Rivka Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) Appearance and Organization: Each Guide is a slim (100 page) book printed in full color on semigloss, high quality paper. The Guides are divided into three chapters, which are further divided into short comic book story sections. The story sections are interspersed with pages of "notes" written (and sometimes illustrated) by the characters, and with instructions for math games. There are breaks in each story, marked by a stop sign, for students to stop and try to figure out the answer to a math question or puzzle. The characters solve the problem in the next panels, so for the full educational effect it is important to stop and think at the stop signs. Â Each Guide opens with a tutorial about how to read a comic book, but few kids should need it. The panel design is straightforward. Characters' speech bubbles are in different colors to make it clear who is speaking. Â The Practice books are monochrome and printed on standard-weight workbook paper, perforated for easy removal. Each Practice book has 100 pages of text and 25 pages of solutions, many fully worked/explained. The most difficult questions are marked with a star, and at the back of the book there is a page of hints for the starred problems. I chose to remove the solution pages from the book, but leave the hints. Â The Guide and Practice books are well linked together. Each chapter of the Practice book begins with a recommended sequence: Guide pages 18-25, then Practice pages 10-14, then Guide pages 26-33, and so on. The bottom of each Practice page lists the relevant Guide pages, and at the end of each Guide section there is a note of which Practice pages correspond. Â Beast Academy is not divided into lessons at all. Advance planners will have difficulty here. From my inspection, it looks as if sometimes it will be easy to complete a Guide segment and the accompanying Practice pages in one session, whereas other times it will take several days to complete the Practice pages associated with one Guide story. How long it takes to complete a single Practice page will vary considerably based on the page content. I suspect that at our house we will simply have to set a time limit for math, and do as many problems and sections as will fit in that time period. Â Story Content: The story content is extremely engaging and well done. The main plot follows four little monster students and their diverse collection of teachers. There are interludes in which the janitor(s), a two-headed beast which has discussions with itself, attempts to work out math concepts. In "shop class," the beasts are building pirate ships using concepts like area, perimeter, and square numbers. In "math lab," their kindly teacher, Professor Grok, is repeatedly kidnapped by "Calamitous Clod," who presents them with a much more difficult math problem which they must solve to win his safe return. (Alex quickly noticed that Calamitous Clod looks a lot like Professor Grok wearing a disguise.) In "Math Team with Fiona," the beasts go head-to-head against a team of robots in a math competition. In "gym class," Sergeant Rote harrangues them about the vital importance of memorizing their times tables. Throughout the stories, the beasts model problem-solving approaches and teamwork. It is often emphasized that there is more than one way to solve a problem correctly. Â The stories are sprinkled with tiny cultural references which many students won't notice. The two-headed janitors are Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern, a Mo Willems pigeon appears in a flock of more realistic birds, and one of the beasts proudly announces that his hundreds chart is better because "this one goes to 11." I love these bits. Â There was some advance concern that a program called "Beast Academy" was being marketed to boys and would not appeal to girls. My very girly girl disagrees. The female characters are appealing and the cuteness quotient is high. The content seems balanced to appeal to both sexes and a range of interests. Â Math Content: Beast Academy is linked to the Common Core standards, so at some point all material that is designated for third grade will be presented in the Guide and/or Practice book. However, the standards are just a point of departure. It looks to me as if the chapters begin with grade-level content and then rapidly introduce more complex concepts. For example, by the end of the chapter on perfect squares children will be mentally finding the square of 65, finding the difference between the square of 92 and the square of 93, and expressing various numbers as the sum of four or fewer perfect squares. Â Much of the additional content is completely outside the standard curriculum. For example, children are taught how to figure out whether a complex geometric shape can be covered by dominoes, find the largest weight that cannot be balanced with a given set of weights, and dissect squares into combinations of smaller squares. Beast Academy students will be not be moving more quickly through the standard elementary sequence, so much as they will be dramatically expanding their understanding of number, spatial relations, logic, and problem solving far beyond what is normally considered "elementary math." They will also learn a number of shortcuts and tricks that are used in math competitions. If you're looking for a maximally accelerated route to completing the standard sequence, BA may frustrate you by including a lot of "irrelevant" things. (Considering that it is designed to get children to Pre-Algebra in 6th grade, I'm not too worried.) Â The most baffling question for people waiting for BA has been gauging its difficulty or level. From the moment the table of contents came out listing a skip-counting chapter, some people have worried that BA would be too easy. Reviewers of the sample chapter complicated the picture by raving about its depth and difficulty. The samples posted on Facebook seemed to be all over the place. Â If you only look at the Guide, you will come away with the impression that Beast Academy is entertaining math enrichment, but not very substantial. The full weight of the program comes in the Practice book. There is additional teaching in the Practice book, in addition to problems that range from the very simple to the fiendishly complex. Most of a child's learning will come from working through the Practice book problems, not from reading the Guide. