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The "official" Beast Academy review thread


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:D

 

For those who where wondering, it is on high quality paper. It's sturdy, for a paperback book.

 

And it's funny.

 

That's all I have right now.

 

Is the Guide the same high-gloss paper they used for the sample? I did not expect the Guide to come in at $15 with that sort of printing and paper.

 

Bill (who has one eye on this thread and another on the mail-box :D)

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Is the Guide the same high-gloss paper they used for the sample? I did not expect the Guide to come in at $15 with that sort of printing and paper.

 

Bill (who has one eye on this thread and another on the mail-box :D)

 

I did not see a sample chapter. I would say it's medium gloss, maybe? It's not super glossy, which would be distracting with overhead light, I think, but it's not matte, either. It does have some light reflection.

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:glare: So jealous of all you "Beasts" who have it aldready. ;p

 

You think I could somehow find a justification to give to my dh as to why I need to purchase a 3rd grade book for our 5.5 year old daughter??? Anyone???

 

Sigh. I suppose I could just wait....

 

But I gotta tell ya- You guys are Killing Me!!

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You think I could somehow find a justification to give to my dh as to why I need to purchase a 3rd grade book for our 5.5 year old daughter??? Anyone???

 

!!

 

Just do it!! :lol:

 

My 5.5 year old daughter recently started SM 3a so this is all perfect timing!! :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: We finished the same read aloud a couple of months ago too!

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Shhh, don't tell anyone, but my DD of the crying, whining, "nooooo not math time" fame (who used to say math was her favorite subject until about 3rd grade), MIGHT have cracked a smile today - while doing the practice book. The work, not just the reading.

 

:D:D

 

She even had to stop and *gasp* think about what she was doing.

 

:cheers2: Beast Academy!!

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In my highly professional opinion, I hereby award Beast Academy a rating of negative 20 stars. Any math curricula that takes more than two days to ship cross-country is obviously awful. :D

 

I give it at least -5 stars for not waiting until I get paid to be available! :D

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Just do it!! :lol:

 

My 5.5 year old daughter recently started SM 3a so this is all perfect timing!! :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: We finished the same read aloud a couple of months ago too!

 

So what does Beast 3a start out on? My dd is working through Miquon and Singapore right now but we are still on 1a. She's been flipping around on Miquon so she has a grasp on multiplication (she can answer the problems using the rods though we haven't worked on memorizing any yet). We've discussed fractions- just like 1/2 and 1/4 though. And just earlier today we played around with division. We're no where near SM 3a though as we haven't even cracked open 1b yet.

 

p.s. We're loving our read-aloud. We finished Pippi Longstocking last week and my girls still quote and act adventures out from it.

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Upon further review, these books really make a person think. Really. I am positively giddy at the "brain stretching" my DD will get from these books - DS too, in a couple years. Heck, I might as well be completely honest and include myself in there, too.

 

A quote from the introduction of the book:

 

"Some of the topics in this book go well beyond what is typically taught in a third grade math class."

 

While I don't claim to be an expert on all third grade math curricula available, I would have to say that the above quote could possibly be a slight understatement. ;)

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Looking forward to doing the pretest with DD this summer. We're finishing up Singapore 2 and I want to make sure we're solid before moving on. Looking forward to seeing if there are any stumbling blocks for the early adopters that we can avoid too! Books are on order tho...got the shipping confirmation yesterday!

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So what does Beast 3a start out on? My dd is working through Miquon and Singapore right now but we are still on 1a. She's been flipping around on Miquon so she has a grasp on multiplication (she can answer the problems using the rods though we haven't worked on memorizing any yet). We've discussed fractions- just like 1/2 and 1/4 though. And just earlier today we played around with division. We're no where near SM 3a though as we haven't even cracked open 1b yet.

 

p.s. We're loving our read-aloud. We finished Pippi Longstocking last week and my girls still quote and act adventures out from it.

