heartofdakota.com

Hello,

I am getting ready to place an order very soon since I am going to homeschool my son beginning this fall. I am happy with most everything that I see except possibly the math.

I want to have a math program for my son that works on integrating skills and that provides plenty of review so that he genuinely understands what he is learning. I also like the thought of working with visual objects to teach math.

I do not think that Singapore is necessarily like what I am describing above. From what I have read, it focuses on one skill, then moves to the next without much review, then to the next skill, etc....etc....

I have heard of Math U See, Rightstart, and other math programs. Does anyone have any suggestions that they could offer up to me so that I can make the best decision possible for my son regarding his math. By the way, I am not a strong math person myself, so I need something that I am actually able to teach my son without it being confusing to me because I do not want to make it harder on him just because I am having a hard time figuring it out.

Any suggestions?? Thanks so much and have a great day! : )))

If you use the activities Carrie has planned in LHTGH through Bigger than Singapore defintely meets the hands on part of what you are looking for. There is review built in, it just isn't everyday.
We recently made the swith to Singapore from MUS. I was not sure it would be a good move for my ds 7, who is very hands on. It took him some time to not having the blocks to use every day but now he is doing a fabulous job with Singapore. I am amazed at his mental math. Just the other day he bought something at the store for $2 and had to pay me when we got home (he didn't have his $$ with him). He only had a 10 bill. So I told him fine but he had to tell me how much I owed him. He said it cost I have a ten and I owe you $2...(small pause) you owe me $8. How is that for a hands on learner!!!!
I am very happy with our results

Hope this helps

I agree that the HOD hands-on math from LHTH to BHFHG is awesome! It really made it possible for my ds to understand the math concepts well. I also think that this foundation was what made it possible for him to give up the hands-on part by the time he reached 3A/3B. I think that this is important - since we do not carry objects around as adults to figure out math problems. Singapore and the hands-on math HOD planned gave my ds a very solid start to math, and his mental math is now wonderful. Review is planned, it is just not daily - which in my opinion, is a good thing because daily math review adds unnecessary time to math each day, drawing it out longer, and causing dc to be more apt to make mistakes. If I were you, I'd give Singapore a try with the hands-on math plans in HOD for a year, and see what you think. It does not take long to teach, and it is super easy on us moms - even if math is not your favorite thing to teach.

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. I tutored older dc who used MUS and could not do math without the MUS objects, even in middle school. They did not understand what they were doing, other than how to manipulate the objects - so, when asked to complete problems on standardized tests without their MUS objects, they were unable to do so. I am not saying this is everyone's experience with MUS, but it was the problem that these dc I was asked to tutor had. HTH!

I have 4 kids. Three of them have done math through public school up until this year when we came home to school. I was very nervous about switching them to Singapore especially when they tested in at 2a and 2b and are in the 3rd and 4th grade. Six weeks later, I love Singapore. We are no longer attached at the hip to counters, blocks, and fact finders. They are learning to think through the math.
It does take some getting used to for them and me, but it has been worth it. It isn't confusing to teach and do the activities in the guides. If you do have questions, the board is here and they are quick to reply and help. I started ds6 with Singapore Earlybird Math 2a and he is getting the mental math from the start.
I think Singapore prepares your child to do math and love math. I would recommend giving it a shot but if you are nervous about math and hesitant about Singapore math, then I would say try R&S Math. I used R&S Math 2 & 3 with my dd's the summer after 2nd and during 3rd grade. I like R&S and it was my back up plan if Singapore hadn't worked out. It is a very solid math program and is enjoyable to teach. http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Ma ... ng_Series/
If I had to recommend anything besides Singapore, it would be R&S Math. My girls did well with R&S and picked up what they couldn't seem to grasp in public school quite easily. It wasn't hard to teach and the teacher's guide has it all laid out for you. So if you aren't ready to give Singapore a try, I would say check out R&S math it is an excellent program.
Val

We are using Math-U-See right now. it does have review through out it. we usually do one page a day. we also, sometimes, print something out from computer or do something hands-on- real-life-related or a page from a wkbk with extra fun activities that you have to figure out the answer to the math problems to be able to complete the finished product.(hope that makes sense.) these you wouldn't have to use the manipulatives. it helps my son to "see" what the numbers represent and it makes more sense to even me. many home-school moms in my area have used/using Math-U-See and love it. i will say there is just something about Singapore that i just don't like and i can't quite put my finger on it. I will say too, that we do some of the hands-on- actiivites in the curriculum , but some are too easy, so that is why we went to Math-U-See and we do some fun extras as i described above. My son will turn 6 in October and we have been going half-paced(the basics side, and throw in our own Bible study and some science here and there) since last fall, i think it was. This year he will "officially" be homeschooling in kindergarten.
I pray you have peace with whatever you choose.

Jenn D.

Have you looked on the homeschool review site? It has reviews by parents and sometimes students that have used programs and you can go to the specific category-math. I have used it a lot to get a feel for a curriculum and what most like and dislike about it. http://homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/cu ... aspx?id=93.
I like it because sometimes I find things to try that I have never heard of before and it will work out well.
Hope you find the best program for you and your ds.
Val

Horizons might meet your needs. It's not as hands on as some of the other available programs, but it still utilizes manipulatives. It also has excellent review. It's a spiral approach so they introduce a topic then keep reviewing it at intervals throughout the year. We started using it prior to starting LHFHG so I've continued with it along with doing the Singapore to determine which program we like better. I do like Horizons although some days it's a little writing intensive.

Another option if you do like the looks of Singapore, but are worried about review....starting with level 1A they offer Extra Practice, Intensive Practice, and Challenging Word Problem workbooks so you could get those and use them in addition to the regular workbook for added review if needed. I plan to do that if we end up sticking with Singapore as I'm worried about the lack of review as well. They also have a CD-ROM with math games and activities. HTH!