A few weeks ago I purchased a set of Singapore math books for my daughter (very bright, would not call her gifted, never tested).
She has just finished 4th grade and did some enrichment online with Aleks. I purchased 5th grade set after a lot of delibertion and searching. Most people actually suggest buying books one year below, as Singaporean kids start school later and are therefore more mature than US kids at same grade levels. I was bold :-) and purchased what my daughter actually needs - 5th grade set. To my surprise (shock?) the book deals with the material she has already covered (at least 80% of it). Do not get me wrong - the books are nice, do not look scary at all (you know what I am talking about, it is a math book!), but it is easy...
Anyone having experience with Singapore math? Any suggestions?
Did Aleks do wonders here....
I am about to purchase 6th grade set... (my daughter however is amazing, she is going through those books and enjoying it, partialy because she is proving to herself that she is so good in math...she has this mathwhiz brother as a role model, partial role model anyway..)
If you want to have a mental picture of my 10 year old imagine a girl that plays female protagonist in Bridge to Terabithia.
They look alike and dress alike. Got the picture ?
Now imagine this girl sweating over math...:-)

Waiting for suggestions,
Ania

Hi Ania,
I do have a suggestion, but a regarding a different kind of number - ((smiles)) - why not get her tested? I have recently heard that one can get IQ and achievment test from local universitys for a couple of hundred dollars. It was suggested that one check and be sure that they release score to the parents, as one mom had some trouble there.

Lately the Young Scholar email lists have been flooded with stories of sweet younger sisters who's parents tested her "only because they didn't want to be a statistic" who turned out to be just as high scoring as the older brother.

Anyway she sounds adorable, and if she is wizing through math, I think it must be that she is a math wiz!

Smiles,
Trinity

Hi Ania!
We used Singapore for homeschooling our 6 year old after pulling him out of first grade math. We did end up using the second book for first grade, to get a good review and finish up first grade stuff, as Singapore included some work that wasn't done in the Saxon program they use at his school.

But I found that when we moved into the 2nd grade book there was still a lot of repetition and so we skipped a bit here and there and used supplemental workbooks and "challenge math" stuff. I have heard from others who use Singapore that the basic texts/workbooks are good but that to really challenge you should use the "Challenge Word Problems" books. To me, it seems that Singapore is really good with hitting the basics hard. But if she's already got that down, then maybe she just needs more challenge! I say go for the 6th grade stuff and just supplement with other stuff (Singapore or not) as needed and/or interested. I'd say follow her lead and don't worry too much about the grade level printed on the cover of the book.