 

There's a pre-test to see if a child is ready for it. We are working on multiplication and fractions and negative numbers and basic algebra, but she would not come close to passing the pre-test. Her manipulation of large numbers is not there yet.

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My package came an hour ago, and I've looked over the books. They are well made. They are fun. Much of it will be review for Ds7, but there will be challenging bits, too. When I look through the books, I feel like it isn't enough. I've had to remind myself it is half a year's worth and that it would seem like more if Ds wasn't comfortable with several of the concepts already. It will be interesting to see how long it takes him to do a chapter and what he learns that he didn't realize before. I'm anxious to start.

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Our books arrived a couple hours ago. Flipping through them, I think they are awesome and such fun. Unfortunately, Dd is in PS so I'll have to wait until she gets home to get her review.

 

I am very surprised to hear so many say that 3A and 3B will have a significant amount of review in them for a 7 year old. Do many 7yo know what polyminoes are or know how to calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure? That's just book A.

 

From what I've seen so far in the books, each chapter starts out with the concepts a late 2nd or 3rd grader will be familiar with. Such as, right angles, skip counting by 2s-5s-10s, figuring out the perimeter of a rectangle, etc. But after that brief intro each chapter accelerates quickly into a more complicated, deeper version of the topic. For ex. the chapter in 3A that talks about the 100 chart. I thought, 100 chart! Who cares about that, dd used those in the 1rst grade! But no.... BA takes the standard 100 chart further than dd has ever thought of it. Showing different ways to use it and different patterns within the chart. And then, that idea of seeing the pattern within this 100 chart shape is built on in book B with the multiplication table and square numbers.

 

I think the key is, as I've heard the AoPS Pres. say, it's about teaching children to use simple mathematical tools in whole new ways to solve very difficult problems.

 

Even if the entire text book is review for a kid I think they could still have a lot of fun with the workbook. It's less of a "workbook" and more of a math puzzles book really.

 

Also, I love Sgt Rote! "This is my times table. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My times table, without me, is useless. Without my times table, I am useless"

:lol:

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My Ds7 is comfortable with multiplication - with both understanding and facts. It isn't that he won't learn anything with BA. He will just go through the material faster than a child with no previous experience with multiplication. There are things we haven't covered. There are things that will be presented in new and fun ways. I'm happy I got it. It wouldn't take us a semester to finish it, though, if I was using it alone.

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Our books arrived a couple hours ago. Flipping through them, I think they are awesome and such fun. Unfortunately, Dd is in PS so I'll have to wait until she gets home to get her review.

 

I am very surprised to hear so many say that 3A and 3B will have a significant amount of review in them for a 7 year old. Do many 7yo know what polyminoes are or know how to calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure? That's just book A.

 

From what I've seen so far in the books, each chapter starts out with the concepts a late 2nd or 3rd grader will be familiar with. Such as, right angles, skip counting by 2s-5s-10s, figuring out the perimeter of a rectangle, etc. But after that brief intro each chapter accelerates quickly into a more complicated, deeper version of the topic. For ex. the chapter in 3A that talks about the 100 chart. I thought, 100 chart! Who cares about that, dd used those in the 1rst grade! But no.... BA takes the standard 100 chart further than dd has ever thought of it. Showing different ways to use it and different patterns within the chart. And then, that idea of seeing the pattern within this 100 chart shape is built on in book B with the multiplication table and square numbers.

 

I think the key is, as I've heard the AoPS Pres. say, it's about teaching children to use simple mathematical tools in whole new ways to solve very difficult problems.

 

Even if the entire text book is review for a kid I think they could still have a lot of fun with the workbook. It's less of a "workbook" and more of a math puzzles book really.

 

Also, I love Sgt Rote! "This is my times table. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My times table, without me, is useless. Without my times table, I am useless"

:lol:

 

I finally got it. I agree with everything you said. I am sitting here with a copy of 3A in my hands and trying to wrap my head around what they are doing with the 100 chart.

