Where To Buy "My Pals Are Here" in Manila?

One of my most visited blog posts especially during the start of the school year happens to be a very old post about Singapore Math.

In 2010, I posted about discovering a distributor selling the My Pals Are Here accompanying practice books.  I made this discovery as I attended one of those book fairs, and it so happened that the distributor was selling old editions of My Pals Are Here at 50% off. Naturally, I hoarded the practice books at ALL levels.

What I get from my kids' school is just the textbook and the workbook, but it turns out that there are also additional enrichment books that can be purchased separately.

I've lost the contact number of that distributor already.

But, I'm happy to share with all of you tutor-mamas that I recently discovered where you can all easily buy the additional practice books.

Mathemagis: Singapore Math Enrichment Program

Every year, once school opening is near, I let the kids start doing math worksheets just to get their minds oiled up and working. I think a rusty mind is a student’s worst enemy. For my youngest, I just have him answer multiplication drills so he can refresh on his multiplication. And he also does a few sets of word problems taken from his old Singapore Math books. I do not trust myself to give advance Math lessons as I do not want to confuse him, because his school follow the Singapore Math curriculum.


I am sure a lot of parents feel this way about Singapore Math because we did not grow up learning Math this way.  If you feel like you want to help your kids feel more confident about Math, but are hesitant to do it yourself, then you can join the Singapore Math Workshop conducted by Mathemagis this coming June 4, 2014.  Although it is for teachers, but if you plan to teach your grade-schoolers or pre-schoolers Singapore Math, then this would surely be beneficial for you!

Phenomenal Tip: How to Extend Life of Drill-sheets and Workbooks

The Singapore math curriculum is not exactly the cheapest; a set of textbook and workbook easily cost more than a thousand pesos. If you remember, I blogged about my extreme happiness at finding the local distributor of the My Pals Are Here series, and how it was just perfect that I was able to purchase complementary books which are not being sold in school... at a 50% discount!

Given how expensive the books can get, I just want to share with you how I am able to further extend the life of each workbook. I simply cover up the pages with post-it, and let my kids write their answers and solutions on the post-it.





The benefits of this method:
1. I do not have to make multiple drill sheets for the quizzes and then later on for the quarterly test.
2. I only have to purchase one set per level, and all my kids can share them.

Since these workbooks only serve as additional practice and drills for my kids, no one but myself (and now you) is in on the secret of what a cheapo I am!:)

Hope you find this tip useful!

My Pals Are Here: Singapore Method Curriculum

Better late than never...

I forgot to share with you that one of my best finds during this year's Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) is the discovery of the local distributor of the Singapore textbook, My Pals Are Here. My kids use these textbooks for their Singapore Math and Science curriculum.

I just want to share the good news to all the parents whose kids are learning the Singapore method. The local distributor is selling the complementary books to the My Pals Are Here textbooks. There are exercise books available for all levels of students

a. My Pals Are Here - Reteach. The exercises in this book are carefully structured to provide learners with more time and opportunities to learn.

b. My Pals Are Here - Practice. The exercises offered here are opportunities to revise and extend concepts and skills.

c. My Pals Are Here - Enrichment. The exercises in this book are carefully designed to challenge and motivate fast learners.



The latest edition costs a little more than P400.00. But if you do not mind buying the old edition (read: published 2005 or earlier) like I did, you get to save 50%. I bought up all the enrichment books I could get my hands on. Yes, on all levels. It was a little bit like hoarding. :) Roughly, I got two books for the price of one. Bargain, di ba?

When their school shifted to using the Singapore Method a couple of years ago, I found myself complaining, along with numerous other parents, that the curriculum seemed too easy that it was like going down a grade level. Or at least, that was how it looked like if you look at the textbooks alone. I remembered the first time I browsed through the math book, shocked that her grade level curriculum covered addition and subtraction only up to 20, when my girl can easily add unto the hundred value already. "adding and subtracting up to 20? Easy-peasy!" Little did I know that the analytical part of problem solving would require some re-learning of math concepts. Students are required to get creative as mathematical equations are worked with together with the aid of the bar model method.

