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DS is also about the same range for the language arts. I realized that he figured out that the topic sentence is usually the first one in the paragraph so I'm not sure if he really knows what it means or not

Here is the link to EPGY's answer to that question: http://epgy.stanford.edu/overview/faq.html#other

I am being told by other parents that it really depends on the program. For most it is at least the same as the school level, many above. I have heard that it is a little behind Singapore Math at the 5th grade level for the standard edition. Then again, Singapore math has always been ahead of US classes by about 1/2 a year in the younger years and by about 2 years by the time they reach 7th. I do believe this is beginning to change, it also depends on the edition of Singapore you are comparing.

The biggest advantage I see is that it is considered a rigorous program, and by many a complete math program, that allows the child to move at their own pace. I know of parents who use it alone and many of us who use it in additon to other programs. I am of the philosphy that their isn't one way to teach math, so my kids all use, at least , two different math programs.

Another thought, and this is personal opinion only so feel free to step in here anyone. I think that it is prudent to supplement the EPGY program, especially in the early years, to keep concepts current and fresh in kids minds, especially those that build on others. Not to say that can't be done in many different ways. It doesn't have to be redundant, repetative or boring.

Very useful, Melissa - thanks. Do you have any recommendations for particularly successful supplements? Our DS has recently re-discovered Timez Attack and now is absolutely addicted; last year, by contrast, he was too scared of the troll even to concentrate on the questions. So I know that these things are pretty personal. But if anything leaps to mind I'd love to know.

BB

My dd uses Singapore Standards Edition and EPGY. Singapore is matched to CA state math standards, which is supposed to be advanced compared to other states. It does seem to run about 1/2 year ahead, as has been mentioned. EPGY seems to be about at level, though that would depend on your state. (The two areas that EPGY seemed to introduced earlier were set theory and variables)

Gamewise-
My DD used Thinkmath! to play around with in K. It's Harcourt's website, so you can select your state and the games will appear in grade level order, correlated to your state standards. He/she can work at any level up through grade 5. There's a great variety of games in all areas of elementary math.

http://www.hbschool.com/thinkmath/choose_state.html

Curriculum wise, Miquon math and cuisennaire rods laid the most thorough understanding of the relationships in mathematics I could ever hope for. We did that before Singapore.

I wanted to add one impression about EPGY. It seems to be a gifted program in flexibility, rather than in covering material at earlier grades, assuming that your state has solid math standards.

EPGY may cover a few things before the ps, but it's greatest advantage to the child is the freedom to work at his own pace without excessive repitition, and being allowed to progress to the next level, regardless of age, once mastery is attained.

IOW, completing EPGY level "Q" at home would prepare a child for level "R" in ps next year. BUT, being allowed to master "Q", "R" and "S" (or whatever his capabilities actually are) with EPGY this year will prepare him for "T" in public school next year.

BB,
Well I use a multitude of things as mentioned. My younger kids all use Singapore Math Standards Edition books as their main program. A big thing to mention there is that in order to really get the benefit of Singapore Math you really need all of it, the Home instructor's Guide is a big part of the program, the text and workbooks, as well as the Challenging Word Problems. One of my DD's also uses the extra practice and some use the Intensive Practice which I will probably add in soon. I know some get away without the textbook and I have found that true for some of the units. There are pretests for placement.

We dabble with Aleks quicktables a few times a week, since I had already subscribed before EPGY (till it runs out we use it). We might do a few Kumon pages or games on www.fun4thebrain.com or the Hartcourt site mentioned above. We also sometimes use the workbook pages from the Sadlier-Oxford CA edition books or Math Mammoth, since they are really cheap to download the book and print pages as you need them, good with more kids coming up.

My older was in public school so she uses EPGY and we are now adding in the Key to Series books, the one or two of the Decimals and Percent books she didn't test completely out of and the Algebra series. We are set to start Lial's Basic College Mathematics probably after Thanksgiving. She always used Kumon books as well.

MamaTo2,
Are Cuisinaire rods like the mathlinks rods I use from Learning Resources? Ten rows of ten that can all be interlocked on all sides? We do a lot with manipulatives in the younger years. HTH

Cuisenaire rods may be the same. They come in a set of various sizes/colors, each representing a different number. The base unit is a square centimeter, and then they increase in size up to 10cm. So, if I put two 1's together, I can see that it doubles in size to 2, two 2s make 4, etc... One thing that was very helpful was having the rod track , which is marked with cm units and makes seeing the relationships easy.

I had initially thought they would be good just for illustrating the 4 operations, but we used them for other concepts.

Showing place value: Whenever the one's column got over nine cubes, we exchanged it for a solid ten rod and put it in the ten's column.

Showing balanced equations using a balance scale: I put a 3 and 2 rod on one side, and a 5 rod on the other. They were perfectly balanced. Anything I did to one side would make the scale tilt until I did the same on the other.

Showing volume of geometric solids: I made cubes of various sizes from graph paper and filled the cubes with the 1cm cuisenaire cubes to show volume, as opposed to area.

Melissa,
I just tried to PM you but it's not going through.
Are you still accepting people into your open enrollment group? or do you anticipate doing so in the future? I was hoping to join the group when you first started talking about is last summer, but somehow I missed the thread....
Thanks.

My son used EPGY math when he was younger and loved it. It also provided me with documentation to provide the school. I was able to use that documentation to get the school to give my son the end of year test. You should be able to get the scope and sequence for each course taught in your school from your school board. You can compare that to the scope and sequence provided for each EPGY course.

The EPGY math courses for the elementary grades covers more than what is covered in most schools for that same grade. This software is designed for gifted math students so it has material that prepares them for higher level math. Sets are an example of something that gets covered very briefly in school but is covered more extensively in EPGY. Another is proofs of solving equations that you will see on EPGY but probably not at your school.

The ability to learn math though EPGY was a lifesaver for my son. He is now 13 and is about to take the Calc 2 challenge exam at the state university.