Side-by-side comparison
Singapore Math (Dimensions Math) vs Teaching Textbooks
A side-by-side from Singapore Math Inc. and Teaching Textbooks.
Singapore Math and Teaching Textbooks sit at opposite ends of the parent-involvement spectrum, which is exactly why families compare them. One asks you to teach math nearly every day. The other was built so you almost never have to. Most parents searching this matchup already know which one they want; what they need is honesty about what each choice costs.
Dimensions Math, the current Singapore Math flagship, teaches through the concrete-pictorial-abstract progression: manipulatives first, then bar models and diagrams, then abstract numbers. It covers PreK-8, grade bundles run $123-$169, and the Home Instructor's Guide is not optional. The parent teaches the lesson, runs the activities, and asks the questions. In return, students build unusually deep number sense and a bar model toolkit that carries straight into algebra.
Teaching Textbooks runs entirely inside an app. Every lesson opens with a patient video lecture, every practice problem has its own step-by-step video solution, and the gradebook fills itself in. Coverage is Math 3 through Pre-Calculus at $49-$84 per year per student, with a Family Plan at $239.95 covering four to eight kids. The parent checks the gradebook now and then. Critics note the program can run about a grade level behind more rigorous tracks.
That is the trade in one line: Singapore buys depth with your time, and Teaching Textbooks buys your time back at some cost in rigor. Note also that Singapore ends at 8th grade while Teaching Textbooks runs well into high school.
At a glance
The specifics
| Singapore Math (Dimensions Math) | Teaching Textbooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Singapore Math Inc. | Teaching Textbooks |
| Established | 1998 | 2000 |
| Price | $123–$169/grade | $49–$84/year |
| Grades | PreK, K–2, 3–5, 6–8 | 3–5, 6–8, 9–12 |
| Subject | Math | Math |
| Method | Mastery | Mastery, Online Video |
| Format | Digital, Video | |
| Worldview | Secular | Neutral |
The verdict
How to choose
Choose Singapore Math if your child is in the PreK through middle school window, you can commit to teaching most days, and conceptual depth matters to you, especially for a student who may head toward STEM. The bar model method is worth the parent hours, and the foundation it builds makes any high school program easier later.
Choose Teaching Textbooks if you need math to happen without you: multiple kids, a working parent, a math-anxious student who needs calm and repeatable explanations, or a parent who dreads teaching upper-level math. It is also the only one of the two that carries a student from elementary arithmetic through Pre-Calculus in a single program.
Read the full reviews
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