Has anyone switched over from Horizons Math to Singapore?

[Diane]

My son just completed Horizons Math 2. We have worked through Horizons K, 1, and 2. It was okay, but it was very cut and dry. I just looked into Singapore Math's placement test and was shocked to see my son would have to go back to Singapore's Math 2B at least. I already thought Horizons was WAY advanced. I"ve looked at other Math curriculum, and my son thought the samples were too easy, now he thinks Singapore is too advanced and he gave me the saddest look ever at the prospect of going back a year after he worked so hard. I don't necessarily want to continue on with Horizons. As I looked at the samples of Horizons 3, I just kept thinking- oh Heavens, this AGAIN for the 4th year?! Any ideas? How did your Switch from Horizons to Singapore go?

 

P.S. Son is working on his Singapore 2B placement test and my dh just asked how it was going, and he said HORRIBLE....:001_huh: going to check in on him.

[Diane]

Wow, I"m really saddened here. We followed Horizons exactly and even though he aced every test on HOrizons, he can't get figure out singapore's first 3 problems. :( If things aren't in the Horizon's formula he can't figure it out. I'm hiding out in the school room and letting Daddy step in because I"m losing my patience. I"m having a bad Mommy/teacher moment. Now I can understand why some children and parents cry over math...LOL

[abbeyej]

We added Singapore to our Horizons studies about halfway through H3. I started ds on 2b, and most of the material was fairly easy, but since there was a little bit of "different" approach on some problems, it worked out. I never said we were "going back" grade wise. It's just a different program! And honestly, I haven't found that it's more advanced than Horizons except with regard to word problems.

 

Personally, I won't switch to Singapore only. It's missing the breadth of material and the review that Horizons is so good at. On the other hand, Singapore is stronger with regard to mental math and especially with word problems (that require a great deal more thought and analysis than the Horizons word problems). I think they complement each other really well.

 

Ds has now finished up with Horizons, and I have some Singapore I can pull out for him to finish up Primary... I'm not at all sure what to do next, lol, but for elementary, I've been very happy with Horizons and Singapore together. My dd will be starting H1 in a few weeks, and at some point I'll supplement with Singapore for her too.

 

Oh, btw, I never used the TMs for Horizons... Maybe that would be the difference. If I were following the TM religiously, I might have gotten burned out too. We just did the workbooks for both programs (although by grade 5 and 6 with Horizons, I did wonder what sort of idiot I was for not springing for the TMs just for the answer key -- it would have saved me time!)... ;)

[abbeyej]

Wow, I"m really saddened here. We followed Horizons exactly and even though he aced every test on HOrizons, he can't get figure out singapore's first 3 problems. :( If things aren't in the Horizon's formula he can't figure it out. I'm hiding out in the school room and letting Daddy step in because I"m losing my patience. I"m having a bad Mommy/teacher moment. Now I can understand why some children and parents cry over math...LOL

 

I've had days like that -- in a variety of subjects, for a variety of reasons. And you're right -- sometimes the best thing to do is walk away from the kiddo until you're calmer... I'm sorry.

 

This is a good reason for using multiple math programs -- not switching back and forth wildly, but having one "anchor" program and then adding in supplements or additional programs to layer in. It's also good, as a teacher, to get in the habit of asking kids to talk you through multiple approaches for problems. Ask the child to teach you how to do the problem. Ask if they can think of another (correct) route of getting to the answer. 15+17 can be 5+7+10+10 or 15+15+2 or 20+20-5-3, etc, etc...

 

And reasoning through problems is a great strength of Singapore.

[Diane]

Thank you Abbey for responding to me, it was really great to get some feedback. Thanks for sharing with me what it is you do. Many, many thanks.

[amyinva]

When I pulled my oldest 2 out of a private school which was considered quite advanced in teaching math, they were in 5th and 6th grade. They tested into Singapore 4A. I decided it was worth going back, and just kept reminding them that Singapore levels are not grade levels. We did between one and two books per semester, and caught up easily. I am SO glad we backed up. We filled in gaps while quickly reviewing material they knew already, and now they are doing really well in math. They have confidence in their math ability, whereas before they did not. For us, using Singapore through 6B worked really well.

[kRenee]

My kids have always used both Horizons and Singapore. Both curriculums are advanced. In the early years Singapore usually introduced a concept earlier, in the later years Horizons did.

 

I'm very happy that we continued with both programs. We usually did all of Singapore and about 1/4 to 1/2 of each Horizons lesson because that was the amount of review my kids needed. I used both programs and made them fit our style and needs.

[Omma]

I heard that the dc don't start Singapore Math 1A (in Singapore ;)) until they are 7! Anyway, I wouldn't at all worry or think that he is going backwards. It really takes awhile to get into the new mindset of doing things 'the Singapore way'. I am an adult and I loved math in school, and I have trouble thinking things through the Singapore way!

