will I like Dimensions math? convince me one way or another :)

[Guest lindseycr]

We have used and loved Singapore all along, but my son is in 5B and I want to start thinking ahead. Should we go with Dimensions? Would we love it as much as we've loved the lower grades in Singapore? I don't know anyone who has used it. And what are these "CLE" and "AoPS" things I see on the forum? :)

 

I'd love input!

 

(Wow, just noticing I had two typos the first time I posted. Yeeeeesh.)

Edited February 4, 2016 by lindseycr

[Gil]

Honestly, Singaporean Math beyond grade 6 is a bit of a mystery with all the series and different versions within a series etc. I didn't use Singapore PM for elementary, we used Math Mammoth 1-6 and I considered switching to a Singaporean approach for the 7th-10th grade level, but decided against it for lack of having a clear path and the percieved difficulty in obtaining a complete set of at least one of the series. This thread shows where some of the posters on this forum were explaining the upper level Singapore math books to me.

 

CLE = Christian Light Education and AoPS = Art of Problem Solving are two publishers that sell their own math curriculum. I don't know anything about CLE aside from the fact that they have a math program and its workbook based and each grade is broken down into pamphlets called a "Light Unit". This may or may not change at the upper levels, I have no idea.

 

AoPS is an enrichment math publisher. They publish books on contest math, problem solving and have published a series of 6-12 math textbooks that are far more  axiomatic/pure math than most (all) of the other math books published on this continent. (I can't speak to other, higher performing countries such as Russia, Finland or many of the Asian countries) AoPS is unique in that they publish books on discrete math topics marketed toward school children.

[hepatica]

I have used Singapore Dimensions math for two students so far, and I think it is fantastic. With my first, who is now 15, we started 7A after finishing Singapore Primary Math (US) 5B. My current 12yo DD is finishing 7A, which she started after completing 5B and a few chapter from Singapore 6. I checked out a few other things (we did Russian Math for a semester and tried Dolciani Pre-Algebra and looked at Forester, tried Tablet Class) but nothing else had the same Singapore feel. I like the way that it is set up, all contained in one book. For each section in the chapter there are basic practice problems, further practice problems, word problems and a couple challenging problems. If we need additional practice on any section we turn to the workbook (which has tons of extra problems, but is not necessary for the curriculum). If not, we just move on. 

 

When I say nothing else had the same Singapore feel, what I mean is that I love how the Singapore problems incorporate review right into the problems. So, when you learn something new, you must use what you have already learned. So, even though you are working on percentage discounts or finding the value of an angle, you are using the skills for solving and simplifying linear equations that you have learned in previous chapters. There is a complexity to the problems that I have not seen in other books.

 

The program is integrated. 7A covers some pre-algebra, beginning linear equations, ratio, percentage and beginning geometry. 7B continues with Algebra and geometry, as well as data handling and probability. My first DD did 7A, 7B and 8A. She then did one semester of a standard geometry course and is now in a standard Alg. 2 course. The whole 7-8 series covers pre-algebra, algebra and geometry, and many algebra 2 topics. 

[Ms Brooks]

I have used Singapore Dimensions math for two students so far, and I think it is fantastic. With my first, who is now 15, we started 7A after finishing Singapore Primary Math (US) 5B. My current 12yo DD is finishing 7A, which she started after completing 5B and a few chapter from Singapore 6. I checked out a few other things (we did Russian Math for a semester and tried Dolciani Pre-Algebra and looked at Forester, tried Tablet Class) but nothing else had the same Singapore feel. I like the way that it is set up, all contained in one book. For each section in the chapter there are basic practice problems, further practice problems, word problems and a couple challenging problems. If we need additional practice on any section we turn to the workbook (which has tons of extra problems, but is not necessary for the curriculum). If not, we just move on. 

 

When I say nothing else had the same Singapore feel, what I mean is that I love how the Singapore problems incorporate review right into the problems. So, when you learn something new, you must use what you have already learned. So, even though you are working on percentage discounts or finding the value of an angle, you are using the skills for solving and simplifying linear equations that you have learned in previous chapters. There is a complexity to the problems that I have not seen in other books.

 

The program is integrated. 7A covers some pre-algebra, beginning linear equations, ratio, percentage and beginning geometry. 7B continues with Algebra and geometry, as well as data handling and probability. My first DD did 7A, 7B and 8A. She then did one semester of a standard geometry course and is now in a standard Alg. 2 course. The whole 7-8 series covers pre-algebra, algebra and geometry, and many algebra 2 topics. 

