Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Everyday Math or Singapore Math

Any opinions?

For what purpose would you use them? What's the learning style of the kid? What's the teaching style of the teacher? Group or single student? Is this supplemental or main instruction? Homeschool? Afterschool?

One school offers EM, one school offers Singapore Math. Wondered why. Same gifted type of school, same city, same k-8.

<shrug> Two different choices.

I think that Everyday Math can be good if it's taught well by someone who really gets the philosophy behind it. If that's not the case, it can be pretty awful, from what I hear.

Singapore has much to recommend it, especially for a GT child, since it doesn't have as much repetition as many other curricula do. But it has a lot of focus on mental math, which isn't a strength for all kids. And if it's taught without the hands-on stuff, then, really, it's just another workbook. Bleh.

Actually, I think that if *either one* is taught without the hands-on activities and games that accompany both curricula, things won't go very well. I've heard (all second-hand, mind you) that it's when teachers skip the games for Everyday Math--thinking that it's disposable and not the teaching time that it is!--that this is when things go wrong.

Either way, I think it comes down to the teachers and their ability to translate the curriculum to the students far more than the curriculum itself. IMHO...

Yes, I concur w/ what Kriston has said. Rightstart suffers from the same ie parents complain that DC is just not getting it and then you find out they aren't doing the hands-on stuff and the games. For EM, the review is in the games but most schools don't do them. DS's 1st grade teacher did and it was the only year he liked and how he feels about school centers on how he feels about math.

Now, with a gifted school, all bets are off. Different population of kids. I would bet they'd have to remove the review built into EM. Here's an example as I see it. Multiplication is introduced in 2nd grade in PS in EM. The mathy kids get it right away. But it won't be *really* mastered until 3rd grade and by that time many of the gifted kids will won't something new. And then again in 4th grade, there will be more review and some extension...by that time gifted kids have had it.

Now I've heard of other districts that use pre-tests which come w/ the EM teachers materials but my district never used them. If the gifted schools are pre-testing kids out of stuff they know, I can see EM working. Many gifted kids like it b/c the focus switches daily from on concept to another.

I think Singapore Math (SM) is easier to compact, easier to pre-test.

If all things were equal, I'd go w/ the school teaching SM. I don't like some of the algorithms in EM. IMO, they missed the boat. They adapted mental math algorithms from Asian philosophies (which SM and RS both use) and use them for pencil and paper strategies.

here's an example:

41+27=41+20+7 or 40+20+1+7

Here's EM's algorithm:
41
+27
____
60
8
_____
68

Now for kids who've been doing vertical addition
1
+7
___
8

are now confused when they see
1
+7
__
0

But it could be the school is modifying EM. I know of a district w/ huge success with it but they have modified it and added more standard drill.

Singapore Math, hands down!

Everyday Math is not usually supplemented in the schools, though it really needs to be. In my experience (teaching with this curriculum in a 3rd grade classroom many years ago) it was time intensive, which limited my ability to supplement. This is a program that spirals, so there's lots of repetition and no mastering expected the first/second time a topic is introduced. This curriculum introduces a lot of math vocabulary and requires kids to write about how to solve problems. Teachers are encouraged to allow kids to come up with their own techniques for solving problems. In my experience, kids who use this curriculum in school are weak in their knowledge of various algorithms and math facts. The math games can be fun. Each chapter in the teacher's manual includes tips for differentiation for both advanced and struggling students. FYI the differentiation suggestions are best for students who are only slightly advanced/behind. When I used this curriculum I was very frustrated with that and, realizing how many of my students were being shortchanged, I ended up using three grade levels of the curriculum (ability grouping). It was very difficult to manage that.

I use Singapore Primary Math now that I homeschool my two oldest kids. Primary Math introduces several methods for each new math skill. SM does offer review with additional workbooks like Challenging Word Problems, Extra Practice, and Intensive Practice. The Intensive Practice workbooks bring up the topic in new, interesting, and challenging ways and offer a variety of Math Competition style problems in the "Take the Challenge" section in each chapter. Mental math is a major skill featured. This was a good thing for my child (for whom it did not come easily). The way Singapore's curricula introduce solving word problems is second to none. The Primary Math curriculum was what was being used in Singapore when their kids came out tops in the last two international math competitions (The US was at about the 50th %ile, I believe.) The state of Massachusetts, whom many believe to be leading the US in math competency in the public schools, is home to many public schools currently using the Singapore Math curriculum.

There are several math curricula offered for sale at www.singaporemath.com including the newer California standards version. This version has added topics like negative numbers and probability which were missing from the previous versions of Primary Math avaialable for sale in the US.

We use base-10 blocks and an abacus when introducing new topics here at our house. There are tons of game ideas included in the teacher's manual, too. My kids have enjoyed those we've tried.

Here's a good review of the curriculum:
http://www.sonlight.com/singapore.html (scroll down to the bottom of the page for more specific information)

http://timss.bc.edu/PDF/t03_download/T03_M_Chap1.pdf
Here's a link to info from the most recent (2003) international math test. If you scroll down a bit you'll find the rankings by country. For the third time (in a row), Singapore is number 1. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in a math classroom over there! I really do.

DS7's school is using EM. The teacher requires him to explain his answer and create a few different ways to come up with the answer. However, he doesn't like to explain his answer or create different ways to do the same problem. His teacher has been complaining about him. DS's psychologist doesn't think that the teacher should force it on him.

Also, some parents in school complain that EM lacks drill. I am not sure if it's true.

I grew up in an asian country. The style of teaching is just like SM. SM emphasizes on drills. I personally like SM. I can compute very fast with confidence as an adult. I might not be able to find different ways to solve a problem when I was young, but I can certainly do it now as my skills improve over the years. SM is one of my favorite choice to do afterschooling with DS next year.

Just to give you a little more idea.

When I came here to attend college, I tested out of all the math classes and got into Calculus class right away. I remember I often got over 100% in the tests because the teachers gave bonus questions. I had classmates who told me to stop raising the bar. Looking back, it's funny, because I was never the top of the class before I came here.

I really like Singapore myself (having used it almost exclusively from the start!) but both SM and EM are curricula that depend on having a prepared and involved teacher. Neither one is particularly well-suited to throwing the book at the kid and hoping. So while I would generally lean toward Singapore just because of my own experience with it, I think the teachers are going to trump the curriculum.