TheyCan,
I have a LO (turning 4 in a week!) who is starting 3A, and we have been pulling supplementals from 5/4 for awhile on things like measurement and for extra practice.
I can tell you a little bit about both Singapore 3A and 5/4, and we did both RS A and RS B, but did not do RS C.
I think a lot depends upon what you are hoping to get out of it, what your plans are as far as school (are you homeschooling, planning on attending a school where standardized testing is abundant, etc.)
We worked through RS A and B when Alex was much younger (along with Singapore Early Bird), and I think it is an absolutely awesome program. I absolutely do not think that Alex would be where she is in math now if not for the tremendous base that RS provided, especially with number sense and place value.
That being said, I have a bit of a concern that RS does not align with so many programs and grade levels. A big problem if one thinks even the possibility for say, a private school or specialized class, may exist. We are also planning on doing different math competitions, as Alex really enjoys the challenge. She has been introduced to a taste of that competition through Soroban lessons/school, and has 'the bug.' I know that the new edition of RS has attempted to fix this juxtaposition, but 1) it came too late for us 2) I still have my doubts after comparing it to Singapore--and level C is not out yet!
So. We transitioned to Singapore. I honestly LOVE the way Singapore gloved into Alex's knowledge base from RS. Because of her age, even though I gave her the placement test and she tested out, I had her work through 1A and 1B because I wanted her to have the practice, work on her writing skills, and I wanted to have physical proof if we ever opted to send her to school! She would fly through 10-15 pages per day
We then did 2A and have finished 2B, but we have continued to work on 'extra'. Beast Academy, Penrose puzzles, living math books, fun things. So she continues to fly through the books because she is learning way ahead of them. We pull pages from Saxon for things as well.
I would think the issue you are going to have is lining up what you have done in RS C with Singapore 3A. You will have a HUGE head start on both programs, Singapore and Saxon, because of his background with place value specifically, but there will be gaps. Especially if you go with Singapore. I think you will probably need to give him the placement tests from their website, as there are specific things that may be a problem. For example, Singapore works on multiplication and basic division even in level 2A, and again in 2B. You are expected to be working on nailing all the facts down outside of the workbook as well. Also, keep in mind that the Singapore way of math is very, very different from the way it is taught in Saxon! Oh, and one important thing: Singapore 2B/3A is considered normal for 3rd grade because of the material! I would probably suggest that you start with 2B, maybe even 2A if he hasn't done a ton of things like multiplication word problems and basic division. But because of his background he will fly through!
Saxon- I know that a lot of people really like Saxon. I DO think it is an extremely solid math program, and there are obviously some wonderful success stories (even within BK and friends
!)
But I think that there are more than a few excellent math programs, and the benefits typically arise more from the amount of time spent diligently working on them than the specific programs themselves. And my child would literally lose her love of all things math if I had her do Saxon more than as an occasional supplement! The sections on measurement are particularly well done compared to Singapore as it is written in terms of metric and you will want to make sure to teach our silly US measurement system:) although, definitely teach the metric too as he will need it for all things science.
I would also suggest that you search the threads at WTM as I have found a plethora of old threads regarding the two math programs, comparing them all the way to high school. Lots of useful info, although you must squint through a lot of negativity regarding other posters individual views sometimes!
Have I mentioned how great the support and general positivity in BrillKids are recently?! I absolutely cannot imagine BK posters behaving so rudely toward each other
Have you seen the scope of Saxon 5/4 and Singapore 3A? If you can give me a better idea of how well he has the basic operations and math facts down I can probably tell a bit more...
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