SFM Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 So, I have used Singapore Primary Mathematics US Edition for the whole of 3rd grade so 3A/3B with the HIG. I just ordered our things for next school year and decided to get the Standards Edition hearing it was far superior for the teacher. After reading through some of the lessons and looking at the textbooks and workbooks, however, I find I still prefer the US edition. Should I give Standards a shot or just stay with what we know? I am usually one who is of the adage, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it." I am just conflicted. Are we going to 'miss' something by doing the US edition? Are there other US edition users out there? Show of hands please. :) Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I liked the Standards edition for three reasons that really have nothing to do with content. (1) My son liked the full color in the textbook. (2) There was a more systematic approach to review. (3) The HIGs were better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We use the US edition because that is what was available at a local store when we started and I didn't realize there were two different editions at that time. Recently that store began carrying the Standards edition as well as the US. Since I have read here that the HIG were better with the Standards edition I thought I would compare them. I looked at two different levels (I don't remember which) and didn't see much of a difference, they were practically the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Yes, there are topics in STD not covered in US Ed.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Here you can see a chart comparing the scope and sequence of both side by side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We use the US edition because that is what was available at a local store when we started and I didn't realize there were two different editions at that time. Recently that store began carrying the Standards edition as well as the US. Since I have read here that the HIG were better with the Standards edition I thought I would compare them. I looked at two different levels (I don't remember which) and didn't see much of a difference, they were practically the same. If you looked at level 1, they do look the same. Levels 2 and up are different. I started with US and when I compared the HIGs I couldn't figure out why people said Standards was better. I didn't see the difference until I compared level 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knittingmama Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I have used the US edition up through 4B so far, and I really like it. I'm sure I'll stick with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer2911mom Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We've been using Stds., but I've been looking at the U.S. HIG and I think I actually prefer the U.S. format. Stds. seems like it is all paragraphs and U.S. seems more bulleted out. Has anyone else noticed this? I feel like I can find things easier in the U.S. format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We use the US edition. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 If you looked at level 1, they do look the same. Levels 2 and up are different. I started with US and when I compared the HIGs I couldn't figure out why people said Standards was better. I didn't see the difference until I compared level 2. I'm positive I looked at levels higher than 1 & 2 as those are the ones we have completed/are working on. I will admit this was a quick side by side comparison in the store but what I saw was pretty much exactly the same in both books. *shrug* just my experience. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We use and like the US Edition. My husband is a math professor, and he likes what we're doing in homeschooling. True, there has been no "formal" introduction of negative numbers yet (DS9 is finishing up 5B) but he uses negative numbers quite easily, including in multiplication and division, and really has not needed a special chapter of a book to teach him what to do-- he found it pretty obvious. We prefer the two-tone text, and DS was happy when the full-color was dropped when we reached level 3. I have heard there is even MORE review in the Standards edition, and we find the amount of review in the US edition to already be absolutely overkill-- for our family, there is no need for more. We have no issue with the HIG's either way. So for us, the US Edition is great :) Take anything you read on the boards about "Oh, such and such is far superior" with a grain of salt. Look at the reasons WHY people like something better and see if that is important to your family or not. We also happen to love Life of Fred, which depending upon how well your kids work with it and whether you work the program correctly or not, you'll either love or hate. It has a ton of fantastic math in it-- whether your family can get the math that's there . . . depends on whether you match well with it. Whether you need the Standards Edition or enjoy the US Edition in Singapore PM will depend upon your preference for full color, whether you need a certain type of hand-holding from the HIG, and whether your kids need a whole lot of review, and whether they need certain concepts presented explicitly prior to seeing it in logic stage mathematics; it has nothing to do with the actual quality of the program. You'll find that the US Edition is quite good :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Nittany Jen explained the difference really well. We stuck with the US Edition because we didn't need any more review since we also use the IP and CWP books. In fact, T would probably say there's too much end of year review in the US Edition, and she might be right if you school year round. I feel the obsessive need to fill out all the pages in the workbook so I'd rather have less review than more because T doesn't need it and I'd hate not to use it. I'd rather have more time to use LOF, Math