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that the puzzles and games are important pedagogical tools. They're not intended to be fun, skippable enrichment; they're part of the program. Â The Art of Problem Solving philosophy values the act of sitting in confusion with a difficult problem. This is not an incremental program which systematically builds on existing skills and confers a comfortable feeling of mastery. I suspect that many children will experience both frustration and exhilaration while working through Beast Academy. I suspect that many parents will feel the same way. It will take a certain amount of faith that, when your child is trying to build a complex shape out of Tetris game pieces (a.k.a. tetrominoes) or is making shapes out of toothpicks and changing them into other shapes, "math" is happening. From what I've seen of levels 3a and 3b, I believe that faith will be amply rewarded. Â Â Alex's Review (the 7yo perspective): I think it's good because the characters are funny. There are places where it's "Grog's Notes." His notes are funny because he draws pictures on them when he's just supposed to draw regular shapes. Some problems are hard and some problems are easy. They also have games. The games are cool! They are hard, but not too hard. The guide also has pictures of the cutest animals: pandakeets, slumberbees, and elefinches. Mom, can I do some more Beast Academy? Pleeeeease? Edited March 17, 2012 by Rivka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnaShoo Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 They seriously thought it necessary to explain how to read a comic book? :001_huh: My kid has been reading those since he was five years old. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 They seriously thought it necessary to explain how to read a comic book? :001_huh: My kid has been reading those since he was five years old. :D Â Hey, for many kids, they've never read a comic book. Or they could've been on a steady diet of Manga which is translated from Japanese and often printed in reverse. Â To the OP, Thank you for posting this :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 They seriously thought it necessary to explain how to read a comic book? :001_huh: My kid has been reading those since he was five years old. :D Â Apparently, a lot of parents who are looking for hardcore math material keep their children away from "twaddle" like comic books. Mine loves comics. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Great review. Very informative. It's given me more of a spark to want to get these. I give your review....two thumbs up. :thumbup: :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) Thanks so much Rivka! I am thinking BA might be good for us. Am so, so glad & grateful you took the time to write this. Â They seriously thought it necessary to explain how to read a comic book? :001_huh: My kid has been reading those since he was five years old. :D Â :lol: Button's totally confused by comics, he's just beginning to catch on b/c of a prehistory book in comic-style we have around. I was so cheered to read there was a tutorial in Beast Academy! He's 6. And we haven't kept him locked in the 19th century, either (though we do a lot of vintage books for his school); he's just never, ever been interested in anything that looked comicky despite gentle encouragement. He loves math, though ... Edited March 17, 2012 by serendipitous journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Great review Rivka! Â Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the review. :001_smile: Â Â They seriously thought it necessary to explain how to read a comic book? :001_huh: My kid has been reading those since he was five years old. :DNot all children are so fortunate. (not sarcasm) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 That was very well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 This is a great review. I agree with everything you said. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the review, Rivka. That is very, very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 The Art of Problem Solving philosophy values the act of sitting in confusion with a difficult problem. This is not an incremental program which systematically builds on existing skills and confers a comfortable feeling of mastery. I suspect that many children will experience both frustration and exhilaration while working through Beast Academy. I suspect that many parents will feel the same way. It will take a certain amount of faith that, when your child is trying to build a complex shape out of Tetris game pieces (a.k.a. tetrominoes) or is making shapes out of toothpicks and changing them into other shapes, "math" is happening. From what I've seen of levels 3a and 3b, I believe that faith will be amply rewarded. Â Â This might be the deal breaker for my dd using it. She really wants to use it and keeps asking me when we are getting the "monster math", but she completely folds up and loses her mind when she can't figure something out. She does not do well with frustration. We are working on it, but I don't think she's quite to the point where she could deal with a math curriculum designed to have you sit in confusion and frustration while you try to figure it out. Maybe in a couple of years she will have matured enough to be all right with that kind of challenge. Right now Singapore's CWP and IP books are enough for her without being too much!! Â Thanks for the great review. It was very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 They seriously thought it necessary to explain how to read a comic book? :001_huh: My kid has been reading those since he was five years old. :D  My son's first reaction to the sample chapter was, Ă¢â‚¬Um... Where do I start?