Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics/Singapore Math

SingaporeMath.com, Inc.

Like the very popular Primary Mathematics program, Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics was first published for schools in Singapore.

It consists of books 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B. Two books are to be used each year, so these actually serve as both a preK and kindergarten program.

Instructions are given on each page and answers are fairly obvious, so there are no teacher manuals or answer keys. This makes Earlybird Math a very inexpensive option.

Books have full-color covers, and half of the pages are full color while the other half are three color. The color plus cartoon-style illustrations make these very visually appealing. Adding another dimension of appeal to different learning styles, lessons occasionally instruct the teacher to tell a story such as Goldilocks or the story of Noah's Ark in conjunction with the lesson.

Book 1A begins with matching things that look alike, then introduces colors, the concepts of smaller/larger, shorter/longer, shorter/taller, lighter/heavier, sets with more or fewer items, counting, one-to-one correspondence, simple graphs, numbers, sequencing, simple volume relationships using water, and activities where students must make logical connections between objects. Although one exercise says that children are to write the number of objects in boxes, this book does not teach them how to form the numbers. That happens in 1B. (You can write the numbers in as your child says them if they don't yet know how to write them.)

Book 1B teachers number writing, counting, simple graphs, number sequencing, reading pictographs, pairs, even numbers, story board sequencing, daytime/nighttime, ordinal numbers (through "fifth"), straight/curved lines, and basic geometric shapes.

Book 2A briefly reviews reading and writing numbers and counting, then moves on to comparison of sets with more/less, greater than/less than, simple subtraction, simple addition (both visually illustrated with pictures of objects), simple measurement (using objects such as straws to measure lenghth in terms of a number of straws), weight comparisons (for which you will need a simple balance), volume relationships using containers with water, number sequencing, how to write the names of the numbers through "ten," place value (using numbers up through 19), counting with a number line, halves and quarters of objects, and writing answers to simple addition equations (just a few pages at the end).

Book 2B begins with children filling in both addends and sums for addition equations, written both horizontally and vertically. Next they identify missing addends, then move into subtraction doing the same types of activities. All of this is presented with pictures of objects so it is less abstract than it sounds. Time telling is next, with children learning to read hour and half hour times. The book uses the term "half past" for half hour times, so you might want to instruct your children to also read the time expressed as "nine-thirty" or whatever the actual time. However, they still need to understand the "half past" concept to visually see half the hour is gone. Other concepts taught are days of the week, place value work with higher numbers, counting by tens and by fives, and coins (U.S.).

Lessons frequently tell the teacher to use objects in presenting new concepts and for working through some of the lessons. Generally these are easily obtainable such as counters, plastic bottles, bucket, bowls, clay, and plastic cups. The aforementioned balance might be the most unusual item.

Lessons are written assuming a classroom group is present, but they are almost all readily adaptable to working with a single child or you can easily substitute a slight variation. (You won't encounter anything you cannot teach if you don't have a group of children.)

Although concepts taught in 2A and 2B are more advanced than in some other kindergarten math programs, the hands-on and pictorial presentations makes it possible for most children to grasp them. This series prepares children well to begin the Primary Mathematics series.