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Hi everyone,

It's me with math issues again!

I am STILL confused about what to do for my son for his upcoming 7th grade math year. He has finished up 5B and has breezed through the last half of it. I would say he is an "average" math student...doesn't struggle too much, but isn't gifted in math by any means. Some of it comes easy to him, some of it doesn't, but most of his mistakes are careless ones. I am debating between Singapore 6A/6B or Chalkdust Pre-Algebra for 7th. I guess my question is, for an average math student is Singapore 6A/6B really enough to then go on into Forester's for Alg 1 or Chalkdust Alg for 8th? I am hesitant to switch up our math partly due to cost (Chalkdust is VERY expensive) and the fact that he is used to the "Singapore way" (has been using Singapore for math since 2nd grade), but at the same time am worried that Singapore 6A/6B won't cover enough to be ready for Alg 1 or will take a lot more time for me to teach (and the fact that I am NOT good at higher math). I am just feeling really torn and don't want to mess this up and cause him to have gaps or spend way too much $ on something he doesn't really need or doesn't work for him. Please, please help!

I have not used 6A or 6B yet but own them. Before I decided to switch my kids to Singapore, I bought every level to look through at my leisure LOL.

I can honestly say that 6A & 6B are really good. If your son is used to the Singapore method, I would stick with it. It really teaches the kids to think about things and introduces them to formulas with integers. I have seen many moms here that have used 6A and 6B and went straight into Foerester's without a problem.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, Daneale! I think I have just been panicking about what the right move is with math...haven't had to think about it at all for the past 5 years!

I am leaning towards going with Singapore 6A and just seeing how it goes, if it takes extra teaching time, etc. It sounds like everyone on here that has used it all the way through has done just fine with 6A/6B and then has been able to start an Algebra program the next year.

Keep in mind I haven't used Singapore, but we did try Chalkdust Pre-Algebra and my pretty strong math student went from being confident in math to feeling like an absolute failure. We went into it from CLE. It brought him to tears every single day. It moves very, very fast and when I later compared it with Algebra 1 books the things that were at the beginning of Chalkdust Pre-Algebra were much later in other Pre-Algebra programs. It is also very difficult to schedule. If Singapore is working I would stick with that.

3sweeties wrote:I am leaning towards going with Singapore 6A and just seeing how it goes, if it takes extra teaching time, etc. It sounds like everyone on here that has used it all the way through has done just fine with 6A/6B and then has been able to start an Algebra program the next year.

I know several homeschool moms at my co-op also who have gone straight from Singapore 6A even into Algebra. They have had their kids take an algebra readiness test and they were actually ready by the end of 6A. I am not saying to skip 6B, I know we will be completing 6B. But I 6B probably just helps to solidify and polish your math skills before moving into Algebra.

With my average math student, I'm having him complete Singapore 6A/6B (he'll be finishing during his seventh grade year), and then complete the No Nonsense Algebra, and THEN the Foerster's Algebra. He'll still be starting it by his freshman year, which I personally think is just fine. I really don't see any good reason to rush students into algebra in eighth grade... for an exceptional student, sure... but for the majority... nope. (and that is spoken from the perspective of a former high school math teacher).

My oldest used Singapore Discovering Mathematics 1A and 7B, but I wasn't impressed enough with them to use them again, especially for an average student. She would have been fine going straight into Foerster's; but again, I really don't see a need to rush into algebra 1 before high school. Foerster's has been pretty easy for her so far (through chapter seven or eight), and that has been refreshing for her.