Ă¢â‚¬ The only comic type stuff we have here is Garfield, Heathcliff, Far Side, and Dilbert. All of those are a different style comic. So yes, instructions are helpful. My son usually reads real books for his entertainment. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillysmom216 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 This might be the deal breaker for my dd using it. She really wants to use it and keeps asking me when we are getting the "monster math", but she completely folds up and loses her mind when she can't figure something out. She does not do well with frustration. We are working on it, but I don't think she's quite to the point where she could deal with a math curriculum designed to have you sit in confusion and frustration while you try to figure it out. Maybe in a couple of years she will have matured enough to be all right with that kind of challenge. Right now Singapore's CWP and IP books are enough for her without being too much!! Thanks for the great review. It was very helpful!  This is my daughter as well. I told her upfront that some of these problems are meant to simmer in your brain for a bit. I told her that the authors of the book felt if she got all the answers right away, that they hadn't done their job She told me today if she figured out the way to do a problem at night she would just get up and write it down. I will remind her of this when CWP 4 arrives. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 This might be the deal breaker for my dd using it. She really wants to use it and keeps asking me when we are getting the "monster math", but she completely folds up and loses her mind when she can't figure something out. She does not do well with frustration. We are working on it, but I don't think she's quite to the point where she could deal with a math curriculum designed to have you sit in confusion and frustration while you try to figure it out. Â I could say the same about my child, who is usually very threatened by not knowing the answer immediately. The engaging quality of BA is strong enough that she seems to be willing to put more into it. It's also different enough from anything we've ever done that she seems to understand that it is not "supposed to be" like her usual schoolwork experience. Â I will be very interested to see how this works out for us, going on, and how it develops her ability to try multiple approaches to a problem without melting down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillysmom216 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 A great review Rivka! I agree with everything you wrote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the review, Rivka. That is very, very helpful. Â :iagree: Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thank you so much! Wednesday (estimated delivery day) seems so far away, but this makes it easier to visualize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the very detailed review!!! It sounds like something my ds9s could still use over this summer!!! (one of the ds9s is likely to start the Prealgebra in the fall) Â mine is out for delivery :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nov05mama Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Great review!!! I totally agree!!  My son's first reaction to the sample chapter was, Ă¢â‚¬Um... Where do I start?Ă¢â‚¬ The only comic type stuff we have here is Garfield, Heathcliff, Far Side, and Dilbert. All of those are a different style comic. So yes, instructions are helpful. My son usually reads real books for his entertainment. ;)  :iagree: Same here! Even though DS has been exposed to some comic books in the past, it was still extremely helpful for them to have an explanation of what each part of the comic 'meant' - explaining the grey box at the bottom, explaining the different colors for each character, the stop sign, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) Never Mind! I just went to the site and saw they have samples posted. The blocks look great! Much more friendly than I expected. Â Â Â Â How are the comics laid out? Are they small blocks like in one of the original TinTin comics, or are the blocks larger and fewer per page? Â My dd hasn't been sheltered from comics, but I have not been able to get her to take to them because she finds them visually over-stimulating. If the blocks are larger, maybe this would still work for us. The color-coded word bubbles sound helpful. Â Thanks! Edited March 17, 2012 by kimmie38017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nov05mama Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Â Trying to attach a pic from the Facebook uploads they shared...thinking it won't upload, but you should be able to view it on the FB page... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 This might be the deal breaker for my dd using it. She really wants to use it and keeps asking me when we are getting the "monster math", but she completely folds up and loses her mind when she can't figure something out. She does not do well with frustration. We are working on it, but I don't think she's quite to the point where she could deal with a math curriculum designed to have you sit in confusion and frustration while you try to figure it out. Maybe in a couple of years she will have matured enough to be all right with that kind of challenge. Right now Singapore's CWP and IP books are enough for her without being too much!! Thanks for the great review. It was very helpful!  