sarahv Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Myself and my 5.5 y/o son are four weeks deep into Right Start Math, and I'm finding I have some questions: First off, my son is only just beginning to show an interest/awareness of numbers. I've known for a while it's probably not his strong point. However, I was drawn to Right Start for the mental math aspects, lack of writing, and heavy manipulatives (plus the games). I must also admit that I really don't know the difference between "spiral" and "mastery" math. So if someone could explain the difference to me, I'd be so thankful! :lol: My question specific to RS has to do with review. The "numbers" aspect of RS is great, the abacus, great. The geometry, not so great. The vocabulary alone is brand new, besides the concept itself. So, for instance, in lesson 4, there is a section on triangles and quadrilaterals. I'm having trouble going to the next lesson (me, not my son) without him having mastered this concept, but is it really necessary to master quadrilaterals before moving on? What sort of mastery level do I need to be working toward? With no "test", I'm not sure what he absolutely must know, and what things I can introduce and trust the curriculum to cover (review) later with more mastery. I teach violin, and there are things that I introduce, that the student doesn't need to master at the time, just try and file in the brain until the right time. I'm wondering if RS is anything like this? I need a ton of hand-holding in a math curriculum, because I don't know math as well as I know language arts, and I was hoping Right Start would be able to be that guide. I'd like to be able to just do the lessons and trust that the curriculum will guide us to mastery, but when quadrilaterals are introduced in one lesson and then I don't even see that word in any following chapters, how is my son supposed to master the concept, or me to remember to go over it again, as I know he's not going to remember it without the review? Sigh. I hope I've been clear in my question(s). Help!:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I have used RS for 6 years now. In the beginning, I followed RS letter for letter. If something didn't work, we would sit there until we started to see the light. Now, I am using it for the third time with my youngest and I am using RS so completely different this time around. For topics like geometry, I present the lesson if there is little awareness, I leave the lesson and move on but I go back to the lesson later on (say, a few weeks/months later.) If the lesson is on number awareness or addition, then I would stay there for a few days but I would also add things in from other lessons to shake things up a bit. The key to using a curriculum is not to make it your master. Use the curriculum in a way that works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I can't really answer your question, but I can tell you that RightStart Level B doesn't begin covering parallel/perpendicular lines and polygons until Lesson 21. You're aware that the first half of RS B will be review if you've done RS A, right? In your shoes I might move on in RS A and then go back and review/repeat those concepts when we start RS B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I used RS A - C with my daughter and the main area I felt there wasn't enough review was with the geometry concepts. For example, symmetry would be introduced for a couple of days and then we wouldn't see it again for 6 months or until the next level and my daughter would have no idea what it was when we saw it again. On the other hand, I don't think these concepts are very important for kids to learn at this level, so I didn't really worry about it too much. I really enjoyed using RS with my daughter and would do it again, but I do wish that there was some workbook to go with it so there would be some sort of systematic practice and review and more written work. This didn't bother me in levels A and B, but it started to become a concern for me in level C. I know there are practice sheets in level C, but I really wanted something more systematic. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 It comes up again, and I just re-teach it then. Over time it sticks. Don't worry about it now. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 Thanks so much, everyone! I'm glad to know that over time we'll get the concepts down. Your replies have helped me to see through the 4th lesson. ;) Eventually I'm thinking of adding some extra seat work, as needed, anyway, just not sure what to add. Math mammoth looks promising, but then there is the ever present Singapore Math. I also use Professor B as a resource for ideas in presenting the concepts, too. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2koh Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 We are using RS B withe dd (5.5) and we have just started supplement with MEP. Ican understand wanting to add a workbook type of component and had a hard time spending anymore $$. ;) MEP is free and has gotten some decent reviews on the boards. