Math-u-see vs Singapore??

[MistyP]

DH and I chose to do Math-u-see this last year and our girls have done well with it, however, I am seeing that we are missing some of the fun Math activities or else they don't line up with what we are learning in Math if we do them.

DH really liked the manipulatives with MUS when he saw them, he said he could have learned Algebra if they would have taught it to him that way!

Anyway, I am considering switching to Singapore next year for 1st & 2nd grade with Beyond.....

Any thoughts, comments, I need to know about???? Due to us moving the end of April we are going to miss all the homeschool conventions so I don't really have a chance to look at the Singapore except online...

thanks!!
Misty

[krismoose]

We switched from MUS Primer to Singapore mid-kindergarten and have been very happy so far. There didn't seem to be enough variety for my ds, either in the MUS activities or workbook, and that's not a problem with Singapore. The activities in the HOD guides are simple and fun and prepare my ds for the workbook exercises very well. I have the corresponding Singapore text for 1A, but we really haven't needed it yet, and we're halfway through 1A. My ds isn't very interested in writing much yet, so the small number of exercises in Singapore suits him fine HTH

[Tansy]

I started out with singapore but it was too "free" for my DD1 so We switched to MUS The plain jane really worked well with her.
With my dd2 we went back to singapore but we use the MUS manipulative all the time we love them.
They really help her see stuff. We also use the counting format from Math U See (its very chinese) where you say 2T3 for 23. She so gets it...

In fact were doing the intro to multiplication in Singapore right now, and I had to pull the 7 year old away from my dd1's homework (ps) because she was doing all the problems for my dd1! (correctly I might add)... they are like night and day those two...

I like both programs, MUS will teach your kid math. Singapore will teach your kid math. But singapore so did not work for my LD child and MUS did.
It was a huge struggle to let go of Singapore because it is so much fun to teach, I'm really glad my dd2 loves it as much as I do.

[mamanlait]

We actually combine the two (Math U See & Singapore). We use Math U See in place of flash cards for memorization of facts and Singapore as planned in the guide. Math U See was very helpful in the early years for understanding of place value and concrete math ideas like simple addition. We took a year off of Singapore at one point when my daughter needed more time to grow into harder math thinking and did just Math U See. We are currently in Gamma and find it easy to combine (it's fast math compared to the more mental Singapore Math that requires more thought and patience). Now that we are in Singapore 3A, I'm contemplating dropping Math U See because we can no longer do both curriculums in a reasonable amount of time. I'm actually quite sad about this because I've always felt like it provided good practice and short cuts for memorizing facts. Also, there are times with Singapore when it moves to harder ideas and kids may not be ready to jump ahead with the book. Instead of stopping math altogether or just reviewing what we've learned, I always felt more confident moving on with Math U See. I think for those moms who have all ready been through the process of math teaching with their older kids wouldn't feel this same need. For example, I probably won't use Math U See at all with my younger child. I understand the process of math education a lot better now after having been through it.

All that said, Singapore can be daunting without Carrie's guides for the first timer. I think Math U See is one of the best programs out there for the hesitant math mom...even those that liked math in school but are unsure of how to teach it to their children. I still struggle at times with knowing if a problem set should be mental or done on paper. If anyone out there is working on 3A (around pages 30-35), are you having your child do these equations mentally See what I mean?!

Amy

[Alison in KY]

Amy's problem with Singapore was what I experienced. We weren't getting enough review (and at the time I didn't know how to teach as well, so I didn't think about just stopping and doing worksheets or something like that) and I never understood when my child should know things in their head and when they could still use manipulatives...or when they should work it out on paper or when they were expected to do it all in their head. I kept thinking I'd supplement our MUS with Singapore, but it seems like we have our plate full as is. I think they are both great programs and you'll just have to see if Singapore works for you.

Alison

[MistyP]

Thanks everyone! I really wish I could look at the Singapore and compare since I know the MUS now. But, their books are not that expensive so if we get them and change our mind we can! I was surprised at how much it was for the MUS last year. We had the blocks given to us but bought everything else for 2 grades.

[Busymomma1]

I did both MUS and Singapore in my dd's K year, and felt MUS was more systematic. Yes, it can be plain, but they sure know their math basics with MUS! I feel it helps the math reasoning more and gives a solid foundation. But then again, I've not looked at Singapore past the K level. I like the "mastery" idea before moving on to the next topic.

As for activities, we do Carrie's activities for variety and fun (usually on Fridays, I may pick one of Carrie's activities), even if it isn't exactly what we're working on at the moment. We call it FUN math!

Perhaps you could order a copy of a Singapore book for your level and just consider it a cost that must be spent, because it will help you in your evaluation. It's cheaper to order one workbook than to go to a convention, anyway. Sometimes, you can get barely used ones on Amazon, cheap. Then you'll have more confidence in your decision. I've done this before, and it's worth it for decision-making.

Take care!

[my3sons]

The ladies have given you lots of things to ponder here already. I do think both MUS and Singapore are good math programs. We prefer Singapore for its strong mental math, short succinct exercises, and (paired with HOD's plans ) its use of manipulatives only in the younger years. I tutored for a handful of years, and some of my students had been using MUS. Here is a pp where I commented about this and where there were some other comments on MUS and Singapore that may be helpful:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2797&p=20634

Any math program will work with HOD, so just pray about it and you will know what to do. We have HOD users that are very happy with Singapore, and other HOD users that are very happy with something else for math. Singapore is obviously HOD's recommendation for math, and the hands-on math activities Carrie has written for Singapore up through 2B have been easy to do and worked well in our home. Since Singapore is inexpensive, I would think you could just try it for a year along with the hands-on lessons planned in the HOD guides and if at that point you were not pleased, go back to MUS if you wanted. Whatever you decide will work with HOD, so keep praying about your decision, and the Lord will guide you to the right answer for your family!

In Christ,
Julie

[Mumkins]

With my oldest, I started off with horizons, then MUS, saxon, BJU, Singapore then back to MUS. She needs the plain pages with absolute mastery before moving on. Spiral doesn't work for her and colour distracts her. My son, gifted in math, is a year ahead and now doing McRuffy's. I love it and even better, he loves it. As for Singapore, I just didn't get it. I myself was confused all the time and if I can't teach it, I wont do well teaching them.

[momofone]

I'm glad to see this thread! I'm thinking about a combo of both. However, my son does well with MUS without using the manipulatives. He totally gets the "tricks" Mr. Demme has by just watching the video and the explanations. I think in our case, a combo just might work. We have been combining MUS with other material this year and it's been great. However, I do love the Singapore math series way of helping those thinking skills! That's why I'm hoping this will work.

Tina
ds 8-Bigger

[creativemommy]

You have to choose and use what works best for your child! Both programs teach math well!

For us, we made the switch from MUS Alpha to Singapore 1B in January. My son LOVES math again. He was getting bored with MUS...plain, non-picture pages and he rarely used the MUS blocks (his choice). He really enjoys the pictures on the Singapore pages and we use a variety of manipulatives now (he especially likes using anything edible)! I printed off the placement test on Singapore's site and had him complete it one weekend prior to making the switch. He thought it was so much fun and asked me to print off more "fun pages" - that was when I knew we'd be switching from MUS to Singapore. I also like the fact that I stay on track with the HOD guide - I'm so spoiled by HOD!

Since we're doing LHFHG this year, I went ahead and bought the home instructors guide to go along with 1B since the lesson plans in the LHFHG guide correspond with the kindergarten level. It's working well for us - I'm getting my ideas for what to teach from the instructor's guide while following the alternate page schedule in the back of LHFHG for him to complete it by the end of the year.