + Charlotte Mason
2 Comments
Oshin E
December 6, 2022 at 10:53 pmHi Sheena many thanks for this review. Super helpful as I am also considering Singapore math for my kiddo.
Hope you don’t mind me asking some questions. It’ll really help me out since you e experienced it na.
•How old was your 3yo (months) when you started PkA?
•How is the feel of each lesson for the kiddo (light/ heavy per your observation),
•do the lessons progress fast or a bit repetitive (like our local prek math books)
• what 3rd party courier did you use to import this and,
• should your kiddo progress to the next level on his 4th year and the next on his 5th year (meaning advanced sya sa math come kinder at 5yo), how do you address an math-advanced learner in the kinder level? Will your provider allow him to accelerate in this subject matter alone?
If not, would you then be repeating just to comply with work/ grading submissions for kinder level?
For instance with your eldest, I understand his reading level is well advanced for his age and I’m sure at 5yo, he glossed over concepts he already knew which made his kinder reading subject a walk in the park.
Very curious to know, because I am stuck in this boat na I don’t know what to do if the kid progresses fast and moves levels ahead but because of age requirement, officially still at, say, kinder. Have you encountered this and what options do we have for kids who can progress faster: as a whole (all subjects) or in some areas only (say math, reading) ?
A million thanks in advance for your answers and please pardon my rather long question ?!
Sheena Sy Gonzales
February 2, 2023 at 10:47 pmHello! I will try my best to answer these:
• How old was your 3yo (months) when you started PkA?
– I’m sorry I’m not really super sure now, but we are still working on our PKA-B right now at 4 years old! We’re not very strict with implementing the books at this age so we are just taking it slow.
•How is the feel of each lesson for the kiddo (light/ heavy per your observation)
– Just right for his age right now!
• Do the lessons progress fast or a bit repetitive (like our local prek math books)
– Not repetitive, I feel like there is a good reason for each activity.
• What 3rd party courier did you use to import this and,
– Either POBOX PH or Shipping Cart. I’m not sure anymore hehe.
• Should your kiddo progress to the next level on his 4th year and the next on his 5th year (meaning advanced sya sa math come kinder at 5yo), how do you address an math-advanced learner in the kinder level? Will your provider allow him to accelerate in this subject matter alone?
We do the latter for my 2nd grader. He can do more advanced Math but I don’t really pressure him to do more so that he has more free time to explore other interests! Depends on the interest! For reading, my 2nd grader is very advanced and is very interested so I give him harder books that he enjoys. But all no pressure!
– Provider doesn’t really mind which Math material we choose and what level. I would continue to move forward as long as he can do it. But right now, I can’t really say. Because we also do a lot of other subjects and I don’t just focus on Math per-se. So it will depend, when the time comes. I will decide by then if and when he’s ready to move on to the next level for Math, or if we will just take it slow so we also have more time for his other subjects!