SingaporeMath.com Inc

• Supplementary Math for kindergarten level mathematics
• Supplementary Math and Test Papers for primary level mathematics 
• Math CD-ROMs   

Supplementary Math for kindergarten level

1. Are there any supplementary material be used with the Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics series?
   Yes.  Please look at the table below.              
     
   
                       Summary Table for supplementary series for kindergarten levels.            
   
    

   Title	Ages	Contains	Comments	Recommendation
   Essential Math A and B	4-6	Black and white worksheets, suggestions and activities for teacher to use to introduce a concept.	Follows the same sequence as the Earlybird Kindergarten Standards Edition, though the units are divided differently and have different names. It does have two units at the end covering odd/even numbers and fractions, which are not in the Earlybird Kindergarten Standards Edition, and does not have a unit on money. The introductory activities involve hands-on activities using linking cubes, counters, and readily available objects.	These can be used as either a stand-alone curriculum, or as a supplement to Earlybird Kindergarten  Standards Edition.
   Kindergarten Mathematics Readers (set of 10 books)	4-6	Stories based on well-known children's fables and rhymes. Each pages has a variety of mathematical concepts represented by pictures that can be discussed.	The mathematical concepts shown on each page are not always explicit in the story but if you look on the back cover to see what unit  of the Earlybird Kindergarten textbook the reader goes with, or look at the corresponding units in the activity books below, you can get an idea of what concepts can be discussed. For example, Hickory Dickory Dock is obviously about time, (time on the clock, morning, afternoon, night, calendar) but most pages also have a picture of animals on a seesaw allowing discussion on comparing weight, and the clocks and pictures have different shapes on each page (triangle, square, circle). There are a few potentially sensitive issues, as with most fairy tales, such as the wolf killing some of the sheep.	These are more effective when used in conjunction with the Activity Books.
   Earlybird STD Edition Kindergarten Math Activity Books A and B	4-6	Colorful pages with games and activities for student to do to reinforce concepts. There are cutouts to be used with the games.	Follows the same sequence with the same units as the Earlybrid Kindergarten Standards Edition textbook. Activities are based on the stories or pictures in the Readers.	These can be used on their own but are more effective when used in conjunction with the Readers. They are not a complete curriculum and go along well with the Earlybird Kindergarten Standards Edition textbooks.

   
   
2. Do you have sample pages of kindergarten supplementary titles for review?
   Yes, samples are listed under the Contents_Sample tab on the product detail information page of each item. 

Supplementary Math and Test Papers for primary levels

1. What is 'Supplementary math'? Are these books part of the curriculum or not?
The core curriculum for Primary Mathematics consists of the textbook and workbook as well as the teaching ideas in the guides. "Supplementary math" are additional books for more practice or to use for tests. They should be used at the discretion of the teacher or parent and are meant to supply either resources for differentiated learning or a source of questions to use for assessment. Some contain more challenging problems than the core curriculum for enrichment, and some can be used for reinforcement or a source of problems for re-teaching. Some (the challenging ones) require more teacher involvement, others can be used more independently or for review. They can be used to expand on the curriculum, but are not meant to replace the curriculum, and do not include adequate teaching of the concepts. They are therefore generally not appropriate for supplementing other math curricula. Most are simply for practice in that the concepts have already been taught in the core curriculum, though a few have some minimal teaching in them on specific topics, such as some mental math strategies, or some approaches to word problems or problem solving.  See the chart below for more detail on each of the supplementary titles we carry and suggestion on how they could fit in with the core curriculum.

2. Do you have supplements for Kindergarten?
Please read the FAQ for Kindergarten Math for more information on various components that can be used for Kindergarten.

3. Do you have supplements for the secondary level books (grades 7 and up)?
At the secondary level, the textbooks are the core material, and the workbooks are supplementary. Please read the FAQ for Secondary Math for more information on various components of those levels.

4. Do you have table of contents for these books? Sample pages?
Yes. In the list of products, click on the picture of the product or on the words "More info." Then click on the tab that says Contents_Sample and scroll down. There are links to sample pages for each book.

