An hour! Wow. Okay, maybe I need make math a higher priority, as we don't especially enjoy it. We just want to get math done so we can go do the fun stuff like history.

Maybe I need to pull out my Family Math book and try to make it more fun.

I have combined Singapore and Rod and Staff in the past. I prefer to group by topics. I really like the way Sing. introduces topics using pictures and concrete examples. However, SIng moves rather quickly to a more challenging level within that same topic. What I have done in the past is this: I start with Singapore to introduce the topic and do a few lessons from there. I then put SIngapore away and use R&S to get some extra practice. When we has worked on several lessons from R&S I then return to SIngapore to tackle the word problems. That way I feel that he has gotten a good handle on the topic without unnecessary drill and he has also been challenged by SIngapore.

*At this point I have switched my 5th grade boy to CLE math and I must say that it has been the best fit for him so far. WHat I may do toward the end of the school year (April/May) is that I may go to SIngapore since I already own the textbooks and add some word problems out of SIngapore.

HTH
rmiz

Thanks for the ideas. I am still undecided on how or if I am going to use them together, but we rec'd our R&S math in the mail today and we're excited to try it out. We are shelving Sinagpore for the time being.

btw, Robinson curriculum 1 hr/day...I thought that amt of time was for older kids. Don't they just say memorize the facts in the younger years? I might be mistaken it has been awhile since I have read their website. also, it is not really important to me as I am not using that philosophy but thought I might point it out to others...

giggles, yes that's what Robinson recommends; just the math facts for the first year, but my oldest is in Second grade and my Kindergartner is already doing First grade math. I like the idea of just the facts first, but putting it into actual practice wasn't working for us. I think my oldest is learning her facts better by actually "doing" math, rather than drilling and trying to memorize facts, and both of my girls enjoy the measuring, counting money, telling time, word problems, etc. that they get with their math assignments.