purplemama Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 My son is in Singapore 4A right now and I am considering switching him to Saxon after 6B because of the commentary in WTM (Revised) about there being no data regarding how well kids who used Singapore math all the way through do on standardized tests. My son loves math and is thriving with Singapore (I supplement with Miquon and extra material from two math textbooks I have and he is in a Math Olympiad class at our co-op as well). I just had him take the placement test for Saxon 5/4 and the only problems he got wrong are about material he hasn't covered yet but will in the 4B books. Understanding is not an issue; I am only concerned about standardizd testing down the road. I am wondering if anyone here has had a high schooler who has finished Singapore NEM and taken either the ACT or SAT. Can you tell me how they did? Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 You might try cross posting or searching through the high school boards. I believe there has been a recent discussion about this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 (edited) Yes, one son went through Singapore NEM 4A after which time he enrolled concurrently in our local university. He was a junior. He took the ACT/SAT in the spring of his sophomore year and scored in the high 20's if I remember correctly. Anyways, he went on to take College Algebra in fall of 11th, trig/pre-calc in spring of 11th, Calc. in summer between 11th and 12th. He had a 4.0 in all his math courses. I have opted not to use NEM for my younger children because the upper levels seemed to require more of my time and since the younger ones are so close in age, I don't feel I have the time to spend with each of them. We are using a variety of programs and it's working well for us. We do plan to utilize our state's concurrent enrollment opportunity (tuition free credits) so all our upper maths will be done at the university level. Personally I would not be concerned with the rigor of NEM. It will "out-rigor" most of the other programs out there. Also, I think moving into Saxon from Singapore would be...shockingly boring to the student. Those programs are so different. If your student is excelling with Singapore I would suggest continuing with Singapore or looking at some other programs - but not Saxon. Edited March 31, 2009 by CynthiaOK clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Personally I would not be concerned with the rigor of NEM. It will "out-rigor" most of the other programs out there. Also, I think moving into Saxon from Singapore would be...shockingly boring to the student. Those programs are so different. If your student is excelling with Singapore I would suggest continuing with Singapore or looking at some other programs - but not Saxon. I would think so as well.:iagree: If I were in your shoes I would do Singapore through 6B and then switch to something else for upper level math. If it makes you feel better my oldest tested well, but that was in 3rd grade. :lol: We test again this year, but that will be in a few months. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in MN Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I agree with Heather that it's easy to switch math programs after completing 6B (not easy to figure out what to switch to, but that's another post). Wanted to share, though, that my ds, who's not very mathematically inclined, performed very unevenly on the math sections of the ITBS until sixth grade when he did very well (90+%) across the board. The ITBS breaks down skills very specifically, so I knew that some of the uneveness came from what Singapore covered when. Didn't matter...he got it all in the end, but it was a bit unnerving when I got that first ITBS back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Singapore will prepare your kids for standardized testing just fine. While it doesn't have probability/statistics, cartesian coordinate graphing, or negative numbers in the Primary Math series, that's just fine. My two older kids are mathy (although they still don't like it). They did Miquon for 1st-3rd and then did Singapore 3A-6B. They have both always scored in the 90th percentile and above with Singapore. Out of curiosity, I has them take placement tests for Saxon after they finished each full level of Singapore. They usually place two grades higher in Saxon than they did in Singapore. My youngest is dyslexic and is NOT mathy. She is also using Singapore. She is the only one of my kids who has worked in a level that was below her grade number (using 4B and 5A for 5th grade). She took the WJ-III (for LD testing) at the end of her 4th grade year last May and scored grade level 5.1 for math calculation (63rd percentile, right where she should be at the end of 4th grade) and 6.5 for math reasoning (82nd percentile). My other kids scored much higher, but they weren't dyslexic. This dd still can't sing the alphabet song beyond letter F, didn't get the days of the week until 7.5yo, didn't get the months of the year until 8yo. If you want to make sure that some of the other topics that are covered in most American math programs are covered, then do Singapore, but add on something like Daily Math Practice by Evan-Moor. It will give you a nice, systematic review and will have occasional problems where you have to plot Cartesian coordinates or draw a Venn diagram or figure probability. I added Daily Math Practice for my youngest because she needed the systematic review. The reviews in Singapore weren't on a regular enough basis for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 My two older kids are mathy (although they still don't like it). They did Miquon for 1st-3rd and then did Singapore 3A-6B. They have both always scored in the 90th percentile and above with Singapore. Side topic, but do you think Miquon helped make your kids "mathy"? Or were they just naturally "mathy" and enjoyed Miquon? Or didn't enjoy Miquon? I'm curious about the perspective of somone further down the road with Miquon and Singapore. