Right Start to Singapore

[MaryMak07]

I'm still largely in the researching stage but have a question:

 

From what I have seen and heard Right Start Math seems like it might be an excellent fit for my son and a good starting place. Singapore also looks really good. I'd love. comparison from someone who has experience with both..

 

But also I was wondering if it would cause any problems to start with Right Start and then transition to Singapore. Would it be a problem to switch?

[happynurse]

I'm not speaking from experience, so hopefully someone else can chime in, but I've been researching Rightstart for awhile now. From what I understand, RS flows nicely in to Singapore, and many who have gone through RS C have successfully moved into Singapore 2B or 3A. Hopefully someone else who knows firsthand will respond. I, too, am always looking for as much RS info as possible. :)

[Kiara.I]

We use Rightstart.  We haven't used Singapore.  But RS goes right up through middle school geometry and you can go straight into prealgebra, so if you like RS, you can continue with it for quite a while.

[Targhee]

Im not sure of your son's working grade level, so I will comment generally.

 

We have used RS A, B, and C. I've also used Singapore 1-5. My oldest did RS A, public school, then SM 3-5 (then AOPS). My middle did RS B-C, then BA 3-4, now SM 5. My other middle did RS A/Miquon/Singapore combo, then SM 1-2, now BA 3.

 

Starting with RS and then transitioning to SM (and/or BA) has been great! I love, love RS B!!! RS C was a slog in the second half, and didn't have the same magic as RS B. We don't own B (it was umbrella school's) but do own RS A and I am currently using it slowly with my 4yo. Excellent, multimodal, conceptual program. SM is solid all the way through (to 5 at least). I think the variety of learning modalities and use of concrete manipulatives (and that they are all put together for you with lesson plans) gives RS an edge in the K-1 range. SM also has great ideas for concrete learning in the HIG, but you need to do the procuring/creating of manipulatives.

 

Both are great, and switching from RS to SM is easy (at least in 2nd or 3rd grade).

 

The more I learned by teaching with these programs the more confident I became with meeting my individual learner's needs. Child #3 got a mash-up of things because I could say "oh, I remember a RS activity that's perfect for this!" Or, "she's not getting it this way, let's try an EducationUnboxed video." It's ok, even preferable, to change curriculum for a single lesson or a whole year, if you can, IF it is helping your learner. Whatever you decide now, be open to a change in your plans ;-)

 

Best wishes!

[desertflower]

So far in my journey, I really like RS math games and abacus games.  However, I think RS is repetitive.  Of course, I skip a lot of the repetitiveness.  I think it's supposed to be a lesson a day which we don't do.  Also, I really like SM.  The HIG helps a lot which also has mental math problems at the end of the book.

 

RS seems to ease it on in to SM.

 

I don't think there will be a problem transitioning from RS to SM.  It's what I'm hoping to do with my dd.  :) 

[Jackie]

We used RS with with Singapore's CWP and had no problem switching between so I assume the switch between the curric said would be fine. We also moved from RS C to Beast Academy and have had no problems.

[bayareanative]

I have used both Right Start and Singapore (as well as MEP Y2).  

 

I am familiar with the 2nd half of Right Start B, all of C, and 1/2 of D (Which is where we are now). We also dabbled in Singapore 1 and 2.

 

Personally I prefer Right Start - it works well for me and it's perfect for one of my very visually inclined daughters. She tried Singapore and she hated it.

 

My other daughter is fine with any program and she isn't exactly challenged by Right Start currently but she is above grade level and I don't want to push her too far ahead. She really LIKES RS and she gives me no groans when it's time to do math (unlike with other programs we've tried).  

 

Both my girls love the math games that are an integral part of Right Start and in my opinion the games really cement the concepts and make using the calculating skills fun.  

 

Having used both programs, I feel like RS is a more comprehensive program and it's process makes more sense to me. It is more hands on in a lot of ways but I think that is a good thing.  Some lessons are repetitive and others step up very incrementally, which can be skipped by the intuitive/advanced learner, but this method works really well for the kids that are not natural math kids and who need lots of success and confidence building. I do skip lessons regularly or combine lessons for both my girls, one more than the other.  I like that the lessons are short, so combining is easy if we want to move ahead faster.  

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I used RS B then moved to SM2 from there.  We did a quick run-through of SM1b, but it was mostly unnecessary.  I love the combination.  RS is superior to SM1, I think, because for that age range, having the minimal writing is great.  Using RS will also teach you had to use manipulatives, and you can carry those on into SM, even when the lesson doesn't explicitly call for them.  

 

In our personal homeschool, I found while using RS that cuisnaire rods were also a wonderful tool, and I watched a ton of videos on education unboxed.  For my second child, I actually did not pull out the RS materials, but I taught SM1 with a "RS approach", plus cuisinaire rods.  

 

I'm guessing child number 3 will be similar, though I may not even do the abacus with her, except the side two, which is great for borrowing/carrying work.  

 

If you have more than one kid, my understanding is that it's quite hard to teach multiple levels of RS because of the time commitment and the fact that you can't just teach the lesson then say, "now go do this page".  

[T'smom]

I have used both Right Start and Singapore (as well as MEP Y2).

 

I am familiar with the 2nd half of Right Start B, all of C, and 1/2 of D (Which is where we are now). We also dabbled in Singapore 1 and 2.

 

Personally I prefer Right Start - it works well for me and it's perfect for one of my very visually inclined daughters. She tried Singapore and she hated it.

