Past and present happy R&S math users, a couple of questions

[Nakia]

We are very happily using R&S math. My oldest is in 5th grade, and is doing really well with it. I am trying to come up with a long term math plan. I *think* I read on here that some people use R&S 1-6, skip R&S math 7, go straight into 8, and then do Algebra in 8th grade. Is that pretty common?

 

I know I did Pre-Algebra in 7th, Algebra in 8th, Geometry in 9th, Algebra 2 in 10th, and Pre-Calculus in 11th. No comment on what I did Senior year (just call that my goof-off year). Is that still the expected sequence? It's been quite a few years since I was in school. :D

 

Anyway, if you use R&S math, can you let me know your long term math plans? Or if you have older kids and used R&S math to start off, what middle and high school plan worked for you? I hope I'm being clear here. I haven't slept well in several weeks, and my brain is not operating very well right now.

 

As a side note, I would love to know some good Algebra programs (just looking ahead a bit).

 

Thanks!!!

[SilverMoon]

My oldest is doing R&S math at grade level. Math is the one subject he really struggles with, and I can't see him being ready for algebra until ninth at the earliest. We plan to have him finish R&S's math books, then go to Kinetic books for algebra.

 

My second is a very mathy kid, who uses R&S above grade level (and eats up any other math curricula in the house for the fun of it). At her current speed she may be ready for algebra by seventh grade. We have the same plan for her, finish R&S's math books, then go to Kinetic Books for algebra. If she's ready for algebra academically before she's mature enough for it, we'll either go with Kinetic Book or Life of Fred for more prealgebra.

 

I don't plan on letting either of them skip the 7 book, but I do let them skip sections they can prove mastery of.

[Ellie]

I don't see the point of doing algebra before 9th.:confused: Of course, maybe if my dc had been gifted in math I'd have a different opinion. :D

 

Otherwise, if I were hsing again, my plan would be to use R&S through 8th, then go to algebra--not sure which publisher, but most likely Saxon, although maybe something like Teaching Textbooks. Alternatively, I'd do R&S until my dc tested in Saxon's Math 54, then do Saxon from then on.

 

R&S's math series had not been revised until my dc were pretty much aged out of it. I used some R&S when I taught in/administered a little private school, and I liked it very much. I prefer it over Saxon's primary levels.

[Nakia]

My oldest is doing R&S math at grade level. Math is the one subject he really struggles with, and I can't see him being ready for algebra until ninth at the earliest. We plan to have him finish R&S's math books, then go to Kinetic books for algebra.

 

My second is a very mathy kid, who uses R&S above grade level (and eats up any other math curricula in the house for the fun of it). At her current speed she may be ready for algebra by seventh grade. We have the same plan for her, finish R&S's math books, then go to Kinetic Books for algebra. If she's ready for algebra academically before she's mature enough for it, we'll either go with Kinetic Book or Life of Fred for more prealgebra.

 

I don't plan on letting either of them skip the 7 book, but I do let them skip sections they can prove mastery of.

 

Thanks for you post! I don't really understand the idea behind skipping the 7th grade book, but I know I've read that somewhere. I'm hoping someone who has heard of it, or has done it, will chime in here. I haven't heard of the Kinetic Books. I will look at it. I have heard of LOF, but when I looked at samples online, I just didn't get all the hype. Maybe I'm missing something. I'm sure it's a great program because so many here rave about it. It is definitely one that I would like to get my hands on to check out. I've been thinking about ordering the Fractions book for my daughter to try out. The price is definitely right!

 

I don't see the point of doing algebra before 9th.:confused: Of course, maybe if my dc had been gifted in math I'd have a different opinion. :D

 

Otherwise, if I were hsing again, my plan would be to use R&S through 8th, then go to algebra--not sure which publisher, but most likely Saxon, although maybe something like Teaching Textbooks. Alternatively, I'd do R&S until my dc tested in Saxon's Math 54, then do Saxon from then on.