My daughter does not do well with it, either, but I think it's something to be overcome and not coddled. I plan on easing her into it, though, and with the print schedule for BA I think we'll be fine. I'll have MUS Gamma on the side for when she needs a confidence boost, and I'll have my "guess what, you're not supposed to know immediately what to do" speech ready. I might even have her listen to the lecture posted on another thread specifically to hear from the publisher that he intends for her to be confused and frustrated at times and that there is value in such. She understands this concept in every other subject, but math she thinks she should be perfect at. As a parent who was once such a perfectionist, I think it valuable to train my dd1 out of it as gently but quickly as possible. BA with the comic book style and colorful characters may be just the right carrot to make this work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Â Trying to attach a pic from the Facebook uploads they shared...thinking it won't upload, but you should be able to view it on the FB page... Â Thanks! That's helpful, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 This might be the deal breaker for my dd using it. She really wants to use it and keeps asking me when we are getting the "monster math", but she completely folds up and loses her mind when she can't figure something out. She does not do well with frustration. We are working on it, but I don't think she's quite to the point where she could deal with a math curriculum designed to have you sit in confusion and frustration while you try to figure it out. Maybe in a couple of years she will have matured enough to be all right with that kind of challenge. Right now Singapore's CWP and IP books are enough for her without being too much!! Thanks for the great review. It was very helpful!  :iagree:I am concerned about this as well.  The AoPs philosophy of sitting awhile with a difficult problem is easier with a bit of maturity, something that younger impulsive math beasts often lack. My child was noted as being "cognitively inflexible" at our assessment, with a side note mentioning that this was age appropriate and should not be concerning as it would disappear by adolescence. The material may be engaging enough to encourage ds to try it, but as a whole this philosophy is not one I would espouse until adolescence (the original target audience of AoPs) when some pre-frontal cortex development has occurred. This may explain why some kids are very successful with AoPs later in high school, even though they struggled as it was introduced in middle school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joy at Home Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the review, Rivka. That is very, very helpful. Â :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. This exactly what I needed to know. Â My younger son is also troubled by 'not knowing' but will do much better if I tell him ahead of time. As long as I can normalize he will deal. Â He is finishing up 1st grade in SM/MEP, so we have time to see how quickly they can get the other books out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for the review. My oldest went through SM with extras and I'd love to try this approach with my younger. But I might just be plain ole too cheap to switch. :001_smile: Especially since my older is transitioning well into AoPS (currently doing intro to algebra at a turtle's pace). Singapore EM has been a nice balance of easier and hard for us, especially as you get further along in the series and the IPs too. Effort isn't something that comes easily to my kids either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shann Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 My daughter does not do well with it, either, but I think it's something to be overcome and not coddled. I plan on easing her into it, though, Â We are in the exact same place and I completely agree, that for us too, it needs to be overcome now. If I wait until Dd is a teen, I think it will be incredibly difficult to change her outlook. I believe, in our case not in everyones, that her perfectionist attitude will be completely ingrain into who she is by 13 to 14, if we don't do something to change it. I realize now that dd has not been challenged enough, PS has always been a cakewalk for her and she has no idea of how to cope with a challenge. Combine that with the need to be perfect and it is tears melt down when she is confronted with not knowing the answer immediately. Â We will use BA to learn how to meet challenges with a positive attitude. Like Mamajag, I will take it slowly and help her along with the workbook at first because she also needs to learn how to take advice. If I let these tendencies go I can clearly see the teenage 'I know everything', 'I don't need help', 'I have to be perfect in everything', attitude that will follow. I am so thankful to have BA to counter this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 We are in the exact same place and I completely agree, that for us too, it needs to be overcome now. If I wait until Dd is a teen, I think it will be incredibly difficult to change her outlook. I believe, in our case not in everyones, that her perfectionist attitude will be completely ingrain into who she is by 13 to 14, if we don't do something to change it.Or earlier :001_unsure: I wonder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shann Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Or earlier :001_unsure: I wonder. Â Yes I don't know that she will ever be completely rid of it, I'm not! But I have seen positive results since we've been talking about it. So, I'll try to ingrain those coping skills to immediately pop up in response to the perfectionist tendency. Hopefully.