What math are you using?

[Marsha]

ALso, do you stick with Singapore (if you are using it) in the upper grades?

I am using MUS and am contemplating Teaching Textbooks.

[Carrie]

Marsha,

We have really enjoyed Singapore for the early years and will most likely recommend it through 5A for sure. We will be researching that more this summer.

With our oldest son, we have used Teaching Textbooks 6 here this year, and it has been a huge hit. I know there has been some discussion on other boards about whether Teaching Textbooks is rigorous enough overall. But, for our son it was a wonderful fit. He really enjoys the descriptions, the ability to be independent, the self-checking and gradebook feature, and choosing his own pal to help him. His grades in math are A's this year. He is much happier, and so am I.

Bear in mind that my oldest son did not do the Singapore route, as he instead went through most of the popular math programs prior to moving to Teaching Textbooks. My oldest has always done well in math, but he really disliked the repetition and drill of it all and was NOT a fan of writing out the problems either. Thus, the battle of the wills.

With our second son, we've enjoyed Singapore from the beginning, and he's headed in fourth grade next year. It's been a much smoother road than what my first-born had!

Blessings,
Carrie

[kerby]

I am in absolute LOVE w/ R+S, but I am going to try Singapore w/ my youngest next yr. I am using R+S w/ my oldest 2 dss now and won't be switching them until I have to. We tried TT (PreAlgebra) and it was just not a good fit. I am also not as impressed as I thought I would/should be. I started dd in R+S and I really like it for her, too. I know people who have combined R+S w/ Singapore successfully and maybe I will consider it later. You certainly don't want to have overload, though, so don't do it right away or as a first-time hser.

That's what I like about HOD and Carrie. They don'e make you feel like you are "wrong" if you choose something other than what they have suggested.

HTH
K

[water2wine]

Warning thoughts of a crazy woman here....
We are using R&S up until 5th and switching over to Saxon 7/6 with my kids that came out of ps. I don't think they could have handled Singapore. I picked R&S because of the drill and mastery which they needed. Saxon is just because of where it leads us and the proven track record. But since we have not yet used it I am perfectly willing to toss it if I find it is not a good fit ultimately for us.

For my younger kids, I have both of them doing Singapore but they are eating it up like candy so quick I am not convinced they are really learning. I'm just not used to it but they do love it. They also have Liberty Math and do that as well here and there. The verdict is still open as to if they will do Singapore or R&S ultimately. Potentially they will do Singapore with a little R&S for drill because we have the books or just R&S.

[Kathleen]

With my oldest I used Saxon K at home and then he used it at the small christian school he went to last year.  We have done Saxon 2 this year.  While I like that it is very thorough...it takes a lot of time and the reviewing isn't that necessary for my son.  He remembers everything!  So, it was also kind of boring for us for the majority of the year.  My mother-in-law switched from Abeka to Saxon with her youngest 2 kids and it helped them a lot and they loved it! 

We are going to do Singapore this year.  From the questions I've asked and Carrie's reasons for choosing it, I think it will be a great fit for us!    (We actually finished Saxon 2 today and I will be having my son do the Singapore placement tests over the next couple days to see where we'll start with it.)
Anyway, that's where we are. 
Kathleen

[joyfulheart]

Singapore but we're supplementing with Math Mammoth on things that he struggles with (dyslexia related)

[beandip71]

I am using Horizons K this year w/ my dd and it has been a good fit for her. I plan on using Horizons 1 next year for 1st grade.

Gina

[MamaBear23Cubs]

I am using the Singapore and it's going well with my 8 year old.

[coconuts]

For my 7th grade daughter we are doing Life of Fred.

[Motherjoy]

We used Singapore until last year. I liked it and son liked it, and I'd reccomend it to anyone. But I was trying to plan ahead and choose something that son would use all the way through high school. I didn't like Singapore for the older grades, so we went with Math U See.

Math U See is great. I really love it. The only downfall (which is not a problem for me, but might be for some people) is that the material isn't taught in the same order as other programs, and so children may not do as well on standardized testing, simply because they haven't learned something yet.

But it does a great job of really teaching the "why" of math.

[Ruth in FL]

I have used PACES for the past three years. They are pretty simple and to the point. I like them because the child can go as fast or slow as they need to. They are along the same lines as Lifepacs from Alpha Omega.
If they have mastered something, they can buzz right through the book. But,if they need extra practice, there are plenty of problems to do.
Sometimes they have TOO many, but I have no trouble skipping problems. If the page has 20 problems and my child just needs a review, I might circle 10 for them to do. There are 12 workbooks for a years worth of work.
I did like Modern Curriculum Press Math ,but my children did not. The teacher's manual is full of helpful ways to teach math.
Saxon is good if your children dont mind writing out the problems....all of my children hated doing that so I canned that after one year.
I liked Alpha Omega for K-3rd grade but did not like the older grades.
I used the "Keys to...." for highschool but now I am getting ahead of most of you!

Ruth

[Melanie]

I am a huge fan of RightStart and we finished level A for K/1st. It is a great program, but very expensive. I'm experimenting right now with Math-U-See. We were given everything by my sister-in-law....and I mean everything, she bought everything they sell....so I'm trying to be good steward and use what I have been blessed with. So far it's ok, but the kids have already told me that they liked the "fun math" better. My compromise....I plan to purchase the RightStart Games book to go along with Math-u-see.

I'm also tentatively planning to try Singapore this year with Beyond. I'm thinking it would be very nice to just open the guide book and do the whole page with no sticky notes pasted all over!

I feel like RightStart gives such an awesome foundation, that my kids have a good understanding of numbers and all the how's and why's that go along with this understanding. We'll see which direction I go after this! I plan to switch to TT at some point.

[Elm in NJ]

6th grader is using CLE math 7 and Life of Fred. 3rd grader is in CLE math 4 and 1st grade twins are in CLE math 2. CLE has been a huge hit with my twins. They love the speed drills and I wake up in the morning sometimes, and they have already done math. The workbook format has been great. My 3rd grader doesn't like the repetition. I was thinking about putting him in Teaching Textbook 6 this year ( according to the placement test) but that is so expensive and even though he doesn't like CLE math, he is doing so well in it, I don't want to change it. My 6th grader was in Rod and Staff math but he needs a lot more drill and he is thriving in CLE. We will either do CLE math 8 next year or go into Chalkdust Algebra depending on how mature he is by then.

Elmeryl(with J12, C9 using Bigger, R7, C7 starting Beyond in August)

[Tansy]

we use math u see My dd needs a hands activities to get math. singapore moved to mental math to fast for us. MUS has made math fun again.

[inHistiming]

Am I the only one who doesn't know what Life of Fred is? Maybe someone could pm me, since my question's not really HOD related? Thanks!