I switched my kids from a STEM charter school to a private school that uses a classical curriclum with Singapore math. Both my kids are visual learners. This is what I experienced:
1.The STEM school was more experiential and more fun. I felt it was a better school for science and history (Core Knowledge) in the early grades. The classical history is much more rigorous in middle school.
2.The classical school is a better school over all in terms of rigor, reading and writing and math. I felt like my children needed the foundations of a liberal arts education to prepare for high school and college. The programming from STEM can wait until summer camp. I also feel like the rote memorization piece is necessary to prepare for high school. Our STEM school did not have much homework. The movement to make learning fun has its place; but should not replace the fundamentals.
3. I plan to move my 3rd grader to a different school for middle school because I don't like Singapore math for middle school and would prefer he take traditional Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra II for TAG kids in a public school setting.
4. Be careful with "STEM" schools, especially charters. Many use a blended learning model, so the math is really dumbed down. Some math programs have been overhauled to comply with common core and PARCC testing. Online math programs are good for testing practice, but don't go deep enough and don't teach problem solving. That requires direct instruction and a good math curriculum.