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 My oldest dd actually started off with MUS. After that flaming disaster, I floundered around for several months before finding Miquon. That's when she suddenly became very good at math. My middle dd was very good at math from the start. She's Aspie and her mind just works that way. My youngest is dyslexic and has visual processing issues that made Miquon impossible for her. She needs black print on white paper and the paper must be thick enough that she can't see the printing from the other side. The only way I could have used Miquon with her would have been to photocopy the entire thing so she'd have the black print on white. And that would only have worked if the photocopy didn't show the print from the other side of the page bleeding through. I never tried it, so I don't actually know if it would have worked or not. I just know that the first day she used Singapore, she asked me to burn her Miquon book. She wouldn't go near it again. That was before I knew what the deal was with Miquon. She hadn't had vision therapy yet at that point, so I didn't know about the issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertechmom Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I made the leap from 6b to NEM. We had used Singapore as our spine with all the supplements, with Miquon and then used Saxon as a back up to make sure the concepts were solid. However, since I had Saxon algebra 1, I decided to move my son into that. That was a disaster!!!! Saxon simply didn't explain it in a way that made any kind of sense to him. HEck, It didn't make any sense to me and I can do Alegbra in my sleep. We finally just scraped it and bought NEM. No problems since. I have a mathy oldest and non mathy middle. Both have done the same math route (middle one just started 2 years later than the oldest) Both have had no trouble with understanding or getting Singapore. Both test very well in math. I do credit Miquon with making my kids "mathy" I figured the middle one would not be able to do Miquon since it doesn't give direction or make much sense at all sometimes but he has done very well with it. He's finishing up second grade and will start the purple book this summer. Just something about that program that works. I've all ready started picking up books at used sales for the baby. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larissa Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 then continued straight through with Singapore NEM and New Additional Mathematics. She is currently doing AP Calculus as a senior. She scored at the 99th percentile on all math standardized tests, including 800 on the SAT and 800 on the Math level 2 subject test. Singapore gets all the credit! It is a great program. I don't think Saxon holds a candle to it. I think Miquon helps kids think outside the box from the start. My current first-grader is doing Miquon and Singapore and is doing great. However, kids have to be wired that way to an extent. I have others who need much more hand-holding than Singapore and Miquon give. They went into MUS or TT. Those kids just don't get excited about math the way my oldest and youngest do. Larissa homeschooling 5 in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Thank you Larissa, Servin, and Angie. I'm seeing the wonderful "outside the box" mathematical thinking developing in my own young son, and I'm convinced Miquon has made all the difference for him. I'm glad to see we are not alone :001_smile: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplemama Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 I think Miquon helps kids think outside the box from the start. My current first-grader is doing Miquon and Singapore and is doing great. However, kids have to be wired that way to an extent. I have others who need much more hand-holding than Singapore and Miquon give. They went into MUS or TT. Those kids just don't get excited about math the way my oldest and youngest do. Larissa homeschooling 5 in NJ Larissa, What did you use for your kids who needed more "hand-holding" for math in the elementary years? My daughter is really not getting math because she is just not even sure where to start with the worksheets. I end up helping her more than I think is necessary or good for her. And we are giving up on Singapore with her for the very same reason--she just doesn't get it! Thanks! Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplemama Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Thanks to all of you who have commented here. I have been out of town for a few days and haven't been able to check here since Tuesday. I am convinced now that Jonathan will be fine with Singapore NEM. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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