Everything about BA seems wonderful. They actually printed on a much better paper than the sample chapter :001_smile:. Content is beyond my imagination. Humor is delightful. I am going to spend the rest of this evening reading through the rest.

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OK, for those of you who are on t he fence because your child has already done third grade material - my DD age 11, currently is doing AoPS Pre-Algebra and doing really well - except for the usual minor 'oops' type mistakes, she's been solving all of the problems without much trouble, except there are usually a few challenge problems per chapter that make her pull her hair and groan. But she LOVES comic books & wanted to do Beast Academy 'as a break'. So today she read through the whole 3A section on Shapes. Then I directed her to solve some of the puzzles in the workbook - not the easy ones, but the ones with the stars and a few of the others that I thought she would find interesting. Half an hour later, she looked up and said NO WAY was she going to do this tomorrow, she wants to go back to Pre-Algebra!!! :) So if you are worried this will be too easy, HAVE NO FEAR!!! :)

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OK, for those of you who are on t he fence because your child has already done third grade material - my DD age 11, currently is doing AoPS Pre-Algebra and doing really well - except for the usual minor 'oops' type mistakes, she's been solving all of the problems without much trouble, except there are usually a few challenge problems per chapter that make her pull her hair and groan. But she LOVES comic books & wanted to do Beast Academy 'as a break'. So today she read through the whole 3A section on Shapes. Then I directed her to solve some of the puzzles in the workbook - not the easy ones, but the ones with the stars and a few of the others that I thought she would find interesting. Half an hour later, she looked up and said NO WAY was she going to do this tomorrow, she wants to go back to Pre-Algebra!!! :) So if you are worried this will be too easy, HAVE NO FEAR!!! :)

 

:lol: That's awesome!

 

When we did the sample chapter, my son had already done area and perimeter. He knew what those were. Well, BA took it further than he'd gone. The workbook actually made him think. I could see us NOT flying through this curriculum like we do Singapore or Math Mammoth. And when we hit area and perimeter again in Singapore 4A, they didn't even teach some of the basic things that BA taught. Singapore was dead easy after doing BA. :D

 

So yeah, I'm not too worried about doing BA grade 3 even though we're in Singapore 4B. Yes, you fly through the guide of BA, reading it for the fun, but when you go back and slow it down and then do the workbook problems, it isn't as easy to fly through (not like Singapore's regular workbook).

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:glare: So jealous of all you "Beasts" who have it aldready. ;p

 

You think I could somehow find a justification to give to my dh as to why I need to purchase a 3rd grade book for our 5.5 year old daughter??? Anyone???

 

Sigh. I suppose I could just wait....

 

But I gotta tell ya- You guys are Killing Me!!

 

 

I'm jealous, too... but I keep telling myself that I'm waiting for all the in depth reviews to come in and maybe a 2nd edition before I buy.

 

I've got a 5.5 DS and if I do get impatient and decide to spring for it, my excuse to DH is that I'm remediating my shoddy math education. :tongue_smilie:

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Ok so I'm thinking of buying - for those who have it, should I get DS7 a practice book too or just DD6? DS7 is in k12 5th grade math so it will be review but not being able to actually see the books I don't know whether he'd be ok without the practice books or not? I know he'll love the guide books.

 

ETA: DD is finishing k12 2nd grade and passed the pretest with minor errors on 2 problems and not understanding the very last problem.

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:lol: That's awesome!

 

When we did the sample chapter, my son had already done area and perimeter. He knew what those were. Well, BA took it further than he'd gone. The workbook actually made him think. I could see us NOT flying through this curriculum like we do Singapore or Math Mammoth. And when we hit area and perimeter again in Singapore 4A, they didn't even teach some of the basic things that BA taught. Singapore was dead easy after doing BA. :D

 

So yeah, I'm not too worried about doing BA grade 3 even though we're in Singapore 4B. Yes, you fly through the guide of BA, reading it for the fun, but when you go back and slow it down and then do the workbook problems, it isn't as easy to fly through (not like Singapore's regular workbook).