 

R&S's math series had not been revised until my dc were pretty much aged out of it. I used some R&S when I taught in/administered a little private school, and I liked it very much. I prefer it over Saxon's primary levels.

 

Thank you Ellie! I don't see the point of doing algebra before 9th, but that's what I did in school, so I kinda thought it was the norm. But after talking to my dh and best friend, we all figured out I must've been in an accelerated math program. I have always been pretty good at math, but to be honest, I was at a loss by the time senior year rolled around. I was not ready for AP Calculus, which was the next math level offered, so I took Computer math, hence my slight embarrassment in my original post. :001_smile:

 

Thanks again to both of you!

[suzf242]

Thanks for bringing up this thread. We have been using R&S all along. DD will be using the 4th grade book for 3rd grade this year. I was thinking of letting her try LOF fractions and decimels after the 4th grade book, and if she does well to just let her switch to the LOF series at that point. I think I read you can start LOF after mastering the 4 basic operations. Now after this post I am wondering -- is there a reason why I should stick with R&S through the 7th grade book if dd does OK with LOF?

 

Thanks!

Suzanne

[SilverMoon]

I would not switch to LOF in fourth grade. Many of the lessons can be quite the logic problem to figure out, and the early two books aren't full math curricula. Both of them wouldn't even last a year at the rate of one lesson a day, and the next book is prealgebra.

 

I mentioned LOF for my mathy kid because I already know she can excel with them. She finds them too wordy at times, and I just let her pull them out for fun whenever she likes. They don't have nearly enough practice problems for my not-so-mathy kid, but he enjoys doing them for reinforcement after he's already gone through the concept with R&S.

[Mom0012]

My plan is to finish the entire R&S Math series by the end of 7th grade. Then, I am planning on using Lial's Basic College Math in 8th grade so that my son gets used to the format. We will move on to Lial's for Algebra 1 and 2 and I have no idea what we will use for geometry, but it will probably be whatever it is Jann in TX uses.

 

The other program I have considered is BJU with the dvds. I love the idea of the dvds, but I really think I will stick with Lial's because that's what the local community college uses so I think it will be more likely that my son will do well when he takes the placement tests if he's already using what the college does.

 

I had noticed at one point that The Highlands Latin School uses R&S for lower math and then Lial's for algebra, so that also made me feel that would be a good progression for him.

 

Lisa

[Nakia]

My plan is to finish the entire R&S Math series by the end of 7th grade. Then, I am planning on using Lial's Basic College Math in 8th grade so that my son gets used to the format. We will move on to Lial's for Algebra 1 and 2 and I have no idea what we will use for geometry, but it will probably be whatever it is Jann in TX uses.

 

The other program I have considered is BJU with the dvds. I love the idea of the dvds, but I really think I will stick with Lial's because that's what the local community college uses so I think it will be more likely that my son will do well when he takes the placement tests if he's already using what the college does.

 

I had noticed at one point that The Highlands Latin School uses R&S for lower math and then Lial's for algebra, so that also made me feel that would be a good progression for him.

 

Lisa

 

Lial's!! That's the one I had been thinking about, but I couldn't remember the name. What exactly is the basic college math course? Where does pre-algebra fit in your plan? I guess I need to do more research about exactly what pre-algebra is.

 

I'm pretty sure that we won't be done with R&S by the end of 7th grade because we are using it at grade level.

[Mom0012]

Lial's!! That's the one I had been thinking about, but I couldn't remember the name. What exactly is the basic college math course? Where does pre-algebra fit in your plan? I guess I need to do more research about exactly what pre-algebra is.

 

I'm pretty sure that we won't be done with R&S by the end of 7th grade because we are using it at grade level.

