Oh, by that, I just mean that I'm running them at the same time -- for instance, right now I have one child near the very end of Gamma and the last 1/3 or so of Singapore 3A. So, she'll do one front and back side of Gamma and one sheet (or one multi-page exercise, depending on how tough it all is) of Singapore daily. (And, at this stage, the end of 3A is review of the beginning of Gamma, but also a little preview of Delta -- multiplication and division facts for 7 and 8, this week in Singapore while MUS was reaching the apex of multidigit by multidigit multiplication. But she was having a problem with careless errors with that type of multiplication, so we stuck with it for several weeks while she moved along in Singapore.) Or, for instance, back when we "hit the wall" with multi-digit addition/subtraction with carrying/borrowing in Singapore 2, I just shelved the whole thing for several months until we made it almost all the way through Beta. Then we picked it up where we left off -- and before, where it would bring tears, now (well, *then*) she could quickly move through it. Or, say, my son, who is working through both Alpha and Singapore 1A right now. He's a bit more of a special case -- he requires way, WAY more practice than my "see it once, know it" daughter. So, with him, we'll stay in a chapter in Alpha for AS LONG AS IT TAKES -- which is the whole *point* of MUS, but is, also, I think one of the things that drives people nuts about it. That you may, in fact, be on one set of math facts for a month or more, if need be. And need *has* been, in our case. More than once. Doing Singapore alongside allows him to be able to move "sideways" with another topic while waiting to be able to move "ahead" with MUS. So, a typical day for him might be to do his drill with MUS alpha facts, wherever we are at the time, and then a page from either the Singapore workbook or Challenging Word Problems or Intensive Practice, whatever feels right about at his level on that day.

Also -- it worked out (more or less) like this: MUS Primer Singapore 1 in tandem with MUS Alpha MUS Beta before Singapore 2A Gamma and Singapore 3a Delta and 3b These don't strictly "line up" -- but it's how we've been rolling. Occasionally, Singapore has been "review" for the MUS facts (like in 3A). And we're hitting division in Singapore before MUS. The only thing I will say is that Beta made the brick wall that you can hit at the beginning of Singapore 2A (or is it 2B? Now I'm forgetting -- the one that leads off with about 35 pages of multidigit addition and subtraction with carrying/borrowing) much easier to scale.

I use the two simultaneously. It all started because I hated Singapore's Earlybird materials and found myself much happier with Primer, but wanted to stick with Singapore for the higher levels. If you're using the actual "Singapore model" for teaching (and not just working through the textbooks), you'll note that they work things through the following pathway: concrete ------> pictorial -------> abstract; then mastery/automaticity Meaning, you start with the manipulatives and games outlined in the Home Instructor's Guide, then you move into the pictorial representations in the textbook, and then after that, you use the workbook for the abstract. Also, it is assumed along the way (in the HIG) that you are drilling the various facts to mastery and automaticity along the way, even if what's in the workbook is not enough. So. Basically what I am doing is using MUS for the concrete and mastery part of the equation, and then working along with the (occasional) textbook and workbook, and then adding in the Intensive Practice and Challenging Word Problems on the side. We have been very happy with this arrangement.

I just ordered this late last night (grade 2) and started going through the schedule and notes today. (Most of my books from Amazon -- the ones I didn't already have) should arrive on Wednesday. The whole thing was very serendipitous to me -- we finished SOTW 1 last week and I have a first and third grader, so doing a second grade level based on SOTW 2 was right up our alley. I can say that I like what I see so far, but I won't actually start it until Wedsnesday. I'll post more then. Also -- it doesn't have extensive commentary/notes like, say, Sonlight, if you like that sort of thing. But I am very pleased that you purchase the books through a link to an Amazon Associates web store. There are a few books that I am iffy on, intensity-wise, for my kids and it's great to be able to just put off purchasing them for now to research and decide later instead having to buy an all-encompassing package upfront and have to get rid of them if I decide against.

Ooh, I went to the MSMI Saturdays when we lived in MN and they were very eye-opening. Turns out I was teaching Singapore all wrong. (Though, after talking to so many folks, it turns out that I surely have not been the only one.)

This may be somewhat a goofy question, but our family just moved for my husband's job and the relocation package included funds for job training or education for the spouse in the new area. My husband told them that I didn't have an external job per se, but that I homeschool and would teacher training and education material count for reimbursement and they said yeah, sure, why not. Heh. So, I've been trying to figure out if there's anything that's been on my wish list that might qualify as teacher training. IEW TWSS seemed like it would be a pretty obvious choice. And I could perhaps even get some Great Courses dvds in subjects I'll be teaching. Honestly, it's a fantastic opportunity, but at the moment I'm at a bit of a loss at what would qualify for the spirit of the intention of dispersement. (Though they didn't seem overly concerned about that on their end, so who knows.) Any thoughts?

We did it and we had a similar issue that the day would take too long -- we ended up dropping most of the AA focus EXCEPT we kept the Black Frontiers book, because my kids loved that one. (It had some great stories in it.)

I was one of those students. "Fun" projects were torture to me and I hated school. I couldn't wait to get home and just read.

We have used it. My daughter (9) in particular enjoys it -- the only problem she has with it is that the units tend to be pretty long and she hates to pause them to come back later, she wants to try to power through and do the whole thing, but then she gets frustrated because it goes too long. So, yeah, that's not really a problem with the site itself. Heh.

We hit a wall on Singapore 2 as well and took a hiatus, used MathUSee to master the facts, then came back and she could fly through the formerly tears-worthy problem sets. Now we do that with all the levels and all the kids: Singapore for the conceptual and problem solving, etc, then MUS on the side for fact mastery. They don't seem to mind. Heh.

I second Nancy Larson science for your situation -- unfortunately, it's expensive, but it does otherwise pretty much hit all your criteria.

(My kids are 6 and 9.)

Thank you so much for sharing your resources! Brookspr: I also saw that there were some Classical Conversations sprinkled around the area, and someone tipped me off that there are actually *two* co-ops that meet at that MP church -- CHAMPS on Monday, ChangeEAST on Friday. I'll let you know what else I dig up! D.E.R.: thank you for the mailing lists! Those are such a great treasure trove.

Just got off the phone with the post office this morning, we are hoping for a package liberation this afternoon!

Argh! Ours was in the mailbox, but the mailman shoved it in so tight it was impossible to get out. Seriously. (There's a lip on my side of the mailbox so his side to put stuff in is just slightly larger. *sigh* If only this wasn't the third time I've had to call the post office about a wedged package...)