 

The above explains why Dimensions Math 7A has not gone well for us. I am not a math person. I found the "Try it!" problems easy enough to do with DD, but the exercises were something beyond just extrapolating from the "Try it!" problems. The first 4 chapters were a big struggle, and I felt the text lacked support. Would I choose this again? Yes, but now I know how it works. Will I continue with it through 8B? Maybe, but most likely not.  DD is doing IXL math online for review. She is finding this review easy compared to how hard she works in Singapore. I own Dolciani Pre-Algebra. It's OK. We did not use this.

 

EDIT: Another bad morning with the Dimensions Math. Maybe it is just me, but this program is not friendly. I took my Dolciani Pre Algebra off the shelf and retaught the same material in Dimensions Math this morning. Reteaching from Dolciani made more sense to both DD and I, so this is what we will stick with for the rest of the year. I really wanted to like Dimensions Math, but it is not for us.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Ms Brooks

[Roadrunner]

I have used Singapore Dimensions math for two students so far, and I think it is fantastic. With my first, who is now 15, we started 7A after finishing Singapore Primary Math (US) 5B. My current 12yo DD is finishing 7A, which she started after completing 5B and a few chapter from Singapore 6. I checked out a few other things (we did Russian Math for a semester and tried Dolciani Pre-Algebra and looked at Forester, tried Tablet Class) but nothing else had the same Singapore feel. I like the way that it is set up, all contained in one book. For each section in the chapter there are basic practice problems, further practice problems, word problems and a couple challenging problems. If we need additional practice on any section we turn to the workbook (which has tons of extra problems, but is not necessary for the curriculum). If not, we just move on. 

 

When I say nothing else had the same Singapore feel, what I mean is that I love how the Singapore problems incorporate review right into the problems. So, when you learn something new, you must use what you have already learned. So, even though you are working on percentage discounts or finding the value of an angle, you are using the skills for solving and simplifying linear equations that you have learned in previous chapters. There is a complexity to the problems that I have not seen in other books.

 

The program is integrated. 7A covers some pre-algebra, beginning linear equations, ratio, percentage and beginning geometry. 7B continues with Algebra and geometry, as well as data handling and probability. My first DD did 7A, 7B and 8A. She then did one semester of a standard geometry course and is now in a standard Alg. 2 course. The whole 7-8 series covers pre-algebra, algebra and geometry, and many algebra 2 topics. 

This is great to hear! I am planning on moving my younger boy to SM 7, and I have been worried about the lack of reviews. One question though. Do teacher materials contain solutions? I often find I need solutions besides just the answers. 

[Momling]

We tried it briefly, but I didn't love the format the way I had loved SM. Also, it had a feeling to it that it was really classroom oriented. Right after that, I spent a week or two with AOPS pre algebra and didn't like that either. I think either would have been fine had we stuck with them, but I was feeling picky. We settled on Galore Park SYRWL Maths 2&3 and that worked well. We were a little behind in the SM CWP books, so we also did CWP 5&6 while working through the Galore Park. It gave a nice preparation for algebra. Had MM7 been around, I probably would have gone from SM6b to MM7.

[hepatica]

This is great to hear! I am planning on moving my younger boy to SM 7, and I have been worried about the lack of reviews. One question though. Do teacher materials contain solutions? I often find I need solutions besides just the answers. 

 

Yes, the teacher's manual contains solutions for all the problems.

[Ali in OR]

We use the slightly older version, DM 1A/B, 2A/B, and we use part of 3A (to get complete coverage of all standard Algebra 1 topics before my kids head off to Geometry as 9th graders in the public school).

 

I am a former high school math teacher, so I don't have a problem understanding and teaching this material. I think it's often as difficult as what I saw in American high school math books that I used 20 years ago. I think it's going to give my kids an excellent math background. For my older dd, math is her least favorite subject but she scores almost as high on math as she does English subjects on standardized tests and I credit her Singapore training. Singapore is also tops for application problems. They use real science in their problems. My 15 yo is now in a public high school algebra 2 class using a standard American text and the problems are so easy and shallow compared to Singapore. Application problems are a strength for her and in my teaching experience I would say that's pretty rare--"word problems" are where many students get hung up.

 

I like the integrated approach in Singapore. The geometry problems have a lot of algebra in them. It's a great way to keep reviewing those concepts. And my kids like the "easier" geometry chapters after a tough algebra chapter. If your kids will be going to a B&M high school, you do have to pay attention to whether you're covering equivalent material. Singapore does not hit graphing as hard as American texts for instance, so I supplement. I think quadratics didn't turn up until book 3A so I made sure we did a few chapters from that book. I wouldn't worry about this if you're home schooling high school, but it is an issue if you're transferring to someone else's program.

 

Singapore is an excellent program, but I do think it works best where there is plenty of math support at home or the student is exceptionally strong at math and ready for a challenge.