anyone switch from Singapore to Math U See?

[jlmom]

I'm getting frustrated with Singapore Math. We're on the first book, and I'm finding that it doesn't give a lot of guidance with how to teach the concepts in the book. I myself am totally confused with how they teach subtraction (such as 17-5). I'd like to try Math U See, but it's a little pricey to just "try out". Has anyone else switched? What are your feelings on the 2?

[colleenebeans]

I didnt switch from singapore but started MUS with my older son and WE LOVE IT! I hightly recommend it.

[jlmom]

sorry! I just noticed that this posted twice. I lost my internet connection and didn't think the first one went through so I reposted. Sorry again! Thanks for your help, though!

[Storm Bay]

I'm getting frustrated with Singapore Math. We're on the first book, and I'm finding that it doesn't give a lot of guidance with how to teach the concepts in the book. I myself am totally confused with how they teach subtraction (such as 17-5). I'd like to try Math U See, but it's a little pricey to just "try out". Has anyone else switched? What are your feelings on the 2?

 

Thought of this later.

Since the book I have that teaches how to teach SM, etc, is out of print, have you read the book by Lipling Ma?

 

When it comes to word problems and heuristics, SM is far better than MUS, IMO. That said, I do like MUS for certain things, and my middle dd did Alpha-Zeta with the exception of Delta. I found the combination worked well, along with Key to Fractions.

 

When push comes to shove, though, you have to find what works well for your dc. If I were in your shoes, which I was, I'd combine. My second dc did MUS alpha & beta along with SM, and this worked well. Since he already know C rods, he used those with SM.

 

At some point you'll get to bar diagrams, and those are one of the best features of SM IMO--they work well for my dc, even my ds who is more of an auditory learner than my middle dd is.

 

There is no reason why you can't modify as you teach math, too, if everything else with SM is working well. I far prefer rods to the SM pictures for addition & subtraction.

Edited December 21, 2010 by Karin

[Dana]

I'm getting frustrated with Singapore Math. We're on the first book, and I'm finding that it doesn't give a lot of guidance with how to teach the concepts in the book.

 

That's where the Home Instructor's Guide can be helpful. It gives extra explanation/approaches. The one for the Standards edition is very good.

There's also a forum here. It's not very active, but you do get replies.

[MamaSheep]

We started with Singapore, took a detour through Teaching Textbooks and have washed up in MUS this year with ds. He and I both found Singapore a bit convoluted. TT made more sense to us, but we are both really loving MUS. This is my 2nd year using MUS with dd, and it's working wonderfully for her too. The way things are explained in MUS just makes more sense to us all than Singapore did, even with the Home Instructor Guides.

[Corraleno]

If you'd be interested in something similar to Singapore, but easier to teach (and a lot cheaper than MUS), check out Math Mammoth. There is a very big jump between Singapore and MUS; you are essentially going from the very rigorous end of the math spectrum to the very "gentle" end. If you're sure that's a jump you want to make, go for it, but if you want to stay more towards the Singapore end of the spectrum, I'd definitely look at the Math Mammoth Light Blue series.

 

There are lots of threads here about MM:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177719

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195462&highlight=math+mammoth

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217673&highlight=math+mammoth

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222690

 

Jackie

[chiguirre]

:iagree: with Jackie. I use SM with my mathy dd and MUS with my sn ds. Both are excellent programs, but they're not interchangeable. If you have a mathy kid, I'd try Math Mammoth before MUS. If your child struggles with math, and especially if they lack number sense, then MUS is your best bet. I've used a LOT of math programs and they all would work well for someone, you just have to find the one that works for you and your child.

[EKS]

Singapore 1A/B is the weakest level in the program. There is a large gap between instruction and expected understanding. We switched to RightStart B during a period of frustration and then moved into 2A easily. It has been smooth sailing ever since.

[MangoMama]

We started with Singapore and we actually loved it at first. Then with my mathematically advanced son, I added Miquon to Singapore. But all the of the worksheets were way too much for him to handle (when it came to sitting still long enough to do them and all of the writing that was involved), so I recently switched him to MUS. He's doing much better now that he can play with all of the the blocks and stand and move around while he's doing his math.

 

With my not-so-math-inclined daughter, she just couldn't pick up any of the math concepts while using Singapore. And I was having an extremely difficult time trying to teach it to her. We ended up switching her to Teaching Textbooks.