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) My question specific to RS has to do with review. The "numbers" aspect of RS is great, the abacus, great. The geometry, not so great. The vocabulary alone is brand new, besides the concept itself. So, for instance, in lesson 4, there is a section on triangles and quadrilaterals. I'm having trouble going to the next lesson (me, not my son) without him having mastered this concept, but is it really necessary to master quadrilaterals before moving on? What sort of mastery level do I need to be working toward? With no "test", I'm not sure what he absolutely must know, and what things I can introduce and trust the curriculum to cover (review) later with more mastery. I completely understand what you mean about the geography concepts, but I believe/agree with Heather's statement... It comes up again, and I just re-teach it then. Over time it sticks. Don't worry about it now. Heather However, I just thought I'd share with you that I found a basic geometry poster ($4) at our local teacher supply store that I hung on the back of our school room door... more for me, I think, than my ds. ;) Perhaps something like this may be helpful to you as well. HTH! P.S. Click on the image to enlarge it. Edited October 8, 2009 by CMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Eventually I'm thinking of adding some extra seat work, as needed, anyway, just not sure what to add. Math mammoth looks promising, but then there is the ever present Singapore Math. I also use Professor B as a resource for ideas in presenting the concepts, too. Thanks again! We're supplementing w/Singapore here. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 Cool poster. I'm laughing, because it's totally true that I need it. I was just telling my sister that I'm not even totally sure what a quadrilateral is. Just trying to deduce from the picture in the manual.:glare: I'll look at Singapore again. MEP does look interesting. He may need some really beginner sheets anyway, just to get some basic concepts down, etc. I've done nothing in the math region except counting, and that's taboo in RS. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellyndria Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Ok, I'm a newbie RightStart user, as we have only finished Lesson 15 in A, but for your specific question about quadrilaterals, it has come up about three times so far. First is Lesson 4 when quadrilaterals are introduced. Second is in Lesson 10 where they are identifying which quadrilaterals are rectangles, and which are not. It also reviews parallel and perpendicular in Lesson 10. Third is in Lesson 12 where they are talking about squares, and you have to prompt the child to give you all three names for a square (square, rectangle, quadrilateral.) I honestly can't say if it is mentioned again, because I haven't looked at the rest of the book that closely. He's already gotten "a square is a rectangle" from another book, so I think I will just try to remember to review the words quadrilateral, parallel, and perpendicular with him once in a while. I figure it must come up again at some point anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Yeah, it wouldn't have hurt to put in some explanatory text. Quadrilateral = a shape with 4 straight sides Examples: squares, rectangles, trapezoids, rhombus (diamond with 4 equal length sides), parallelogram, kite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellyndria Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Cool poster. I'm laughing, because it's totally true that I need it. I was just telling my sister that I'm not even totally sure what a quadrilateral is. Just trying to deduce from the picture in the manual.:glare: :tongue_smilie: A quadrilateral is a 4-sided polygon with 4 corners. Basically, a quadrilateral is any shape with 4 sides and 4 corners. The sides can be all different lengths, or the same, or mixture, as long as they all meet up and make 4 corners. :) Does that help? They can include squares, rectangles, trapezoids, parallelograms, and others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Ah, Ha - I understand. Quadrilateral is not a specific shape. Hmmm. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I should keep a dictionary a little closer at hand for math. :lol: On to more researching workbook resources... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandpsmommy Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I'm just chiming in (after many good responses) to encourage you to continue trying RS. I'm somewhere close to lesson 50 with ds 6, and I used C with dd8 last year and am currently using D with her. I can't say enough good things about our experience with it. That lesson (about quadrilaterals) is so inconsequential to the rest of the lessons, and in my estimation is simply about exposure, not mastery. We began using Singapore, and used it for two years, but just needed something different. I'm so glad we switched. Both dc show such a greater understanding of mathematics concepts than I had envisioned was possible at their ages. And for us RS is so incremental that it seems almost too easy for the kids to grasp concepts that I was dreading having to teach because I thought they would be so painful. I know no curriculum works well for every family, and different people are seeking different things in a math curr., but please give it a bit more time and see. My dd really didn't like math when we used Singapore, and hated trying to memorize math facts just using flash cards. But when we switched to RS, math became one of her favorite subjects and she has memorized multiplication facts without ever using a flash card because of the games and exercises in RS. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for the encouragement, Terri. I have heard so many great things about RS, and it's positive results, and I'm not wanting to jump ship (ok, maybe a little:blush:), I just needed to be exposed to a bigger picture. It's great to hear your story.:001_smile: My dh is really particular about our ds "not getting behind", but I know in my heart that just doing two lessons a week is not going to mean that he's getting it. So, I admit to being under a bit of pressure to get onto the next lesson. We've just worked manipulatives up to ten for the past two weeks, and I can see it's beginning to click. "Yellow is the sun" has been a great song. I've also been looking ahead quite a bit in the teacher's manual, and I'm getting a bigger picture of the organization of the material. I'm hoping that as we both get used to the style of the lessons, and as ds gets more used to thinking mathematically, I won't have to halt lessons to work on concepts every two weeks. