Homeschool Crew Review: Dimensions Math PK-5

We recently had an opportunity to review the newest program from Singapore Math Inc., Dimensions Math PK-5.  The Dimensions Math curriculum was written by teachers and professional development providers.  It uses the Singapore Math approach which emphasizes concrete to pictorial to abstract progression but in an updated and more teacher friendly manner.  Students work through their lessons with the help of five friends: Emma, Alex, Sofia, Dion, and Mei. Each lesson starts with a scenario to help the student think through the concept and review skills. They use a variety of workbook and hands on activities to master the skills being taught.  Our review will focus on Dimensions Math 1 A.

For our review we received 3 physical books:

Dimensions Math Teacher's Guide 1 A
Dimensions Math  Text Book 1A
Dimensions Math Workbook 1A

We also received access to online Blackline Masters which includes printable resources for you to use with your children such as: Number Cards, Number Word Cards, Shape Sudoku, Tangram pieces, 10 Frame Cards, Number Bond Story Templates, and much more.

Dimensions Math Teacher's Guide 1 A is a 230 page spiral bound book in full color. For each chapter in the book you will find Teaching Notes with an overview and materials list, Chapter Opener with suggestions on teaching the lessons and activities, Practice pages showing the pages the student will use in the textbook,  Activities that you can do with your student to practice skills learned in that lesson, and Complete Pages with answers of the student pages.

Dimensions Math Text Book 1A is a 168 page color paperback book.   The text contains many colorful graphics.  At the end of each lesson there is a pencil graphic showing which pages in the workbook correspond with the lesson.

Dimensions Math Workbook 1A is a 170 page paperback workbook that is in grayscale.  After completing the lesson in the text, students complete the corresponding lesson in the workbook.

Dimensions Math 1 A is designed to take a semester to complete.  It covers:

Numbers 1-10
Number Bonds
Addition
Subtraction
Numbers to 20
Addition to 20
Subtraction within 20
Shapes
Ordinal Numbers

There are two reviews in the book.  One comes after chapter 4 and the other after chapter 9.

I have been using Dimensions Math 1 A with my 7 year old daughter as her main math curriculum 4 days per week over the course of the review period.  Each day for math I sit alongside Emmie and we get out the Teacher Manual, Workbook, Textbook, printed pages, and supplies for any activities.  The textbook lesson starts with a picture and a statement about the picture such as: "There are 9 ducks.  5 ducks are in the water, 4 ducks are on land." Then it asks the student to make up other stories about the duck such as, 1 duck is brown 8 are white, 3 have their mouths open 6 do no not, etc.. This is the "think" activity. The next section is "learn." The text shows picture examples of the concept which in this lesson was parts of a whole.  After that is the "do" section where the student completes some questions related to the concept.  In the teacher manual there is an "activities" section listing hands on activities to go along with the lesson such as games like Go Fish For 6 or Under the Cup.  Then you move onto the workbook page that has more questions for the student to answer.

I have been impressed with Dimensions Math.  I like the way the Teacher's Manual is laid out.  I am always a fan of spiral bound books that lay flat and teacher books that have the entire worksheet with the answers included with them.  The instructions are easy to read through and follow.  I like the thought process that the lesson goes through and I think that it is really helping Emmie learn not just that 6 and 3 make 9 but why 6 and 3 make 9.  The activity suggestions are a great way to add hands on learning to math. I like that the children's textbook is in color but still a small paperback book. I worried when we started this that having a textbook and a workbook would be too much or that the lessons would be terrible long, but they have not been.  Emmie has enjoyed doing her math everyday and the lessons have not taken long to complete.

To see what my Crew Mates had to say about Dimensions Math PK-5, stop by the Crew Blog!