Thanks for the suggestions!
This is for elementary only. The curriculum coordinator is looking for something that encourages the kids to think for themselves and shows multiple approaches to a problem, which is what she liked about EDM. I pointed out that the spiral instruction (as distinct from distributed practice) is bad, esp. for GT kids, and she did take that seriously. Anything that looks like rote or direct instruction will be rejected on philosophical grounds.
I'm not sure she's considered the mathy kid problem. My impression is that the school had been almost unschooling for math and this has left some gaps for some of the kids that they feel the need to correct. In a way this is the hardest thing to do right - discover and remediate gaps that may be years behind a kid's usual working level without boring a giftie to tears.
And no, I'm not certain this is a great situation... But at least I have the chance to strongly influence the school, and its issues will be different from those that plagued our public school. Homeschooling would be a bad personality fit, and this looks like the Hoagies' Least-Worst solution.
Any clues whether Singapore can easily be used this way?
