So, after going through 2B, 3A, 3B, and part of 4A, I have jumped ship. The problem was this-my daughter went to public school for a year and a half, and fell two grade levels behind in math. I brought her home and started her on Singapore 2B as per the placement test. What went wrong-we really were not doing things the "Singapore way". She had had the public school way so engrained in her mind, that all this time, even though I would teach her the "Singapore way", she was really solving the problems the traditional way. So the mental math was never practiced, and consequently math was always a struggle, even when I limited math time to 30 minutes-especially getting to 4A, where all those skills should have been practiced in the previous levels. So, after one day when even
I could not solve three word problems on a page in her workbook, I let go and switched to something else that my daughter chose, but I am still limiting math time to 30 minutes. You know what? Best thing I ever did! The weight is lifted from both of us, and all of a sudden she is cooperating and learning joyfully
That being said, one day when I have a new little one, I would not hesitate to use Singapore from the start, and follow through. I think it is harder for an older child (or adult
) to make the switch in the middle, but if you start at the beginning, I do feel that using Singapore as scheduled in the HOD guides is awesome and without equal