5. Are there answers?
Yes. All the supplementary books we carry have an answer key included at the back of the books.

6. Are there teacher guides?
No. These are practice books, not meant for teaching concepts. The main teaching is done with Primary Mathematics. Some of them do have more challenging problems so the teacher or parent will need to provide guidance with problem-solving strategies even though basic concepts have been taught. Some have worked out solutions in the back the teacher can use, but it is highly recommended that students do not refer to those solutions as soon as they have difficulties or no real problem solving will occur. Problem solving improves with practice, not with viewing ready-made solutions. As with the core curriculum, alternate solutions are often possible.

7. How many supplementary titles should we get?
We recommend that you do not use more than three supplementary books for each level. Two are probably enough.  Too many exercises can be overwhelming for a student. In Singapore, schools do not use lots of supplementary books. Some do not even use them at all. At the primary six level, schools do use some extra worksheets (usually past year exam papers) to prepare the students for the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination). Parents and tutors do use some supplementary books with their children/students. But again, two or at most three supplementary books are more than enough and your student will not likely have time to go through more than that. It is a waste of money to purchase too many of them.

8. I have seen other "Singapore Math" Practice or Word Problem books in the bookstore or on the Internet. Why are they not on your site?
The term, "Singapore Math", came into use in the U.S.A. around the year 2000 when US academics, homeschoolers, schools and the media started referring to our books as Singapore Math® books.  Since then, our company and our math books from Singapore have been referred to as Singapore Math by our customers and by the media. However, recently some bookstores and publishers have been using the words "Singapore Math" in some of their titles.  (Singapore Math® is a registered trademark of SingaporeMath.com Inc) The authors of these books do not necessarily follow the same sequence or even the same methods as in the Primary Mathematics core curriculum. We carry carefully selected supplementary books where either the topics do follow the sequence of topics in the Primary Mathematics, or which contribute in a unique way and meet specific needs. Just as in the U.S., there are many math practice books available in Singapore of various quality, as well as other full curricula, and some have made their way to the U.S. to other distributors than ourselves as a result of the success of Primary Mathematics.

