Review of Dimensions Math 1A from Singapore Math

Fun graphics dotting the bright colored covers of the Dimensions Math PK-5 from Singapore Math Inc. immediately catches the eye and gives the impression that this is something that will be enjoyed.

Olivia and I reviewed Dimensions Math 1A, which includes the Teacher’s Guide and Student Textbook and Workbook.

Teacher’s Guide for Dimensions Math 1A

Along with containing the answers for the student books, the Teacher’s Guide outlines the lesson and gives suggestions for supplemental activities to aid learning. 

Some of the activities suggested would be best done in a group setting. And in fact, the curriculum is set up so it can be used in a co-op/classroom setting as well as the home environment.  

I am not a heavy user of teacher’s guides and this proved to be true for this curriculum also.  Since this was my first time using a curriculum from this company, I did find it helpful. It was needed to learn how they lay lessons out and how they expect the child to proceed.   If you are new to the curriculum, the Teacher’s Manual will be helpful. Otherwise, it is not necessary.

Depending on your own confidence level, you may not need it for every lesson.  I did quickly skim over lessons beforehand to see what new techniques or ideas I could glean, but if I didn’t have time to look over the next lesson I was still able to proceed to teach it.  

I liked the terminology they used for teaching addition, so I adopted that as well as a few of the games.  My daughter was a big fan of “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Math!” and her siblings liked playing it as well, which meant she had willing participants.  I also used the set of Ten-frame Cards available from their Blackline Masters online for some of the lessons.

Student Textbook for Singapore Dimensions Math 1A

The Student Textbook is in full color, which makes it appealing to younger children.  The lessons themselves are not too long, which is great for little attention spans. 

Lessons are designed to be done together and take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Much of the lesson requires them to create and tell their own word story from the pictures provided, so while there is some writing, there is also a fair amount where they speak the answer out loud.

In the picture below, she had to make up other number stories about the polar bears.  One of the activities in the Teacher’s Guide was then to draw a picture to illustrate your own number story.

This storytelling feature prepares students for word problems later on and helps them develop critical thinking skills.  Each lesson had a picture where the instructions were to make up other number stories. 

With practice, Olivia grew more confident in her ability to come up with word number stories.

During one school day, Olivia did not want to wait for me to help her, so she recruited her older sister to listen to her tell her word stories.  I sat and listened as her sister was able to teach her the whole lesson.

Student Workbook for Singapore Dimensions Math 1A

The Workbook is in black and white and provides additional practice for each of the lessons to help reinforce material.  The workbook pages can be done on their own since the lesson would have already been taught using the Textbook.

Overall Thoughts on Singapore Math Dimensions Math

Overall I did like the curriculum from Singapore Math, Inc. The colorful illustrations caught my daughter’s attention and she benefited from the short lessons.

Dimensions Math 1A covers addition and subtraction, numbers to 20, and making shapes.  Singapore Math does offer placement tests on their site to ensure you place your child correctly.  

To read reviews from other levels, click below.