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I honestly can't say if it is mentioned again, because I haven't looked at the rest of the book that closely. He's already gotten "a square is a rectangle" from another book, so I think I will just try to remember to review the words quadrilateral, parallel, and perpendicular with him once in a while. I figure it must come up again at some point anyway. Each level deals with it a couple of times along with polygons (many sided shapes-any number of sides), so a square is also a rectangle, which is also a quadrilateral, which is also a polygon. :D They also cover parallel and perpendicular lines in almost every level. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 The beginning lessons of RS Level A, specifically the geometric topics, were very frustrating to me. However, we are on lesson 23 and there haven't been any unclear topics introduced for the last few lessons. I only did a cursory introduction to the geometric topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for the encouragement, Terri. I have heard so many great things about RS, and it's positive results, and I'm not wanting to jump ship (ok, maybe a little:blush:), I just needed to be exposed to a bigger picture. It's great to hear your story.:001_smile: To be honest, while I love RS now, I had a love/hate relationship with it for the first year. I could see it working, but I personally found dealing with all the stuff and the random Geometry a pain. I have since gotten over it, and find both easy to deal with. :cool: Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pageta Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 To be honest, while I love RS now, I had a love/hate relationship with it for the first year. I could see it working, but I personally found dealing with all the stuff and the random Geometry a pain. I have since gotten over it, and find both easy to deal with. :cool: I've so appreciated your posts. I bought Singapore, then RS Level B. I keep going back and forth between the two. You give me hope! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thank you all so much for this thread! While we like RS generally so far, the geometry lessons are the only ones my ds has really struggled with. So much so on the last rectangle/qualtrilateral/square thing that I was starting to question the method. I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I'm happy to know we can just keep going and not worry about cementing the geometry concepts at the beginning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkermamaof4 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 We just switched to RS recently. I don't know if this will help, but it helped me feel better about how we were handling review. I use sticky notes to mark all new concepts and things she refers to again. So my RS A book pg 2 sticky says 1,2, buckle. Page 10 says Next #/comes after, as well as another sticky that says Days of the Week. Pg 14 says Parallel. Pg 16 has 2: 1 says Writing # Poem. One says Put Cards in Order. Pg 18 says Perpendicular. Pg 20 says Quadrilateral and Square. Pg 22 says How Many w/ Cards and Build a # w/ Abacus/tally sticks... I could go on and on. Anyway, everyday we would start at the front, quickly flip through and review these concepts. He got them! Yippee! It helped so much and I felt better too :) Now he can point to parallel lines in the room or perpendicular, knows his shapes, etc. I felt like I needed to review like these or the time to introduce these concepts seemed wasted. I know it helps just to put the concepts in their memory bank, but still I'd rather spend a bit more time and have them stick better. Then, around lesson 30 I realized (as someone pointed out in this thread) that RS B is a repeat for the first half and I decided to start him on RS B plus continue in RS A bc/ my son is 6-1/2 and should have been in 1st grade now. We got a slow start with some major life changes/moving... and were behind. Now we do both each day and he is doing fine. We love it and all of my kids ask to please play the games each day. Their skills in mental addition are really improving. I am happy! HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I use sticky notes to mark all new concepts and things she refers to again. So my RS A book pg 2 sticky says 1,2, buckle. Page 10 says Next #/comes after, as well as another sticky that says Days of the Week. Pg 14 says Parallel. Pg 16 has 2: 1 says Writing # Poem. One says Put Cards in Order. Pg 18 says Perpendicular. Pg 20 says Quadrilateral and Square. Pg 22 says How Many w/ Cards and Build a # w/ Abacus/tally sticks... I could go on and on. Great idea! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 So my RS A book pg 2 sticky says 1,2, buckle. Page 10 says Next #/comes after, as well as another sticky that says Days of the Week. Pg 14 says Parallel. Pg 16 has 2: 1 says Writing # Poem. One says Put Cards in Order. Pg 18 says Perpendicular. Pg 20 says Quadrilateral and Square. Pg 22 says How Many w/ Cards and Build a # w/ Abacus/tally sticks... I could go on and on. What a great idea! Thanks, that does help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I make him master it, but apparently, RS is more spiral-ly than I planned, because we always breeze through the same thing 2 or more times. If he doesn't understand, I break it down into smaller pieces. :-) Repetition alone is pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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