Comparison of supplementary math books. Title Grades Description Recommended use Edition of Primary Mathematics Extra Practice  (Standards edition) 1-6 1 book per grade. Each unit start with "Friendly Notes" that review the concepts, followed by a set of exercises, one for each chapter in that unit of Primary Mathematics. The level of difficulty and the format of the problems is similar to that of the Primary Mathematics.  Use with average students needing more practice at the end of each chapter in Primary Mathematics. These books are also ideal to send home in a classroom situation, since the "Friendly Notes" will allow parents to see how a topic is being taught in school. They can also be used by parents who want to prepare their students for a school using Primary Mathematics when the student has not used earlier levels. They do not, however, have the same depth and careful sequencing of learning activities that the Primary Mathematics textbooks have and should not substitute for the core curriculum under ordinary circumstances. The units and Exercises correspond exactly with the units in the Standards edition. Cannot be used with US edition. Extra Practice  (U.S. edition) 1-6 1 book per grade. Problems are arranged topically with occasional assessments that combine topics. Within each exercise (topic) the problems are arranged by type, such as fill in the missing number or word problems. The level of difficulty and the format of the problems is similar to that of Primary Mathematics.  Use with average students needing more practice than found in the workbooks. Because of the topical arrangement of the exercises and within the exercises, they can be used as a source of problems for tests or reteaching, or to review a specific topic from a previous level, or as summer review.  The topics follow the general sequence in the US edition, but do not correspond chapter by chapter. They can also be used with the Standards edition, but do not include all topics and sequence of topics will be different in places. Visible Thinking in Mathematics 1A-6 2 books per grade for G1-5, 1 book for G6. Concepts are arranged topically. Topics include material for discussion to get the student to think through the concepts, as well as problems the student could do independently after the discussion. Includes some strategies not in the Primary Mathematics that may be useful for slower students. Note: This series has not been revised for U.S. usage. Currency images in the money chapters at the lower levels are Singapore coins and bills. Also, only metric measurement units are used. Use with slower students who need more time and help in learning concepts and additional practice. Could be used by a parent to use the summer before when wanting to make sure their child is ready for the next level of Primary Mathematics being used in a school that has adopted the Singapore Math. Also useful for reteaching if you feel your student is struggling with some concepts. Useful for providing parents with teaching tips and discussion questions to get students to think about the concepts, rather than simply handing the student a workbook for more practice. Topics do not exactly follow the same sequence of Primary Mathematics. The books can be used with either edition by selecting appropriate topics. Intensive Practice (U.S. edition) 1-6 2 books per grade. Each topic has three sections: practice, word problems, and challenges. Problems in the practice section contain primarily computation problems but also some simpler word problems. The problems in the word problems section are challenging and tend to require new problem-solving approaches. The problems in the challenge section are puzzles and brain-teasers.  Use with more average or capable students for enrichment or as a source of interesting problems to present and discuss in a classroom. The first section of each topic can probably be done independently and by average students, but the second and third sections might require additional help from the teacher or parent even for students doing well with the Primary Mathematics.  Problems are arranged in topics corresponding to each unit in the US edition. They can also be used with both the Standards edition but do not include all topics and the sequence of topics will be different in places. Challenging Word Problems 1-6 1 book per grade. The problems are arranged topically in chapters. Each chapter is divided into Practice problems and Challenge problems with some worked examples. Many problems have worked solutions at the back. Although computation skills correspond to the same level of Primary Mathematics, the problem-solving skills required often go beyond the core curriculum. Use with capable students for enrichment or as a source of interesting problems to present and discuss in a classroom. Do not expect even capable students to be able to do all the problems independently.  The chapters follow the sequence in the Standards edition. They can be used with the US edtion by selecting appropriate chapters and with the omission of one chaper in the 6th level. Math Sprints 1-6 These have worksheets consisting of 12-18 similar problems meant to be done in 1 minute for  mental math practice. These go beyond just fact practice to include mental math with fractions, decimals, percentage, and so on. Use to help students increase speed and accuracy with mental computation.  These can be used with either edition by selecting appropriate worksheets. Process Skills 1-6 1 book per grade. This series has one section that can be solved using a variety of heuristic approaches, such as guess and check, simplify the problem, draw a diagram, look for a pattern, and make a list. It has another section with problems that can be solved using the model approach. Each section is divided into units. Each unit has one or more worked example with teaching ideas followed by 4-5 problems. These books can be particularly helpful for understanding the model approach when starting Primary Mathematics later than grade 3. Use to provide additional practice in solving word problems using the model approach, as well as using other approaches not emphasized as much in the Primary Mathematics. Primary Mathematics does not teach model drawing until 3A for good reason, but these push the model drawing sooner than appropriate. These can be used with either edition. Because detailed solutions are provide for most problems, the earlier levels can be used independently of Primary Mathematics as long as students have mastered to computation skills needed. The later levels do use some approaches unrelated specifically to model drawing that will be easier to understand having used Primary Mathematics. Math Express 1-6 1 book per grade. Each section consists of two introductory problems, several pages explaining a strategy that can be used to solve those problems or to check the answers, several practice worksheets, and finally a speed and accuracy test.  This series is can be used with more capable students to help increase a student’s speed and accuracy in math computation through a variety of strategies. Although steps are given for each strategy, no explanation is given for why the strategies work nor under what circumstances they should be applied, so additional teaching may be required. These can be used independently of Primary Mathematics and with either edition, so long as the students have the computational skills needed for any particular chapter. They include some strategies taught in Primary Mathematics and additonal ones. Brain Maths  Volume 1 and 2 4-6 2 books. These contain a variety of puzzles and brain teasers.  There is a section of hints for most problems at the back, followed by a section with answers and many solutions.   Use with  for independent work by motivated students or as a source of interesting problems for lessons or math clubs.  These can be used independently of Primary Mathematics.