Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Singapore Math Live

Homeschool Review Crew

Do you have a child who needs a bit more help with math?  We’ve recently been trying out Singapore Math Live.  We received, through the Homeschool Review Crew, Singapore Math Live- Challenging Word Problems level 1. 

We have never used Singapore Math before so this was a new adventure for us.  Level 1 was the level we chose.  This level is for approximately grade 1 or someone who hasn’t been using Singapore Math before and was in grade 2 of a different curriculum. 

For our review, we received a physical workbook as well as an online subscription. 

About the Curriculum

Challenging Word Problems are truly challenging.  They recommend starting a grade level lower than where they are if your child hasn’t been doing Singapore Math before.  This way they can conquer and not feel instantly overwhelmed as they get into the program. 

You do need the workbook to use the Singapore Math Live videos.  They are the support for the workbook.  They are sold separately but we received both for the review.  The Live videos are an online subscription service.  I feel you could do the books without them but they are a very nice option to have especially if you are using the upper levels.  

It is recommended that you use this program for 10-20 minutes a day.  The “ideal” use would be to do two problems a day every school day. We used the program for approximately 20 minutes a day four days a week.  

More than that could discourage your child or make them not enjoy their math time.  This is not a full curriculum on its own but rather extra support for your normal math curriculum. 

When we first got the course I thought it was going to be more than the videos taught what the book was going to have them use in terms of critical thinking for their word problems.  But that’s not it.  The videos basically teach the parent how to teach and help their child use the workbook. 

Let’s Chat Videos

The videos are laid out by pages.  On the course page, you will see all of the videos listed out and the page numbers they correspond to next to them so you can easily choose where you are in the book by the page numbers. 

So for each set of pages, you have a video.  And then the video can be segmented into the different questions if you wish by using the time bar on the bottom. 

It ends up being easier to navigate than I thought it would.  I had thought they’d have the videos per problem but they don’t.  So I thought it would be hard to find the ones we were on but it’s not really.  It’s fairly easy to skip the video to where you need to be.  I tried pausing the video but my computer would lock me out and I would leave my saved spot. 

Here’s an example from within a video. 

Age Level

We received level one.  Level one is equivalent to grade one.  I have a daughter who is going into 2nd-grade math this fall.  From reading the website it seemed that level one would be a good fit for her.  I had thought of using it with my son entering kindergarten as well but after receiving the curriculum I knew that it was definitely not something he would be able to work through on his own. 

While most of the problems were straightforward for her she was really challenged by the problems that had more than one solution.  I mean this is math!  Everything should have one and only one answer right!?  

Workbook

So let’s peek at the workbook now!

Each lesson shows some worked problems and then it has problems for the children to do on their own. 

Here’s an example of how she worked on two problems.  This would be all she did for the day. 

As you can see I had to help her do the second solution for the second problem because she wanted to use the standard math rules to figure out how she’s always done.  This is good for her.  I think this is what the point of the challenging word problems is.  To challenge!

Our Thoughts

So, I have infused some of our thoughts through the above spots where I’m talking about the curriculum.  But I’m going to restate some and point out a few more here.  

We have enjoyed this curriculum.  I think my daughter will probably finish the book before we start school again this fall.  This is a great supplement for math.  I think it would work amazingly for an over summer program if they do as we are and use the level they just finished. 

After having used this with her I think the key is to stop when they get frustrated.  Then come back and let them work on it again fresh.  I have some children with learning disabilities and I see this a lot with them.  When they get frustrated they are no longer learning.  Even if you painstakingly show them every step they have disconnected and are no longer engaged.  Versus coming back after they’ve had a break where they can then learn and comprehend. 

We recommend this for helping children to learn to do work problems.  Our normal math program doesn’t have a lot of work problems at this age so this was her first experience with only doing word problems.  While she did get frustrated more at the beginning once she got doing the problems and understood what was going on she really has enjoyed the curriculum. 

When I saw how thin the book was I didn’t think it would last that long but after opening it it could definitely last a whole year to be done alongside their regular curriculum.  

Learn More

If you’re looking to learn more about Singapore Math Live and how it might benefit you in your homeschool please go to the Main Blog Post on the Homeschool Review Crew and read all of the reviews linked up.  Reviewers were given a choice of level 1 through level 6 so you’re sure to find a level that pertains to you. 

Singapore Math Live can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.