This technique of model building is a visual way of picturing a situation. Instead of forming simultaneous equations and solving for the variables, model building involves using blocks or boxes to solve the problem. The power of using models, if learned with proper guidance, often allow grade school kids to be able to solve algebraic word problems. If models can be drawn to show the situation, the solution becomes clearer, sometimes even obvious.

At that time, I also did not understand the importance on the concentrated focus on using number bonds for addition and subtraction. I had no concept at all on what the number bonds were for, except maybe to confuse the child and exasperate the parent/tutor. Because we all grew up doing carry over 1 and borrow 1 for addition and subtraction of two digit numbers with regrouping, right?

Just a few weeks ago, I attended a Singapore Math seminar, offered by my daughters' school this time, and here it was explained to me that mastery of the number bonds at the early grade level facilitates mental math in the higher grade levels. We were also taught how to solve multi-solution algebraic problems using the bar model method.

It is then that I have come to appreciate the wonders of the Singapore Math and Science curriculum. Teaching them the Singapore method has always been testy for me. But not anymore.

Singapore Math is a balance between drill and creative problem solving. Students are encouraged to move along to more abstract math concepts in a more rational way and, depending on the student's pace, more quickly. I also found out for myself as I tutored my kids that the Singapore approach encourages greater problem solving skills and creative thinking. In fact, algebra problems are a breeze when done the Singapore method way.

In the same way, Singapore Science aims to stimulate young minds, cultivate their interest, and spark their curiosity in finding out about the things around them. It adopts a hands-on and inquiry-based approach to the learning of Science, including experiments, worksheets and projects and research on the Internet for information.

Are you asleep already? It's ok, you can wake up now... I am done with the post. :)

Case of the Tutor Mom

It is exam week in my kids' school this week - all three of them! You cannot imagine the chaos that goes around when study time comes. I have them all gather around the dining table where I can see each one of them at my every turn. I had no sooner turn my back from the first child to attend to second child than I catch some playful banter behind me.

Just when everything is quiet and there's some semblance of studying going on, a closer inspection would show some creative doodling on paper. Or worse, "Mom, I am soooo sleepy!" Of course a Nazi mom's solution to droopy eyes would be a quick trip to the bathroom sink for a splash of cold water on the face. :) There! All awake now! :)

Where my kids go to school, Singapore Math is in the curriculum. Singapore Math is an entirely different math from what we all grew up with. The hallmark of the curriculum is the careful guidance of students, done in a child-friendly pictorial language. Singapore math programs have a consistent and strong emphasis on problem solving and model drawing. For this reason, what I know as simple addition is now being taught as “number bonds.”

The Singapore method is poles apart from the traditional way of teaching math that my son’s school is offering a free seminar to all interested parents who want to know more about it. The Singaporean lecturer emphasized that should the tutor/parent not be familiar with the Singapore method, then it is best to leave the teaching to the school, lest any outside intervention is bound to confuse the child even more.

Having said that, it is of course disastrous that I did not bother to attend any of the said seminars. I was already this close to pulling out all of my hair in frustration as I desperately tried to explain to R the concept of looking for the missing addends – the Singpore math way. “What do you need to add to 2 to get 6?” I said for the second time, pointing to the circles, while my fingers gripped the pencil ever so tightly. Still no answer.

In desperation, I called for back-up. I called my 7-year old, “B, can you please explain to your younger brother how you do this.” She said matter-of-factly, “this is easy R. First, you look at the two circles on this side, and then look at the two lines connected to these two circles directed toward one circle in the opposite side. These two circles are called the parts, the other circle on the opposite side with two lines pointing to it is called the whole. Blah, blah, blah…. I swear, she sounded a lot like a math teacher.

That did it. R aced the exam. Mommy is happy. Case closed.

As I picked the girls up from school today, J tells me how challenging the Filipino exam was. How she found the Filipino language reading comprehension extremely difficult. “Mom, I didn’t understand some of the words in the story.” B cuts in, “consider yourself blessed, still! I didn’t understand almost all of the words in my Filipino exam!” Sadly, my math genius is totally lost in her Filipino class.

A-ya-yay! And the cycle goes on...