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Just to give you a little background -- I went to school at Pensacola Christian College and taught at their Academy for three years. When I came home to teach my children, I started out using only Abeka books. However, as I added children, as they moved up in grades, and as I saw their different learning styles, God showed me that I needed to change. It has been hard to learn to let go of the structure of textbooks, etc., but I see the benefits in so many areas. Just today, my two oldest were talking about how much more they enjoyed reading history with the CLP readers because they were more like a story. Plus, they said, they learned things they never knew about the Pilgrims before.
I say all that to say, I am struggling a little with trusting that Singapore is enough. I know that must sound funny to some of you, because it is said to be advanced. But I am watching my 7 yo, and I see him learning, but not mastering. He is grasping some concepts, but I am still afraid that he doesn't really know his combinations. Today, we did a workpage together where he had to find the combinations in the puzzle. I had to show him where they were one at a time. Sometimes he wasn't even sure if it should be an addition or subtraction problem.
Please help me feel more confident with this, or tell me what I can do to help him. I am afraid I am expecting too much, but I don't want to expect too little, either. I know this probably sounds like a muddled mess, but I feel like I am starting all over in homeschooling. What I was doing before was school at home. This is the first year, I think, that we are homeschooling. Make sense?
Thanks for your understanding. I know you ladies are all helpful and understanding. Thanks in advance.

In His love,
RuthAnn

I'm not sure I can really help much, but I'll tell you our 'story'. We used Singapore 1A &B during dd's 1st grade year using Beyond...She did well with it, and I liked the way it was set up. When it came to our 2nd grade year, we already had Horixons Math 2 on hand...leftover from my son when we did not finish out his 2nd grade year homeschooling...so we decided to use that for her for 2nd grade to cut down on costs. Although Horizons is very thorough, and she did a great job with it, there is a lot of work each day and it is fairly expensive to purchase. So, when it came time to get supplies for 3rd grade (this year) we looked at Singapore again. It is supposed to be advanced, it has fewer problems on each page, and it's is inexpensive compared to other curricula. We decided to go with it and my dd is really enjoying it. She likes that there are fewer problems. There have even been days where she has done 2 days worth of problems and still has not complained about it being too much work. We did take the placement test before ordering, and strangely enough she place in 2A, which is the book she would have gone into if we had stayed with Singapore for 2nd grade. So, we kind of lost a year due to switching, but I think what she learned in Horizons will help her later, even though she was set back a bit for now. My ds 10, who used Saxon 54 last year and did very well, actually only placed in 3b for Singapore so I would say it is an advanced curriculum. He will be moving into 4A tomorrow, and into 4B around April 1. We moved through 3b more quickly in order to get him closer to 'grade level'. He also loves that it is a workbook and he does not have to copy the problems...though you can get Saxon in workbook form too now....and he is learning.

I think I would say give Singapore more time. It may just take a while for your ds to get used to the different curriculum. I also believe that these concepts will be seen again in later levels, so right now is just an introduction of sorts....mastery will come later, after more exposure.

I'm sure there will be others who will come along to tell you of their experiences with Singapore, too.

My son started with Singapore 1A/1B. He did very well with it, but had trouble when we got to 2A. So we put 2A away for a while and did Total Math 2nd Grade (walmart). Then went back to 2A. Things went smoothly and we are now doing Total Math 3rd Grade and Singapore 3A. For us, the level of work in Singapore is perfect but my son needs a little more time to practice things, so we just supplement with the total math workbooks.

Hi!

Just wanted to chime in here. We have been using Singapore with our oldest since she was 4. She is now in 3rd grade, getting ready to start 3A in January. She is amazing in math. She just really gets it. I think if you stick with it, you will see the difference down the road. My dd is not great at reciting math facts like times tables but I can ask her a question and she knows how to figure it out. Much more important to me than rote memorization.

When dd started 2nd grade she decided she was bored w/Singapore so we switched to Horizons 2 (she liked the colored workbook better ). She quickly tired of the repetition in Horizons (much more than she personally needed) and really noticed how much lighter the workload is with Singapore. We switched back after she finished Horizons 2. If your son needs more practice, there are extra practice workbooks you can get or you could even supplement with another math program. Something you need to consider is your ds's learning style. Some kids need to practice math facts over and over before they get it. If this is the case, Singapore might not be for him. My 7 yo is using MUS as Singapore was not a good fit for her. Unfortunately for me, it is about 3 times the price!!

Good luck!

With my oldest, we started with Singapore, then took a break to do Ray's Arithmetic because I thought that would teach computation. I felt like computation was ALL that Ray's did, and when I went back to Singapore I realized that in every other area of math besides computation, we had to work that much harder to backtrack and learn those areas again. My ds is 9 and doing Singapore Math 3A now. Singapore is strong on mental math, problem solving, and it covers ALL areas of math well. The computation is inherent in these skills, and comes with time. I did have my dc do math flashcards along with it, and the hands-on math written in the HOD guides to accompany Singapore through Level 2B was very helpful. I taught 7 years before homeschooling, got my masters, and was on many math textbook selection committees - just to share my background. I LOVE math, so I'm picky. I'm impressed with the retention I see in my dc using Singapore. I also think it teaches the thinking behind the math better than anything else I've ever used. I've come to the conclusion that teaching this kind of thinking is the most important thing to teach in math (as well as any other area of school ), because it can be applied to life situations. If fact memorization does not develop for our dc, we add flashcards or math facts' singalong tapes - there are numerous things to do to help with fact memorization, but finding something to teach the thinking behind the math facts has been harder for me to find - and Singapore does that superbly well. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you everyone for your helpful input. I think I just needed to hear from someone else, that this can work. I really hate switching around because I know that different math programs address different subjects at different times/places, so I think we will just hold on. I do have Math Mammoth (anybody use that?), that I think would help for extra review and computation practice.
Thanks again, everyone. You did a most important thing. You gave me the confidence to keep moving forward one step at a time now knowing that there will be a good result at the end of the line.

In His love,
RuthAnn

PS I am using the lesson suggestions in the math box for Beyond, and I think that helps both of us see what we're working on today.