Cotter Abacus

We have been using Singapore Math since second grade with my daughter, but she is a right-brained, artistic child and was struggling with grasping math concepts. She had developed a mental block that wouldn't allow her to learn. One day I stumbled upon a review of RightStart and found the virtual abacus. I experimented with it (math was my favorite subject, so I totally grasped the logic of it), and then I showed it to my daughter. She was just finishing 2nd grade at the time. I asked if she would like it, and she said yes. So I bought it. Let's just say it revolutionized math! She started to get things quicker. Her mental math capabilities soared. When it came time to teach addition with carrying and subtraction with borrowing, it took about 3 problems to grasp it, and there were no tears. We have continued to use Singapore, and she is doing well, and doesn't always need the abacus now, half way through third grade (Level 2), but if she needs it, she does use it. Right now she wants to work without the abacus, and she is mentally manipulating numbers, much as I remember doing (remember, I loved math as a kid, so no one had to teach me the mental manipulation stuff--I figured it out for myself without an abacus--in fact, I never used one until I started homeschooling!). Right now I am considering using RightStart for my Kindergarten-age son. He's too wiggly to enjoy sit-down stuff, and I really like having lessons planned out for me!