 

:iagree:

 

The Practice problems are challenging!

 

Bill

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Oh my. We're out of toothpicks, but I'm definitely picking some up at the store tonight so DH and I can do the toothpick puzzles from the practice book after the kids are in bed. :001_smile:

 

Thanks for this! I'm not getting the books until Monday, so I better pick these up somewhere this weekend. Any other materials?

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Thanks for this! I'm not getting the books until Monday, so I better pick these up somewhere this weekend. Any other materials?

 

Dominoes would be another good one to have on hand ;) Thankfully, we already had a box of toothpicks and they came in handy for the first lesson today! (we couldn't wait to start, lol)

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:iagree:

 

The Practice problems are challenging!

 

Bill

 

Thanks Bill on the reply about the answers.

 

I suppose I can wait for Monday, but I can't, so....

 

Challenging as in what level of SM? Or maybe what level of SM should they appear if they were SM problems in the CWP? I remember you have all the CWP books.

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Thanks Bill on the reply about the answers.

 

I suppose I can wait for Monday, but I can't, so....

 

Challenging as in what level of SM? Or maybe what level of SM should they appear if they were SM problems in the CWP? I remember you have all the CWP books.

 

Hard to compare them directly thus far, as they are so different. The BA 3A we've done in the past two days (and there is more to come) is heavy on "geometry." Tonight there were some tough practice problems that had assortments of dots and the child needed to find dots he could connect to make a shape (say a rhombus) and they were designed to be tough. It was like they knew human psychology and used it to mess with ones head :D

 

So it is a different kind of challenge. I think many parents will find some of these type of problems challenging (I do). It is just a different sort of challenge than one finds in a Singapore Intensive Practice or MEP. BA 3 is Third Grade math (sort of). In some ways one could argue PM 3 was more "advanced" in presenting some topics than BA, in other ways the depth of BA makes Singapore look light. The head-space is just different.

 

Bill

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Hard to compare them directly thus far, as they are so different. The BA 3A we've done in the past two days (and there is more to come) is heavy on "geometry." Tonight there were some tough practice problems that had assortments of dots and the child needed to find dots he could connect to make a shape (say a rhombus) and they were designed to be tough. It was like they knew human psychology and used it to mess with ones head :D

 

So it is a different kind of challenge. I think many parents will find some of these type of problems challenging (I do). It is just a different sort of challenge than one finds in a Singapore Intensive Practice or MEP. BA 3 is Third Grade math (sort of). In some ways one could argue PM 3 was more "advanced" in presenting some topics than BA, in other ways the depth of BA makes Singapore look light. The head-space is just different.

 

Bill

 

Bolded for truth. Hence, the need to pick up the toothpicks at the store to do the problems - not for the kid (yet), but for us adults. :D Unfortunately, DH went to bed already and I'm too tired to get my brain working that hard tonight.

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My son is currently in 3rd grade and half way through RS D but we started yesterday when the books arrived :tongue_smilie: and he laughed at the humor and enjoyed the math (although he already knew about angles.)

 

My dd7 (currently in RSB) who is in grade 1/2 sat in on the lesson and she surprised me by saying she loved BA and wants to start. I wish my dd could use the 2nd grade BA! Why can't they crank that out this summer? :tongue_smilie:

 

DS said at dinner last night that he likes BA but doesn't want to give up RS. He said he will do both but to please order RS E for him for the fall.

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There's a pre-test to see if a child is ready for it. We are working on multiplication and fractions and negative numbers and basic algebra, but she would not come close to passing the pre-test. Her manipulation of large numbers is not there yet.