 

My other daughter is fine with any program and she isn't exactly challenged by Right Start currently but she is above grade level and I don't want to push her too far ahead. She really LIKES RS and she gives me no groans when it's time to do math (unlike with other programs we've tried).

 

Both my girls love the math games that are an integral part of Right Start and in my opinion the games really cement the concepts and make using the calculating skills fun.

 

Having used both programs, I feel like RS is a more comprehensive program and it's process makes more sense to me. It is more hands on in a lot of ways but I think that is a good thing. Some lessons are repetitive and others step up very incrementally, which can be skipped by the intuitive/advanced learner, but this method works really well for the kids that are not natural math kids and who need lots of success and confidence building. I do skip lessons regularly or combine lessons for both my girls, one more than the other. I like that the lessons are short, so combining is easy if we want to move ahead faster.

I am trying to make a decision right now about switching to SM or not, and I have a question for you, if you don't mind! I am trying to decide if I should switch from RS to SM with my 3rd grade son. We are at the end of RS C. We are currently trying out a few lessons from SM 2B that I bought used. Here's my dilemma. I would like ds to be a bit more independent. I do not mind AT ALL, sitting down and teaching him- but after the teaching, I would like him to be able to do independent work, while I work with my dd. With all the games and stuff, I am finding RS to be soooo teacher intensive. So, my question is- does RS D start to transition to kids working more "on their own"?

[eternallytired]

I have used RS A-C.  A was a fun, informal-feeling intro to math for my kids in PreK, B was absolutely incredible and I could gush on about it forever, C was "meh" and I didn't feel there was a lot of content there.  At that point, my oldest was begging for "hard math" and my middle wanted to see exactly what she needed to do to be finished each day (not games!).  I moved my oldest to BA3, where he has been thriving.  My middle only went halfway through RS C and didn't hit much new content, so I started her back at SM2A.  She was able to fly through that material and is now zipping through SM2B without difficulty.  (I'm not even using the textbook to introduce topics; RS has given her such an awesome foundation that the concepts all seem common-sense to her.)  It's been a smooth transition, and SM has proven itself to be great for someone who likes fun-looking, not-too-busy/cluttered math pages and does well with visual representation for learning.

[bayareanative]

I am trying to make a decision right now about switching to SM or not, and I have a question for you, if you don't mind! I am trying to decide if I should switch from RS to SM with my 3rd grade son. We are at the end of RS C. We are currently trying out a few lessons from SM 2B that I bought used. Here's my dilemma. I would like ds to be a bit more independent. I do not mind AT ALL, sitting down and teaching him- but after the teaching, I would like him to be able to do independent work, while I work with my dd. With all the games and stuff, I am finding RS to be soooo teacher intensive. So, my question is- does RS D start to transition to kids working more "on their own"?

At least so far, no. I'm 1/2 way through D.  Part of what keeps it so teacher intensive is the games. My daughter can do the worksheets independently, but they are so short (which I like, because I don't believe in drilling concepts she already knows) but  they usually only take her 5 minutes or less.  It's the games that take the time.  When I can, I bring both girls into the games, (my level C and my level D).  Frankly, I feel that most of D has been review for my daughter - she doesn't have her x-tables memorized yet but will soon, but she understands the concept of multiplication and can get to the answer after a few seconds just by using number sense and addition or subtraction.  If I were in a hurry I would probably skip a lot of D... so depending on your child you could probably keep the lessons really short and skip days here and there when you need to focus more time on your other child, and/or bring your other child into the games of D.  Hope that's helpful, I know it's hard to juggle and finding the right mix can be really a job of it's own!

[kateingr]

Our transition from the middle of RSC to Singapore 2A went really smoothly as well. I ended up using the textbook to teach the lessons, and then my son did only the Intensive Practice books, along with some of the Challenging Word Problems books.

 

Using a more independent math book proved to be a nice change for both of us. Much as I love teaching math, I appreciated how it freed me up a little to not be there for every minute of the math lesson. I also felt that the transition was good for my son. Learning to work with mom not right at your elbow is an important skill, even if she's only across the room. :) He learned a lot about how to persevere through lessons and work more independently, which also helped prepare him to transition to Beast Academy after 2B. 

[T'smom]

At least so far, no. I'm 1/2 way through D. Part of what keeps it so teacher intensive is the games. My daughter can do the worksheets independently, but they are so short (which I like, because I don't believe in drilling concepts she already knows) but they usually only take her 5 minutes or less. It's the games that take the time. When I can, I bring both girls into the games, (my level C and my level D). Frankly, I feel that most of D has been review for my daughter - she doesn't have her x-tables memorized yet but will soon, but she understands the concept of multiplication and can get to the answer after a few seconds just by using number sense and addition or subtraction. If I were in a hurry I would probably skip a lot of D... so depending on your child you could probably keep the lessons really short and skip days here and there when you need to focus more time on your other child, and/or bring your other child into the games of D. Hope that's helpful, I know it's hard to juggle and finding the right mix can be really a job of it's own!

Ugh. Thank you for the perspective. My dd is only in K. I am working through RS A with her, so she is not ready to play the games with ds. Plus, I have a 1 yo tornado to deal with at the same time! Ds does love the games though. I wish I knew someone who had level D so I could look at it first! I think we will finish SM 2B and then decide where to go from there- so far, we are flying through that.