I had planned on starting my children with Singapore EB books in a few months when my son turns 4 (even though he can already do quite a bit of the work). But, I found RS recently and I still want to use SM, but I would like to use RS to build a strong foundation. If I go ahead and start with SM EB series will it hurt them? Should I wait until I can start RS? I've heard that you don't want to do any other math before starting RS, because it is such a different way of processing math skills. Is this true?

I honestly wouldn't worry about it and would go ahead and use Singapore Early Bird Math before starting Righstart A, if that is what you want to do. My daughter used Singapore Math (along with Miquon) for Kindergarten and first grade, before we knew about Righstart. I'm so glad we found RS, and it has made a dramatic difference in how well she understands mathematical concepts. She didn't have any problems getting accustomed to RS after using other math programs. I also bought EB for my son and used it a little bit with him last year when he was 4. He didn't really connect with the Singapore math setup, so we didn't do every page, but we did do some of it. I started him on Righstart A this year, and he also had done wonderfully.

The only issue I could anticipate might be a challenge is the way of counting past ten. In RS, children first learn to count using what the author calls the "math way" of counting, the way that children in many Asian countries learn to count. Instead of saying eleven, twelve, thirteen, they say, ten-one, ten-two, ten-three. Twenty is two-ten, thirty is three-ten, etc. Both of my kids had already been counting way past eleven and reading numbers into the hundreds before starting RS. But it really wasn't an obstacle for either one, just something they had to get used to for awhile. Eventually RS makes the switch to using the ordinary English words for the numbers, helping kids to see why they are called that in our language. This was actually easier because my daughter already knew the words. I think it would be difficult to find too many five year olds these days who don't already know how to count past ten and to recognize and read numerals higher than ten, don't you? So, I wouldn't worry about it.

I think the Early Bird books can be great for kids who aren't ready for RSA yet, but need something. I say go with it.

Julie,
I would advise to start with RightStart as your main math program. When switching from one math program to another you are also switching from one philosophy to another. I advise starting with the program you plan on using.

By the sounds of it with your child, you could begin RightStart now and then continue on through the program. With level A, there are many activities and things to do that you can stretch it out as long as you need to, anywhere from 2-5 days!

Also start playing the math games as soon as possible, this will reinforce the concepts taught throughout our lessons!

Thank you for giving your child a RightStart in mathematics! Let us know if we can be of any assistance!