 

A pre-test in the book or the website? *wanders off to check the website again*

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A solution guide is in the back of the book. Expect to need it sooner, or later :D

 

The Practice book sheets are perforated ;)

 

Bill

 

Does it just tell the answers.....or does it explain how you get to that answer?? It seemed that the preassessment went a bit more in depth then just supplying the correct answer. I'm hoping they explain.....because I fail at math. I only took general math in 9th grade. :blush: I'm a little worried that I'm going to be confused. :svengo:

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Does it just tell the answers.....or does it explain how you get to that answer?? It seemed that the preassessment went a bit more in depth then just supplying the correct answer. I'm hoping they explain.....because I fail at math. I only took general math in 9th grade. :blush: I'm a little worried that I'm going to be confused. :svengo:

 

They fully explain how to solve the problem...it's WONDERFUL!

 

Bill is 100% correct about the 'difference' in the challenge. It's a mind-stretch! I read through all of 3A yesterday and didn't even look through the practice book yet (aside from the first practice pages that DS completed yesterday after the first lesson) and I am thrilled with how it REALLY gets you thinking. It's hard to explain without showing it...

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Does it just tell the answers.....or does it explain how you get to that answer?? It seemed that the preassessment went a bit more in depth then just supplying the correct answer. I'm hoping they explain.....because I fail at math. I only took general math in 9th grade. :blush: I'm a little worried that I'm going to be confused. :svengo:

 

Where the answer alone is sufficient that is what's provided. When a more through solution is required they work the steps. My exposure to the full half-level is obviously limited at this point, but I throughly went through the sample chapter solutions (which impressed me) and the solutions in 3A/B strike me as being in exactly the same mode.

 

Bill

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They fully explain how to solve the problem...it's WONDERFUL!

 

Bill is 100% correct about the 'difference' in the challenge. It's a mind-stretch! I read through all of 3A yesterday and didn't even look through the practice book yet (aside from the first practice pages that DS completed yesterday after the first lesson) and I am thrilled with how it REALLY gets you thinking. It's hard to explain without showing it...

 

Where the answer alone is sufficient that is what's provided. When a more through solution is required they work the steps. My exposure to the full half-level is obviously limited at this point, but I throughly went through the sample chapter solutions (which impressed me) and the solutions in 3A/B strike me as being in exactly the same mode.

 

Bill

 

Oh, goodie gumdrops. :thumbup: Thank you both.

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Hard to compare them directly thus far, as they are so different. The BA 3A we've done in the past two days (and there is more to come) is heavy on "geometry."

So it is a different kind of challenge. I think many parents will find some of these type of problems challenging (I do). It is just a different sort of challenge than one finds in a Singapore Intensive Practice or MEP. BA 3 is Third Grade math (sort of). In some ways one could argue PM 3 was more "advanced" in presenting some topics than BA, in other ways the depth of BA makes Singapore look light. The head-space is just different.

 

Bill

 

That's just it. I can't compare it with SM at all. It's so spatial (for the lack of a better word) in thinking. I don't see how having done SM 3 (first half) is in any way a repetition. I am actually glad my kid knows multiplication facts before tackling BA. I think CWP from SM will be a good complement precisely because challenges are so different, at least thus far.

I had to read skip counting lab several times to wrap my head over things. If they can do that with skip counting, I can't wait to see what they will do with fractions. The topics covered in the first half certainly don't need any supplementation. I think there is plenty of practice, but this is certainly not a program for a struggling student.

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That's just it. I can't compare it with SM at all. It's so spatial (for the lack of a better word) in thinking. I don't see how having done SM 3 (first half) is in any way a repetition. I am actually glad my kid knows multiplication facts before tackling BA. I think CWP from SM will be a good complement precisely because challenges are so different, at least thus far.

I had to read skip counting lab several times to wrap my head over things. If they can do that with skip counting, I can't wait to see what they will do with fractions. The topics covered in the first half certainly don't need any supplementation. I think there is plenty of practice, but this is certainly not a program for a struggling student.

 

Taking this a step further, thinking out loud, could BA potentially provide superior instruction for a student with great spatial strengths? How about a student with great spatial strengths but sequential weaknesses (who might have certain struggles with a traditional elementary math program)? I have a friend whose dc might be just such a person.... food for thought...

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