Doesn't Suck and Key To, rather than have more review pages in SM. I don't use the HIGs, we just haven't needed to. T has always understood the concepts just using the textbook and now that we're in 5A, she tends to even roll her eyes at that since SM does touch on the same topics year after year. If you can round to the tens place, you can round to a thousand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 So glad this is posted, as I was debating with myself without firsthand knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 We use and like the US Edition. My husband is a math professor, and he likes what we're doing in homeschooling. True, there has been no "formal" introduction of negative numbers yet (DS9 is finishing up 5B) but he uses negative numbers quite easily, including in multiplication and division, and really has not needed a special chapter of a book to teach him what to do-- he found it pretty obvious. We prefer the two-tone text, and DS was happy when the full-color was dropped when we reached level 3. I have heard there is even MORE review in the Standards edition, and we find the amount of review in the US edition to already be absolutely overkill-- for our family, there is no need for more. We have no issue with the HIG's either way. So for us, the US Edition is great :) Take anything you read on the boards about "Oh, such and such is far superior" with a grain of salt. Look at the reasons WHY people like something better and see if that is important to your family or not. We also happen to love Life of Fred, which depending upon how well your kids work with it and whether you work the program correctly or not, you'll either love or hate. It has a ton of fantastic math in it-- whether your family can get the math that's there . . . depends on whether you match well with it. Whether you need the Standards Edition or enjoy the US Edition in Singapore PM will depend upon your preference for full color, whether you need a certain type of hand-holding from the HIG, and whether your kids need a whole lot of review, and whether they need certain concepts presented explicitly prior to seeing it in logic stage mathematics; it has nothing to do with the actual quality of the program. You'll find that the US Edition is quite good :). Thank you for your response. Interestingly enough, we also use Life of Fred as a supplement and the IP and CWP books as well. I just feel more comfortable with US edition. I think I am going to stick with that one. We don't like full color usually, it seems to distract my son more. I feel in good company now, I was starting to wonder if I was the only person happy with the US edition. Also, I really like your blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 We've been using Stds., but I've been looking at the U.S. HIG and I think I actually prefer the U.S. format. Stds. seems like it is all paragraphs and U.S. seems more bulleted out. Has anyone else noticed this? I feel like I can find things easier in the U.S. format. I agree, I went back and looked at my Standards next to my US after you mentioned this and it does seem that way to me as well. I like the format of the HIG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 This will be our fifteenth year of Singapore (geez, but in my defense, many of those years overlap), and I have always used the U.S. edition, until now. I was swayed by finding tests! for the Standards edition. My rising fourth grader, my last SM student is, naturally, as thrilled about this discovery as I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 This will be our fifteenth year of Singapore (geez, but in my defense, many of those years overlap), and I have always used the U.S. edition, until now. I was swayed by finding tests! for the Standards edition. My rising fourth grader, my last SM student is, naturally, as thrilled about this discovery as I am. So, the only reason for your switch are the tests? Would you still recommend the US edition? I didn't order the tests for Standards, I assumed with the amount of review I heard they had that it would be unnecessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 YMMV, but I thought the test book I saw was pretty lame. I ordered one for 5A by mistake when I forgot to take it out of my cart in a large order. About half of the tests had multiple choice answers, which is not what I'm looking for in a math book, thought I'm sure it does make it easier for classroom teachers to grade. The problems were nothing special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer2911mom Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I agree, I went back and looked at my Standards next to my US after you mentioned this and it does seem that way to me as well. I like the format of the HIG. Thank you for confirming this. It is the first time I've had any discussion of this with anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 About half of the tests had multiple choice answers, which is not what I'm looking for in a math book, thought I'm sure it does make it easier for classroom teachers to grade. The problems were nothing special. FYI, my dd was in public 2nd grade and 95% of her work was multiple choice in math, even the year end test she took last week.... Drove me nuts because she is one to NOT write things own and hence struggles building problems because of it. This might be fine if they were teaching great mental math, but alas, that didn't happen either. And yes, math is on the list for summer fun! :D (and I'd be thankful that tests weren't 100% multiple choice if the are aimed at the classroom) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Are there other US edition users out there? Show of hands please. :) :thumbup1: I used the US ed. with both dd's from the old kindergarten books up to 5B. Dd12 transitioned to AOPS Prealgebra, and I plan to do the same with dd10 soon. Like you, I never saw reason to fix what ain't broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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