Singapore Math?

[John'smom]

I'm not sure exactly what all to ask, so maybe you ladies can help me out. I have only ever used Math U See and we've been very pleased with it. No complaints at all for either of my dc. Next year my two will be in 1st and 3rd grades. I know it seems like those who have used Singapore are very happy and pleased with the way their children think about Math. I've been please with my ds' end of year testing results. Last year, he didn't miss anything on the Math sections. So why would I even look at Singapore. I guess it was the post about being prepared for some of the sciences in high school that got me to take a peek at Singapore. I looked at the tests to take to see what level you'd enter and I know ds has not covered some of those things.

On another post, I read where Julie wrote if you're going to make the switch, it's best done when the dc are young. I know my dd (who will be in 1st next year) should be fine, but would my ds be too old to make the switch (next year would be in 3rd)?

Can you just tell me or link me to a post where it explains the positives about Singapore and why HOD chose it, etc? Thanks for taking the time.

Oh, and what if ds tests that he should start on the level 2 when he's going into 3rd? How would I get him up to speed with Singapore? Again ds has never had a problem with Math U See and does wonderful with his Math. Maybe I shouldn't switch at all.

I guess I'm just gathering info. to present to dh and to pray about as well. Thanks, ladies, and sorry for anything that's not worded well. I'm not sure how to word exactly what I'm thinking.

[my3sons]

Hi there! Well, I'm off to a convention in a bit here, but I'll be glad to help you with the gathering of info. stage as you consider what's best for your ds. Here is a link where Carrie explains her reasons for choosing Singapore, and I also explained why I enjoy it there as well:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4271&p=31537#p31537

If your ds tests in 2A or 2B, I'd just start there, as the placement is accurate and starting even a semester ahead of where they placed can make it be quite off (I know this from personal experience - this was an accident on my part ). Anyway, Singapore is considered a year advanced, so I would worry about catching up yet. However, an easy way to catch up if you want to at some point in the future, is to just do math on the fifth day of the week as well, as 4 day plans begin with PHFHG. I also think that your ds could come into Singapore at those levels just fine, probably through 3B, anyone would be fine - but starting with 4A or especially 5A would be more difficult, especially for a student not strong on mental math. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Kathleen]

Edwena,

That is a toughie. And it's probably a decision that you could decide either way and be a-ok. I switched my son to Singapore when he was starting 3rd grade. We have loved it! We used Saxon before that, and for us it was too time-consuming. Math comes easily for my little guy, and we were spending more than an hour on the lessons (AND I'm not really sure that he was learning anything new although he got LOTS of practice on the things he already knew). Anyway, I was desiring a school day with more balance. One that wasn't so heavily weighted on our time spent with math...especially as I added more kids to teach to our day. I'm sure that we "could" have stayed happily with where we were, but for us Singapore has proved to be EXACTLY what I was looking for. This post where Carrie shares why she chose it told me it was for us. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=112

My son placed in 2A as a 3rd grader. I'm not worrying about catching up so that the level matches grade level though. I know that Carrie has said that after completing 6A&B kids are typically ready for Algebra. So, Algebra as an 8th grader doesn't sound "behind" to me at all. You'll want to give your child the placement tests here to see which level will be right. http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm You'll want the tests for the US editions of Primary Math. (Grant technically passed the 2A test by getting more than 80% right...but I could see that we hadn't covered a few things there, so we opted to start with 2A. I'm so glad that we did, because I hadn't thought about how the problems we'd done in Saxon were very predictably worded. He had to THINK way more with the word problems in Singapore and starting in 2A made it MUCH easier to slide into this math that required more thought on his part. I originally skipped ahead in the book when we started, but we ended up going back and using the whole thing. Just food for thought if you decide to give Singapore a go. )

Kathleen

[John'smom]

Not sure if I should start another post with my new questions, but I'll just continue here for now. I just went all the way back to 1A and 1B with ds. He got 100 on 1A and 92 on 1B. He missed some on the 1B because of not knowing about multiplication. All word problems etc. were fine, but Math U See is full of word problems that are 2 and 3 step. I can tell it's going to be iffy on the 2A and 2B tests because there's a lot in the weight, multiplication and division that Math U See hasn't covered at this grade level.

I would assume that Singapore is not a mastery program like Math U See. Math U See is mastery and that's why they spend so much time teaching the addition, and subtraction before moving on. Again, ds has done fine with this. I'm wondering with the Singapore has your dc done fine with addition and subtraction and all the other things that Singapore introduces? Do they struggle with their Math facts at all since the other math operations are introduced? From what I can tell, everything Math U See has taught ds he does not struggle with it, but obviously Singapore introduces things sooner, so there's several things he's not covered yet.

Also, I just have the Beyond manual, do you really suggest if ds places in 2A or 2B that I buy the Bigger manual for the hands on stuff? I think ds would enjoy it. I guess I'm wondering how beneficial it is to have the extra hands-on things. Ds really enjoys the hands-on stuff with Math U See, but they've really started to wane in how often they're used.

Thanks for any input and sorry for so many questions. To be honest, we're all very happy with Math U See, but if something would be better for my dc, then I want to do that. KWIM? As a result I'm really trying to weigh everything out.

[my3sons]

By incrementally moving through the Singapore curriculum and doing the HOD hands-on math plans, both of my dc have learned their math facts with basically little to no effort on my part to help them. I did have them do flashcards in the summers, but they knew them. It was more that I thought they should be doing something with math through the summer - and I wanted it to be short and independent. I would definitely do the hands-on math for 2A/2B with the Bigger plans. The hands-on plans gave simple ways to remember the strategies Singapore was introducing, and everything just worked together so nicely that it clicked. After completing 2B, my ds didn't need hands-on anymore, and he knew his facts well. He just finished 4A and continues to thrive. This summer I thought I'd have him do his multiplication and division cards (for the same reason as before), and he's flying through those. I'm also having my middle ds do addition/subtraction cards (he's in 2A), and he's picking up speed and doing really well with those too. So, I think your ds will do just fine with Singapore, but I'd recommend doing the hands-on plans in Bigger along with Singapore, as it's the last shot at hands-on and helps cement skills so they're better retained. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie