Jump to content

Menu

Question about supplementing with Beast Academy


SevenDaisies
 Share

Recommended Posts

I am sure there are other threads on this, but I can't seem to find any. My son is currently using Singapore 3, but I am wanting to add in/switch to Beast Academy. If you do this, how do you do it? Do you drop parts of Singapore? Do you follow Singapore as a spine and supplement with topics from Beast? Do you just do both in order regardless of topic?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We used MM instead of Singapore and our usage of BA varies. Sometimes we do it every Friday. Sometimes we focus on it between books. Other times, we set aside the spine, and use Beast Academy exclusively for a few weeks.

 

I didn't try to match topics. I would have tough time keeping track of what we skipped so my kids just do the next thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just let my dd choose every morning - is this a BA day or a MM day?  She usually does it in spurts.  I do BA in order regardless of topic - I've seen how each lesson builds on the ones before, so I wouldn't do it out of order.  Just do the next thing.  I also don't worry if we're running a bit "behind" in BA, as it is more challenging/advanced.  So we'll finish MM3 this year, but only about half of BA 3.  No worries.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you find it necessary to supplement BA?

 

It's not so much that it needs supplementing as that my dd needs breaks from it.  It's challenging. It can make your brain hurt.  Sometimes there is comfort in doing something a little more straightforward, practicing skills and gaining confidence.  Some days she wakes up ready to tackle the world, some days she just wants to do a couple of pages of math facts.  I'm like that too, I can respect it.  So we use BA on the days we feel like tackling the world, and MM on days when we just want to take the next step forward, rather than a leap.  

 

So in that sense, I feel it necessary to have something other than BA to use.  Not so much as a supplement, but as an alternative.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is doing Singapore 3B and we have recently started to supplement with Beast Academy. We still do Singapore every day, but I no longer assign every single workbook problem. So, as a whole, I have increased the time we do math, but decreased my son's independent work with Singapore. This is my first year homeschooling and I probably should have caught on sooner to the fact that he really didn't need as much repetition as I was requiring and that, in fact, it was turning him against studying math, which he has always loved.

 

These days, he starts every day with a few puzzles/challenges from the BA practice book while I am getting my other kids ready for the day. I haven't gone out of my way to match BA to what we are doing with Singapore, but next year I think I may. Then a few times a week, we read the Guide together. He is a graphic novel kid and he loves the Guide and is always motivated to do the problems alongside the little beasts in the book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like others said...our usage of Beast Academy varies.  Last summer, we completed two books of 3 as summer bridge.  DS wanted to do fractions first, so we did.  Then we started Singapore 3 (which we followed in order).  As we hadn't completed all of 3B, we worked on the rest of it concurrently with Singapore.  Then we took a break from Singapore and did 3C (and Process Skills...from Singapore). 

 

We've been on a break from Beast and will complete 3D later this spring and early summer.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for supplementing Beast itself...yes, I would need to supplement it if we weren't using Singapore.  It CAN be complete for some kids...but for my son...he needs to revisit those topics a few times in review, and Beast doesn't review much.  

 

Plus...some of what is contained in Beast is "gimicky" math, if you will.  Neat tricks and they work, and they're good....but they are easy to forget if you don't keep using them.  Such as the perfect squares chapter.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We alternate days between BA and MEP, for the reasons mentioned by Rose and Sweetpea. My ds is happy for the change of pace. He does every BA problem, but I liberally edit out MEP problems that I don't think he needs, review of topics he has down or topics he has seen in BA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We do Singapore M-Th and Beast Saturday and Sunday for about an hour each day. We're "behind" in Beast because DS only does it on the weekends and because he was in 4th when we started 3A. We wanted to start at the beginning of what they had.

 

In this way he's gotten to most topics in Singapore before Beast so we use Beast as an in-depth review. A few times we have gotten to a topic in Beast before Singapore, and then I gave him a few selected exercises in Singapore when we reached it there. If he performed well and remembered Beast, we skipped the topic in Singapore. If he had forgotten we did Singapore anyway.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Beast as my only math curriculum with my eight-year-old, and it's working great for us. I prefer the simplicity of using just one curriculum and giving it my full attention and energy. My son loves it and has a lot of enthusiasm for the program, but I can completely see how some kids would do better with breaks from the intense problem-solving and thinking that Beast requires.  The only thing I add is multiplication facts drill to increase speed. 

 

I posted a Beast Academy review and buying guide just last night if you'd like more on my take on Beast. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are relative newbies with BA, having adopted it at the beginning of the year when DD finished MM2. MM is a really ideal fit for her, and I'm not entirely sure BA will work in the long run (though it has been going OK so far). DD has a lot of issues when she doesn't immediately know the answer; she gives up and dramatically exclaims, "I can't do it!" 

 

She saw me looking at the samples of BA and was immediately enthralled, and I didn't see that it would be such a bad thing to introduce regular struggles into her neat little world of MM (where she rarely struggles). But, BA is slow-going for her. She's a young 2nd grader (late August birthday), and I think we're just building some maturity on the struggling thing. So, I just can't see myself adopting BA as an only curriculum for my DD. I think it could be mentally exhausting for her to do daily. 

 

We do about 4 pages each week, the idea being we'd finish BA3 sometime in the middle of MM4, and continuing 1/2 year behind her MM grade level schedule. This allows for review and deeper thinking without rushing through 2 separate programs in one academic year (plus the Dreambox and Process Skills we do as well; it's my way of slowing her down a bit).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking I would continue with Singapore HIG & TB, but decrease what I required out of the WB and replace with BA. Sounds like it might be best to just work on BA in the order presented, which certainly makes things simpler.

 

I have been doing something like this with my eldest, although I ended up completely abandoning the Singapore Workbook this year, finding plenty to keep her busy in the HIG and TB. (The text is a bit tougher than the workbook, which is why I kept it in favour of the workbook.) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are relative newbies with BA, having adopted it at the beginning of the year when DD finished MM2. MM is a really ideal fit for her, and I'm not entirely sure BA will work in the long run (though it has been going OK so far). DD has a lot of issues when she doesn't immediately know the answer; she gives up and dramatically exclaims, "I can't do it!" 

 

She saw me looking at the samples of BA and was immediately enthralled, and I didn't see that it would be such a bad thing to introduce regular struggles into her neat little world of MM (where she rarely struggles). But, BA is slow-going for her. She's a young 2nd grader (late August birthday), and I think we're just building some maturity on the struggling thing. So, I just can't see myself adopting BA as an only curriculum for my DD. I think it could be mentally exhausting for her to do daily. 

 

We do about 4 pages each week, the idea being we'd finish BA3 sometime in the middle of MM4, and continuing 1/2 year behind her MM grade level schedule. This allows for review and deeper thinking without rushing through 2 separate programs in one academic year (plus the Dreambox and Process Skills we do as well; it's my way of slowing her down a bit).

 

Your situation sounds a lot like ours -complete with dramatic pronouncements! -  MM for solid math well within the comfort zone, and BA about a half a year behind to kick her out of the comfort zone sometimes!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter is in RightStart C and we like it a lot, but we're likely to run out of second edition materials at the pace we're moving. I don't think she'll be ready to  switch to Beast Academy when she's done with RS C so I'm wondering about combining the two: doing RS D and Beast Academy at the same time (different days/ weeks etc)? Maybe waiting until partway into RS D before starting BA? Note that she'd be ~6.5 when we're ready to start RS D and though six months from now things may be very different she's not fluently reading just yet.

 

Husband and I are both engineers and she's already very mathematically gifted. I want to encourage that and BA looks nice and challenging but at the same time I don't want to end up frustrating both of us. Does anyone use both? 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter is in RightStart C and we like it a lot, but we're likely to run out of second edition materials at the pace we're moving. I don't think she'll be ready to  switch to Beast Academy when she's done with RS C so I'm wondering about combining the two: doing RS D and Beast Academy at the same time (different days/ weeks etc)? Maybe waiting until partway into RS D before starting BA? Note that she'd be ~6.5 when we're ready to start RS D and though six months from now things may be very different she's not fluently reading just yet.

 

Husband and I are both engineers and she's already very mathematically gifted. I want to encourage that and BA looks nice and challenging but at the same time I don't want to end up frustrating both of us. Does anyone use both? 

 

As a point of reference, my son's path to Beast was RightStart A-C, Singapore 2A and 2B, then Beast. My son is also pretty gifted in math, and he had just turned seven when we started Beast.

 

The biggest risks of starting early are 1) making math too frustrating and turning her off to it and 2) "wasting" the good math by not having her fully benefit from it because she's not cognitively ready yet. BA sounds like it will be a terrific fit for her eventually, but there's absolutely no rush. To be ready for Beast, you have to not only be mathematically ready but also have the mental stamina required to persevere through hard problems. Six and a half feels a wee bit early for that level of challenge, but it totally depends on the kid. You could certainly start Beast 3A slowly and see how it goes, with the intention of stopping for a while if it becomes frustrating. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...