 

Lial's Basic College Math is prealgebra. My current plan is for my son to do R&S 7 and 8 and then Lial's BCM (which I'm sure is overkill), but we are almost a grade level ahead at this point in R&S and I don't want to start my son in Algebra before 9th. Plus, I thought it would be good for him to get used to the format of Lial's with material he is already familiar with. We'll see, I could always change my mind when we get there.

 

If you want to use Lial's for Algebra, I would either skip R&S 7 or 8 (don't know which one) and then use Lial's for prealgebra or you could just start with Lial's with algebra. It just depends on your time line is and what you want to do. Your plan of skipping 7 or 8 and then starting Algebra in 8th would probably be fine as well. I do think most students are taking Algebra in 8th these days, but in our situation, I will be waiting until 9th.

 

Do an advanced search on "Lial's" and "Jann in TX" and you will get lots of detailed info about how to use Lial's and which versions of the books she thinks are best.

 

Lisa

[Nakia]

Lial's Basic College Math is prealgebra. My current plan is for my son to do R&S 7 and 8 and then Lial's BCM (which I'm sure is overkill), but we are almost a grade level ahead at this point in R&S and I don't want to start my son in Algebra before 9th. Plus, I thought it would be good for him to get used to the format of Lial's with material he is already familiar with. We'll see, I could always change my mind when we get there.

 

If you want to use Lial's for Algebra, I would either skip R&S 7 or 8 (don't know which one) and then use Lial's for prealgebra or you could just start with Lial's with algebra. It just depends on your time line is and what you want to do. Your plan of skipping 7 or 8 and then starting Algebra in 8th would probably be fine as well. I do think most students are taking Algebra in 8th these days, but in our situation, I will be waiting until 9th.

 

Do an advanced search on "Lial's" and "Jann in TX" and you will get lots of detailed info about how to use Lial's and which versions of the books she thinks are best.

 

Lisa

 

Thank you for all the information. I have some time to decide, but I like to have a basic plan in my mind, ya know? I am also trying to decide what the best plan for grammar is as well, but that's a whole 'nother thread. :D I mean, really, how many years must a child do grammar before it becomes overkill?????

[anewday]

I don't see the point of doing algebra before 9th.:confused: Of course, maybe if my dc had been gifted in math I'd have a different opinion. :D

 

Otherwise, if I were hsing again, my plan would be to use R&S through 8th, then go to algebra--not sure which publisher, but most likely Saxon, although maybe something like Teaching Textbooks. Alternatively, I'd do R&S until my dc tested in Saxon's Math 54, then do Saxon from then on.

 

R&S's math series had not been revised until my dc were pretty much aged out of it. I used some R&S when I taught in/administered a little private school, and I liked it very much. I prefer it over Saxon's primary levels.

 

I agree with Ellie. We've used R&S from 1st grade and my oldest is starting 7th this year. We're going to stick with it through 8th.

 

I have read a post or two on the board that recommended that R&S 7 can be skipped, because 7 and 8 are similar and some do think R&S is about a year "behind" other math programs. Since my oldest 2 are not math gifted or want to pursue careers where they will need a lot of upper level math under their belts in high school, I'm OK if it's not at the same pace as other programs. After all, that is one of the many perks of homeschooling! I love that R&S is so strongly mastery based and *errs* on the side of going somewhat slowly. I have seen both my girls really retain what they've learned in R&S so I don't see a need to switch over. I just feel it's such a strong program in that regard. And I tend to think that the extra time spent in 7th/8th on concepts will be a boost to going into algebra in 9th and possibly skipping pre-alg. I'm hoping R&S has their 9th and 10th math programs done by then so I can decide if we'll keep using them or switch over after 8th.

 

HTH

[Mountainpatriot]

On Ellie's recommendation, we began using R&S math when my oldest was in 3rd grade. If she finished the book early, we just moved into the next level. We did not take much time off from math. She finished the 8th grade book in 7th grade and started 8th grade with Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1. We will continue with R&S for the younger ones and use Teaching Textbooks for the high school math.

 

Kathleen