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Singapore Math vs R&S math (early elem)


Susie in MS
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They're so different it's hard to compare them. I've used Singapore Earlybird twice and I own 1A and 1B and plan to use them with dd, but we haven't started yet. I use R&S with ds. R&S is great for kids who need a lot of practice to nail down a concept. It introduces things gradually (but not incrementally, like Saxon) so you spend a while learning to count by 5s, counting only nickels, then add in pennies, for example. It's very much "slow and steady", great for some, possibly mind-numbing for others.

 

Singapore is great for thinking about math. It moves much quicker than R&S and doesn't have anywhere near the amount of practice. You could add in more practice with the extra workbooks that go along with Singapore, though. If you have a mathy child who gets concepts quickly and likes to think about math, Singapore is great. If you have a child who needs repetition and practice to master math, R&S is the better choice. There are so many shades of grey between these two choices, though, that I wouldn't think these would both end up on your shortlist when buying curriculum for a 5 or 6 yo.

 

ETA: Of these two, R&S has a much better TM.

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Just to make sure, were you meaning Rod & Staff (R&S) or RightStart (RS)? RS is extremely similar to Singapore conceptually, which is why I ask. R&S is not one I've used, but it's totally different from what I've seen. Between SM and RS, I chose RS. The tm clicked with me. I'd say just go with your gut. They're both fine and they're just like the online samples. If you want a workbook approach that a driven dc can do semi-independently and don't mind having less teacher helps, get SM. If you feel more confident with the lessons in the RS tm, go that way. Like I said, I chose RS and am glad. We used it through level D and now we're doing BJU math.

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Duh! That makes sense that it's RightStart! I'm using RightStart with dd now for mommy teaching time. It's fun, very gentle but covers a lot of territory. There are very few worksheets and they're black and white. This would be a serious disadvatage for dd if I didn't also have Horizons K for table time work. BTW, they don't coordinate and I don't try to coordinate them at all. Dd gets almost everything in both programs, but she just turned 5 and isn't ready to ramp up to a first grade program yet. I'm using Horizons because I tried it with ds and didn't use it last year.

 

Earlybird is very easy to use (easier than 1A...) because it has a teaching tip at the bottom of each page. The pages are more colorful and have animals and cartoon kids. The math is pretty challenging without requiring too much hwing or reading. It's also about 80% less expensive than RightStart.

 

You can easily combine RS and Earlybird in K without overkill and decide from there which you prefer.

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For my oldest who gets math very easily we just use Singapore because it teaches a concept then moves on, it has visual appeal and it easy to teach.

 

For my youngest who it seems to think "math is hard," I am using a Rod & Staff/Singapore Combo. Right now I am using Earlybird 2a/b with Rod & Staff 1. What we do is work on a concept in Rod and Staff and then do it in Singapore.

 

They are both fairly easy to teach. Rod and Staff has a lot more practice where as Singapore moves quickly.

 

Hope this helps.:001_smile:

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