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnaShoo Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 My son's first reaction to the sample chapter was, Ă¢â‚¬Um... Where do I start?Ă¢â‚¬ The only comic type stuff we have here is Garfield, Heathcliff, Far Side, and Dilbert. All of those are a different style comic. So yes, instructions are helpful. My son usually reads real books for his entertainment. ;)   (Not that I care much) But, lest you think I only let my son read comic books, he reads plenty of real books, he just won't read all that much for pleasure. I think he equates "real" books with school assignments, so comic books were a great way for us to get him to read on his own. I'm not really sure why people diss them. I've read some incredibly dumb "real books". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) My little man was near having a melt-down about a half-hour ago as he could not see the last part of one of those "star" problems, even with a hint from me. Standing on his head, chewing a clip board with scratch solutions, hyper-ventilating, muttering I can't do it, I can't do it...none of these things seemed to help :D Â Then just as I feared tears might well-up, a smile passed over his face. He had it! And he gave me one of those priceless hugs that is somehow different than other hugs :001_smile: Â Bill Edited March 17, 2012 by Spy Car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (Not that I care much) But, lest you think I only let my son read comic books, he reads plenty of real books, he just won't read all that much for pleasure. I think he equates "real" books with school assignments, so comic books were a great way for us to get him to read on his own. I'm not really sure why people diss them. I've read some incredibly dumb "real books". Â Now you know how your first comment felt to those whose kids don't know how to read comics. ;) Â (note: I don't really care whether a child reads comics or real books or twaddle books - mine read a little bit of each, and Clone Wars chapter books are what got my son interested in reading anything longer than a picture book. :D Right now, he's addicted to Judy Blume books - Tale of the Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, and Fudge-o-rama... those are probably all twaddle, and that's perfectly ok. :) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 My little man was near having a melt-down about a half-hour ago as he could not see the last part of one of those "star" problems, even with a hint from me. Standing on his head, chewing a clip board with scratch solutions, hyper-ventilating, muttering I can't do it, I can't do it...none of these things seemed to help :D Then just as I feared tears might well up, a smile passed over his face. He had it! And he gave me on of those priceless hugs that is somehow different than other hugs :001_smile:  Bill  Awesome!!! That's what I'm hoping for with DS1. He needs to see that it's OK to not know it right away. It's OK to have to think about it for more than 2 seconds.  Come on, Wednesday!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 My little man was near having a melt-down about a half-hour ago as he could not see the last part of one of those "star" problems, even with a hint from me. Standing on his head, chewing a clip board with scratch solutions, hyper-ventilating, muttering I can't do it, I can't do it...none of these things seemed to help :DÂ Then just as I feared tears might well up, a smile passed over his face. He had it! And he gave me on of those priceless hugs that is somehow different than other hugs :001_smile: Â Oh, how awesome! Â Also, I'm glad we're not the only ones doing Beast Academy on a Saturday. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Also, I'm glad we're not the only ones doing Beast Academy on a Saturday. :lol: Â We're not exactly doing Beast, but ds5 is filling in multiplication wheels. I think it should be ok to go out of order, right? (I'm not sure he's been taught regrouping for multi-digit add/subtract yet, and he can't really read, so he's a long way off from starting Beast, but somehow he can multiply single digits :tongue_smilie:). He loves the math beasts. I wonder if I should try to read it to him (he understood the first lesson on angles perfectly, though his name does begin with L), or whether I should just wait...a few years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 We are in the exact same place and I completely agree, that for us too, it needs to be overcome now. If I wait until Dd is a teen, I think it will be incredibly difficult to change her outlook. I believe, in our case not in everyones, that her perfectionist attitude will be completely ingrain into who she is by 13 to 14, if we don't do something to change it.I realize now that dd has not been challenged enough, PS has always been a cakewalk for her and she has no idea of how to cope with a challenge. Combine that with the need to be perfect and it is tears melt down when she is confronted with not knowing the answer immediately. Â We will use BA to learn how to meet challenges with a positive attitude. Like Mamajag, I will take it slowly and help her along with the workbook at first because she also needs to learn how to take advice. If I let these tendencies go I can clearly see the teenage 'I know everything', 'I don't need help', 'I have to be perfect in everything', attitude that will follow. I am so thankful to have BA to counter this! Â This is my DD exactly. PS was too easy for her where they are spoon fed the procedures. She's never really had to think for herself. We've had the "you aren't supposed to know the answer, you're supposed to figure out the answer" a few times, now. Usually followed by the "you wouldn't need school if you already knew everything and you'll never know everything, so you'll continue learning forever" speech. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thanks for such a thorough review. I hope they are working hard on 3c & 3d so we don't have to wait too long for the next instalment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Thank you. I'm hoping ours wil be waiting when we get back. This sounds like a great review/enrichment for DD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saille Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 The stories are sprinkled with tiny cultural references which many students won't notice. The two-headed janitors are Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern, a Mo Willems pigeon appears in a flock of more realistic birds, and one of the beasts proudly announces that his hundreds chart is better because "this one goes to 11." I love these bits. Â Rivka, my ds10 spotted the Strawberry Bear from Toy Story III in the trash can marked with flames (incinerator, I presume :tongue_smilie:). We'll have to keep a sharp lookout! Â Your review is spot-on. Â Over time, I've found that I highly prize a curriculum when it's not only a great stand-alone, but picks up a thread of the "conversation" we're already having with our other curricula. Beast Academy looks like it will fit right in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I wish mine would hurry up! I'm kicking myself for not paying for priority shipping. Thank you for the detailed review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nov05mama Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Rivka, my ds10 spotted the Strawberry Bear from Toy Story III in the trash can marked with flames (incinerator, I presume :tongue_smilie:). We'll have to keep a sharp lookout! Â We just found Lotso today too, LOL! I was flipping through 3B finally and was trying to keep an eye out. We also loved the army men, Battleship boat and Monopoly pieces on one of the chess pages too :lol: (those were obvious) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 We got ours today too. I only looked it over superficially because Saturday is my busy day. Â However, the kids are in the other room looking at the guide books and howling with laughter. They came out earlier looking for scratch paper. :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 This is my DD exactly. PS was too easy for her where they are spoon fed the procedures. She's never really had to think for herself. We've had the "you aren't supposed to know the answer, you're supposed to figure out the answer" a few times, now. Usually followed by the "you wouldn't need school if you already knew everything and you'll never know everything, so you'll continue learning forever" speech. :tongue_smilie: Â I know this is an old thread, but it came up while I was googling for some help with Beast's balancing weights skip counting section, lol. Â I had to say, my DS is a lot like this....he does NOT like not knowing the answer/not being perfect/good at something. Â Â He's the "top dog" if you will in our home...everything has always come easily to him, and so Beast Academy has not been his friend. Â But its good for him to struggle a little. Â He has told me that he wants me to enroll him in Public School because at least the content will be easier and not so hard. Â He tells me that he wants to go back to Singapore Math because its easier...lol. Â And when he started baseball this year, and was one of the less skilled players on the team....OH my word, he has had such a hard time dealing with that. Â "I want to quit. Can't I do a different sport?" Â I think its really good for him to not be the best at something. Â And to see that hard work equals results. Â His baseball skills have improved with practice (which was difficult convincing him to do) and hopefully he's learning to overcome difficulties, not just run away from every little thing that's hard. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forgiven Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 I know this is an old thread, but it came up while I was googling for some help with Beast's balancing weights skip counting section, lol. Â I had to say, my DS is a lot like this....he does NOT like not knowing the answer/not being perfect/good at something. Â Â He's the "top dog" if you will in our home...everything has always come easily to him, and so Beast Academy has not been his friend. Â But its good for him to struggle a little. Â He has told me that he wants me to enroll him in Public School because at least the content will be easier and not so hard. Â He tells me that he wants to go back to Singapore Math because its easier...lol. Â And when he started baseball this year, and was one of the less skilled players on the team....OH my word, he has had such a hard time dealing with that. Â "I want to quit. Can't I do a different sport?" Â I think its really good for him to not be the best at something. Â And to see that hard work equals results. Â His baseball skills have improved with practice (which was difficult convincing him to do) and hopefully he's learning to overcome difficulties, not just run away from every little thing that's hard. Â Â I totally agree with this. My DS has a hard time with BA, but even he enjoys doing it more than he did MM. MM was a walk in the park for him. He didn't have to THINK! Now that he has to think, he gets frustrated, and I have to remind him that it's okay to get it wrong, and it's okay to ask for help, and those are lessons that will go a long way in every aspect of his life. I want him to learn how to struggle, and learn how to persevere through hard things/times/etc. Â BA is teaching my son more than math. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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