Primary Math 2022 Edition (Grades K-6)

Packed with all the features we have come to love about Singapore Math in general, and Primary Math in particular, this 2022 edition is completely NEW! You'll recognize the basic components – semester student books and home instructor guides – and the wonderful Singapore educational methodology, but it's the user-friendliness of these components and their bright, breezy appearance that you will LOVE. Differentiated practice options and digital resources round out the advantages of this new edition. This first-in-twenty-years revision of the iconic Primary Math is "the same. . . but BETTER!"

Placement tests for Primary Math 2022 are available on our website – at the listings for the grade-level components and on the Rainbow Resource math placement tests page. These tests can be particularly helpful if you are coming in from a different math program. The scope and sequence of the older Singapore math programs is quite similar to the new edition, so it should be a smooth transition to move from one to another in-between grade levels.

The Primary Math 2022 core components for Grades K through 5 include a Student Book, Mastery & Beyond workbook, Additional Practice workbook, Assessment Guide, Home Instructor Guide (HIG), and Teacher Guide (TG). The Home Instructor and Teacher Guides come with an access code for Digital Resources. Once activated, this code provides a one-year subscription to McEduHub – the publisher’s resource website. After expiration, subscription renewals are available to purchase via your McEduHub account. The HIG and the TG each provide digital eBooks, with additional digital resources including access to the answer key PDF for the Additional Practice book. The HIG and TG also provide an online Transition Guide, useful if the student (or parent) is new to the Singapore math methodology. Other digital resources available to purchasers of the HIG or TG include concept interactives and animations, games, and digital manipulatives.

Singapore students consistently rank at the top of international benchmark assessments. The Singapore Math approach with its proven effectiveness has a foundation of Concrete to Pictorial to Abstract teaching. This means, simply, that each concept is introduced using manipulatives and items the student can feel and touch and see. Then, that same concept is presented in pictorial form – drawings of the manipulative items. Lastly, the concept is transferred into abstract form – numerical representations. Building on this foundation is a problem-solving methodology that uses visual models that promote mastery, as well as creative and critical thinking. The learning progression is incremental, with one concept building on another supported by reinforcement and review, as well as differentiated activities and practices.

With the goal of progression from Readiness (recall) to Engagement (learn) to Mastery (practice), book chapters have a consistent and distinctive organizational pattern. The Chapter Opener sets the stage with a real-world mathematical situation that invites curiosity and interest. A Recall lesson reviews concepts learned in the past that will be expanded in the upcoming chapter. "Learning" is divided into Sections, each with multiple Lessons that focus on specific skills and provide instruction as well as practice exercises. Following the instructional sections, the chapter concludes with a Performance Task (tasks set in real-world contexts), a STEAM project, (inter-disciplinary tasks), and a Chapter Practice (reviews and reinforces skills across the chapter) to be followed by a chapter test/assessment.

Students and teachers (parents) form a learning team and the instruction is based on this teacher-student interaction. Within the Primary Math 2022 components, the Home Instructor Guide (HIG) or Teacher Guide (TG) show how to use the manipulatives (household items as well as special materials) with both instructions and illustrations. The Student Book introduces the pictorial instruction which morphs into the abstract by the time the student reaches the practice exercises. Lessons have specific parts which reflect this process: Learn, Learn Together, and Practice on Your Own.

The colorful and engaging Student Books are consumable. The Practice on Your Own pages in the Student Book provide practice at the end of each lesson, but these are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of practice and homework options available. Mastery and Beyond pages provide practice exercises cumulative over several lessons. Additional Practice has exercises correlated to each lesson (these double the amount of practice for each lesson). For students who need additional instructional support, there is a Reteach Workbook and for those students who need additional challenge, there is the Extensions Workbook. The Reteach and Extensions books are only available as digital versions.

It's the Home Instructor Guide or Teacher Guide that pulls all these elements together and outlines the role of each component. You will need one OR the other of these. Both provide course overview information, manipulatives and materials needed, detailed daily lessons, answers/solutions to the Student Book exercises, and countless helps toward effective teaching. Both also reference digital teacher resources, some of which are downloadable and/or printable from the website.

Teacher Guides are classroom oriented (large, oversized 10"x12") while the Home Instructor Guides are designed for one-on-one instruction. One example of this difference is the number of lesson activities in the TG that encourage students to work in pairs or groups. This is absent from the HIG for obvious reasons. Another example is the page in each lesson in the TG that is devoted to differentiated instruction where suggestions are made for Additional Support, On-Level Practice, and Extension activities. These suggestions include homework assignments from the Reteach, Additional Practice, and Extension workbooks that correlate with the lesson. On the other hand, the HIG has these same assignments, but devotes less time to teaching suggestions and wraps everything into a single paragraph.

In addition to the general page orientation, there are three other differences between the TG and the HIG. The Teacher Guide is in color and includes reduced copies of the Student Book pages. The Home Instructor Guide is grayscale with answers/solutions in the sidebars. Another difference is the price point. We appreciate the publishers providing such a user-friendly resource geared to home-teaching situations for less than half the cost. However, if having reduced color copies of student pages is important –consider using the TG. Currently, Level 6 has only two TG options: a color edition or a Black & White Exclusive Home Instructor's Copy TG (available only for home educators). The content and layout of the color and B&W TEs are identical except for colored printing and cost. A Level 6 HIG is planned for potentially 2024.

A Transition Guide, mentioned in both the Teacher Guide and Home Instructor Guide, is a detailed guide for teachers that enables them to transition students into the Singapore math program. The guide provides teachers with background information on important concepts and highlights potential challenges that students might face. It is also a help to teachers who are unfamiliar with the math approach. This Transition Guide is available digitally for purchasers of the Teacher Guide and Home Instructor Guide. Please note that when the Transition Guide references page numbers it is for the TG and not for the HIG.

The Assessment Guide provides tests for each chapter and cumulative tests after every 2-3 chapters, plus mid-year- and end-of-year cumulative assessments. There are a variety of test formats utilized – multiple-choice, short answer, and constructed response. There are four types of test items: recalling fundamentals; grasping of concepts, skills, and procedures; demonstrating mathematical reasoning; and solving problems in real-world contexts. Answers are in the back of the book. Included with the purchase is a one-year access to the book's digital version of this, which provides answers and tests that can be printed. A Level 6 Assessment Guide is projected to be available at the end of 2023.

With its combination of attractive student materials, user-friendly home instructor materials, and practical digital resources, Primary Math 2022 should be a great option for many students.