I know nothing about Everyday Math but I love Singapore Math. I find it to be a nice strong math curriculum and I am picky as far as math goes. Their Challenging Word Problems are beyond awesome and make DS6 really think.

This has nothing to do with EM or SM but I have a math kid who doesn't really care for manipulatives. You can pretty much throw the workbook at him and he will be happy to figure it out all by himself. Hint here or there is all I do. Just wanted to mention that some kids thrive with a little bit of intentional math neglect wink

LMom