Singapore Math, 2B Home Instructor's Guide

The Home Instructor's Guide bridges the gaps between the textbook and workbooks in the Primary Math 2B program, walking you through them in a logical, step-by-step fashion.

Primary Mathematics 2B Home Instructor's Guide

How does the Home Instructor's Guide work?

The Home Instructor's Guide works in much the same way that an Instructor's Guide (IG) works--where the IG bridges the gaps between the many books in a Sonlight Program, the Home Instructor's Guide bridges the gaps between the textbook and workbooks in the Primary Math 2B program, walking you through them in a logical, step-by-step fashion.

The Home Instructor's Guide lays everything out for you: what concepts you will cover in each of the 9 units in the Primary Math 2B program, what pages you will reference in the textbook and workbooks, exercises for your child that will reinforce the concepts s/he learns, answers to all of the math problems, and more.

The guide coordinates everything and assists you in such a way that you will need to invest far less energy to give your children the top-notch math education for which you purchased Singapore Math® in the first place.

The Features and Benefits

The Home Instructor's Guide contains many features that will benefit you immensely. In fact, each unit contains the following:

• Summaries of the concepts you will teach--You'll save time because you won't have to scan the textbook to find out what you will be covering; the summaries, at a glance, will tell you what's ahead.

• Notes to the instructor--The notes give background information, suggestions, and clarifications that help you teach the course material more effectively. In one place, the notes explain how to count using tally marks; in another, how the rest of the world tells time and what "a.m." and "p.m." stand for.

• Suggested activities for using manipulatives--Math manipulatives--a term that refers to physical objects like pennies or blocks--supplement your student's math work by adding kinesthetic exercises that correspond with the material the textbook covers. Kinesthetic activity solidifies the theories your student learns because s/he is able to see how the theories apply to physical objects.

• Discussion questions--The discussion questions help you to teach more effectively. They serve as starting points that prompt even more questions and further understanding of the concepts covered in each unit.

• Games to reinforce concepts--The Home Instructor's Guide contains many creative ideas that will help you to make your daily math lessons more fun. Some games involve dice or a deck of cards; others involve drawing with paper and pencil. None of the games are elaborate; rather, all of them are simple so that you can add a lot of value to your study without a huge investment of time.

• Suggestions for incorporating customary U.S. measurement--These suggestions are very useful in illustrating to your child the differences between metric and standard measurements. One suggestion shows how to convert metric volume to customary US volume, and discusses differences in the ways British-speaking countries measure and refer to gasoline. Little extras like this should help you hold your child's interest every step of the way.

• Currency replacement pages--These pages have the same or similar math problems that the pages in the textbook have, except that they show American currency. If you want, you can substitute these pages wherever you encounter Singaporean currency so that your child learns how to identify American currency.

• Answer keys--The Home Instructor's Guide would not be complete without the answer keys. The answer keys in the manual differ from the original answer keys in that they show not only the final answer, but the process by which one arrives at an answer. This added feature helps you to identify where the errors in your child's thinking occur so that you can constructively show him or her where s/he has gone wrong.

Mental Math Exercises

Many Singapore Math® users have said they would like more practice drill in the program. You'll be pleased to find that the Home Instructor's Guide includes a number of Mental Math exercises in the appendices. These exercises can help students who may struggle with one or more particular concepts by giving them additional practice. Students cover many questions similar to those in the exercises throughout the course, so the additional drill can be used on an "as needed" basis without sacrificing any course content.

You can photocopy the Mental Math exercises (the only portion of the manual that can be copied) in case you have more than one student to teach. (You may think, "Why would I need to copy the exercises if they teach 'mental math?' Isn't my child supposed to do the math in his head?" Well, you're right. Your student should do the math in his or her head, but s/he will still need space to write down the answers. The worksheets provide this space. And that's why, if you have more than one student, you might want to photocopy the exercises.)

While we're talking about Mental Math, let me point out that we do have other reasonably priced products that dovetail nicely with Singapore Math®. (See page 107-8 in the catalog.) These supplements give students the added practice and drill that some parents have asked for. The advantage of the 2B Home Instructor's Guide is that you get the Mental Math exercises in addition to all of the other resources I've already discussed, and they are pre-organized for you in one book.