Wondering how your children did transitioning into Singapore after 3rd grade or up?

[Michelle in MI]

I am teaching math at our co-op next year and we are strongly considering implementing the Singapore math program. My kids were all started in Singapore so I don't have any personal knowledge but I know there may be kids that will be coming from PS "traditional" math or even the "traditional" homeschool math programs. For those of you that have made this transition to Singapore later on how did it go? Was there anything you did to make the transition easier? Did you supplement with anything/change anything? I am really interested in those that started it in 3rd grade or even up to 6th grade?

I would love to hear your experiences:bigear:. Thanks!

[Sandy in Indy]

My son moved into Singapore in 5th grade. Previously he had been in a private school, and if I remember correctly, they used Horizons Math. He tested into 4A in Singapore, which really surprised me as he had always scored extremely high on the math sections of the SAT. Anyway, he did 4 A/B in 5th grade and continued the series till he finished 6 A/B. (then jumped to Algebra)

We didn't supplement with anything or really have any problems making the switch. Sometimes it took a little thinking to figure *how* a problem was processed. He did most of the work independently...

[ACinGA]

This is my first year homeschooling my ds8 who is in 3rd grade. We started out with Abeka arithmetic which he hated. We switched to Singapore about 3 months into our school year with absolutely no problems. He loves math now and his retention has been very high. The only issue we have is that he is impatient with some of the mental math strategies because he has already learned to solve certain types of problems without using mental math. I just go over the mental calculation exercises in the TM with him so that he will be aware of other strategies and then let him use the standard algorithm that he already knows. He seems to be having an easier time with it as we move into topics that he hasn't seen before.

-Amber

[mcconnellboys]

I switched over in fourth grade with my older son and he did both the third and fourth grade programs that year. I wished, in retrospect, that I had dropped back to the second grade books as there were some fundamentals in there that he missed. We did muddle through, but in starting at the beginning with my younger son, I saw what we had missed and I think it would have been easier on us both if we would have dropped back even more....

Regena

[Heather in VA]

I think the key here will be for the parents in the co-op not to be upset if their child isn't in the level they expect. Singapore is different and often even very advanced math kids are in a low level than their grade would suggest. I would suspect placement will be your biggest problem since parents tend to bristle at 'low' placements.

[mcconnellboys]

And also, kids may place into their grade level or only a level below, but the placement tests don't really do a good job of testing for all the mental math that Singapore teaches. My son tested into fourth grade (on grade level), but I decided to drop back, anyway. And then I realized that there were even more topics that we missed out on at even lower levels.... I'm not sure, but perhaps there's a way to catch up on some of these topics, such as just using ideas from the home instructors' guides for lower level mental math. Doing this mental math work in class might help bring them up to speed more quickly to do on level work.

Regena

[Michelle in MI]

Thank you for sharing! It is really helping me to make a plan to pull this off. I would still love to hear other opinions. Thanks!

[AngieW in Texas]

My two older girls started Singapore with level 3A in third grade and it went very well. It was an easy transition from Miquon Math.

[elegantlion]

We switched to Singapore from Abeka this year, 4th grade. My ds had used Abeka math since pre-school, and math was his favorite subject. The 4th grade book sent him over the edge and we switched to Singapore starting with 3A. We used the placement test as well.

It has been a blessing to us this year and math is returning to one of his favorite subjects. We will do math over the summers and plan to have him finish 6a/b in 6th grade.

[Antonia]

My dd started 3B after leaving ps. She did ok, but never really got the hang of the bar diagrams. I found out later it would've been better for her if I'd started her back in level 2, where they start teaching the bars, and just moved through quickly to catch up. Ds started Singapore at level 1, and has always done great. He is now finishing up 5, and he's definitely better at conceptualizing than my dd was at the same level.

[cbollin]

My oldest started Singapore in middle of 5th grade. She placed in 4B. By middle of 6th grade she completed 6B. She loved it. We had to learn a tiny bit about bar diagrams and then it was easy. It was a strong program and she liked it.

-crystal

[Fourmother]

I only wish we had a positive experience with Singapore. We switched from Saxon 54 to Singapore 2B when ds was in 3rd grade. We ended up switching back after less than 6 months after working up to book 3B. He didn't get the bar diagrams, and he was frustrated with the lack of review. He would say, "I haven't done X in a long time. I can't remember what to do." Sometimes he was in tears. When we went back to Saxon I added in the DIVE cds and that seems to help. I think he is an auditory learner and prefers to hear instruction, not just look at a diagram. He's in 5th grade now doing Saxon 76.

Despite this experience, I would still consider trying Singapore with my younger kids. If I try ever again I think I will use the Home Educator's Manual to help us get over the rough spots.