 

We have used both Horizons Math and Singapore Math. I was trying to do both at the same time, but I saw that we were getting a bit behind (in that we weren't on target to finish Horizons 2 this year as a 2nd grader, so I let my ds decide which math he wanted to do. He picked Horizons and we should finish the book some time in the next couple of weeks. BUT I do plan on going back to where we left off in Singapore Math (it was only somewhere in 2A) and work on Singapore a bit this summer.

 

My ideal goal is to keep going with Horizons as our main math curriculum, but have seasons here and there where we continue on in Singapore, too. I will just see how it goes, but I hope we could finish 2A and do some of 2B this coming year, while still working to do Horizons 3 as well.

 

I agree with Abbey (I think it is!) who said that Horizons and Singapore work well together! :iagree: But then we like Horizons in our family... it's Singapore that's harder for ME to understand and thus harder to implement in our school day. I haven't given up on it yet, though!

 

Brenda

[langfam]

 

I heard that the dc don't start Singapore Math 1A (in Singapore ;)) until they are 7!

In Singapore, school starts Jan. 2nd and it goes for 40 weeks in a year. Children are 6 when they enter Primary 1, but they turn 7 that year. However, kids would have already had 1 year nursery school and 2 years of kindergarten, K1 and K2. Many kids also have tutors at that young age. I had one from the age seven to seventeen.

[Omma]

In Singapore, school starts Jan. 2nd and it goes for 40 weeks in a year. Children are 6 when they enter Primary 1, but they turn 7 that year. However, kids would have already had 1 year nursery school and 2 years of kindergarten, K1 and K2. Many kids also have tutors at that young age. I had one from the age seven to seventeen.

 

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing, langfam!!! It is so exciting to be part of an international community!!

 

My dc were born in Korea, and I have learned that dc in Korea often have tutors, too. Their school days often don't end until 10:00 at night, because of studying English in the evenings... plus they go to school for a 1/2 day on Saturdays (from 7:30 to 1:30 p.m., or something like that!).

 

Langfam, is every dc born that year in the same grade? My dd was born Nov. 26th, so she would have entered Primary 1 as soon as Jan. 2nd and would've been 6 for most of the year? Just curious... I know this is a bit off topic, so I hope the original poster doesn't mind my question. Thanks!

 

Brenda

[langfam]

If your birthday is Jan 1st, 2000. You'd enter Primary 1 Jan. 2nd 2007, so you'd be 7 yrs old the entire year. My birthday is in May, so I was 6 when I started Pri. 1 , but I turned 7 in May. My best friend's birthday was Dec 30 ,she was 6 the entire year. If she had seen born 2 days later she would have had to go to the next grade down.

[abbeyej]

If your birthday is Jan 1st, 2000. You'd enter Primary 1 Jan. 2nd 2007, so you'd be 7 yrs old the entire year. My birthday is in May, so I was 6 when I started Pri. 1 , but I turned 7 in May. My best friend's birthday was Dec 30 ,she was 6 the entire year. If she had seen born 2 days later she would have had to go to the next grade down.

 

So, it works pretty much like US grades do when the cut-off hits roughly at the beginning of the school year. It's just that our schools start in the fall rather than in January, but the age range is pretty much just the same (turning 6 sometime within the past twelve months before starting grade 1).

[kpupg]

Wow, I"m really saddened here. We followed Horizons exactly and even though he aced every test on HOrizons, he can't get figure out singapore's first 3 problems. :( If things aren't in the Horizon's formula he can't figure it out. I'm hiding out in the school room and letting Daddy step in because I"m losing my patience. I"m having a bad Mommy/teacher moment. Now I can understand why some children and parents cry over math...LOL

 

I agree with abbeyej that it is a good thing to use a couple curricula to get a different slant on the subject matter.

 

Also, Singapore's sequence of topics is different from typical US curricula. This is one reason *almost all* kids who switch into Singapore have to start "back" from their previous level. It happened with us -- my ds began home schooling as a 5th-grader and had to go back to Singapore's level 4. Upside is, by the end of that school year, he had more than caught up and pulled ahead.

 

I can't emphasize enough how great Singapore's mental training in problem solving is. I haven't seen anything else to rival it. If nothing else, you might consider using the Challenging Word Problems books as a supplement for this purpose -- and almost everyone uses those at a level lower, so feel free to "stray" from the numbers printed on the cover :)

 

Karen

[Qs3]

I agree. I'm really happy to have found both Horizons and Singapore at the beginning. This is our last week of school and we're finishing Horizons 1 and Singapore 1B. We difinitely needed Horizons because of all the practice and review, but we love how Singapore makes ds think differently. I wish I had used a program like it when I was young! I don't think I'd ever replace one for the other. They're both equally valuable in my eyes.

[Diane]

Thank you everyone for the encouragement and advice.

 

P.S. I had no idea you could just get the Singapore Word Problems- going to look into that for sure.

 

Enjoy the rest of your week and the 4th.

 

P.P.S for anyone wondering...I totally calmed down and apologized to ds for leaving the room, his response was, "oh, I thought you went to fold clothes". Should have just not said anything.:001_huh: