If you *continue* with Rightstart after level C

[Snowfall]

Can you tell me why? I seem to see a lot of people say they drop RS halfway through C. I believe it's once C covers subtraction with borrowing that people drop it, but I've seen some threads in which people don't like the way it's done at all and perhaps drop it without even teaching it the RS way at all. Then I've heard a lot of people say D is nothing but review of C. I haven't had any opportunity to look at any of the levels besides B and I'm really trying to decide what to do next year. I've read so many people say why they dislike the second half of RS C and the higher levels. Can someone tell me why they like RS C and up?

[Catherine]

For the child I use it for, Rightstart is perfect. It would not have worked as well for his brothers-they got Singapore. D is not, IMO, just a reiteration of what's in C, but it does include lots of practice with multiplication facts, so if you chlld doesn't need this practice, you might not find D as helpful as I have. My son has limited working memory and it takes A LOT of drill to get stuff into his head, so the drill and games are fine for us.

 

D introduces lots of deeper math like squaring, square roots, comparisons of area and perimeter, and really good introductions of two digit multiplication. It engenders a deep understanding of these topics and that's one reason I love it and continue to use it. I occasionally skip drill or move through topics quickly if I can see he's "got it". I can imagine doing lots more of this for some children.

[Snowfall]

That does sound really good. :) Anyone else? I know there are many of you who do continue using it. What do you love about the C and up?

[siloam]

Can you tell me why? I seem to see a lot of people say they drop RS halfway through C. I believe it's once C covers subtraction with borrowing that people drop it, but I've seen some threads in which people don't like the way it's done at all and perhaps drop it without even teaching it the RS way at all. Then I've heard a lot of people say D is nothing but review of C. I haven't had any opportunity to look at any of the levels besides B and I'm really trying to decide what to do next year. I've read so many people say why they dislike the second half of RS C and the higher levels. Can someone tell me why they like RS C and up?

 

The first part of D spends time reviewing a lot of the strategies, like adding 9's, but it isn't all review by any means. Like Catherine says it has a lot of work going back and forth between squares and square roots, it heavily covers multiplication, covers to more ways of doing subtraction (including the traditional method), covers perimeter, area, and volume and last moves into fractions and easy division seen as parts to whole (using ye old circles from addition).

 

Level E teaches (hit the ground running, no review) decimals, percents and ratio showing how they relate to each other and to fractions. I adore how they do this. To date Singapore hasn't even show how these relate to one another (though we haven't done level 6 yet). Then it covers an unusual approach to long division and using check numbers with multiplication and division, which is much needed when you get to Mulivides. If I remember right you then move into area of a triangles and other non-rectangle shapes. Next is prime factors, averages, probability, coordinates, measuring angles, and then the traditional method of long division. In level E they also have you doing daily work with simple algebra equations to get the child comfortable with all those little letter symbols being in their math problems.

 

I just know that RS works here. My kids need the hands on and with RS it is fairly painless.

 

Heather

[Capt_Uhura]

We're now on RS Geo. I've used RS B-E w/ my oldest and my middle son has done RS A-C and is now on level D. Level D is not a review of level C. I was thinking of switching my middle son, he's young, only 7yrs old, and needed review. Well, when I looked at the beginning of level D, it was all the review that he needs! Already done for me w/out switching to a new program. :001_smile: I've enjoyed our RS journey and it worked well for my kids. We may now head into MM level 5 to go deeper into fractions, decimals and percents, rate, etc basically where RS E left off. We'll be doing RS Geo simultaneously.

[Snowfall]

Thank you all! I'm only on lesson 43 of B, but I'm trying to avoid having to agonize over it at the last minute....by agonizing over it right now, apparently. lol It's made more difficult by the fact that my daughter is sort of a Negative Nellie, so it's hard to gauge whether or not she really likes something, which makes it harder to decide what to use. Ah, kids. lol

[JulieD]

I, too, have found the review in Level D helpful. It was the perfect time for my son to step back and gain confidence. I can see it's going to be great for my daughter, too.

 

RightStart is working really well for my son and for me. My daughter does pretty well with it, too, although frankly she's a just-the-facts type. "Mom, I don't care WHY 5 x 5 is 25. It just always is." I guess for us it isn't broken, so why fix it?

 

I think part of the reason I like it is it addresses so many of the problems I saw while I was tutoring algebra at our community college. (Even relatively stupid stuff like how to write a fraction so you'll be able to read it later.) I don't mind spending the time teaching math now, because it will be worth it not to spend the time later. (By the way, levels D and E are a bit less teacher intensive.)

 

Julie D.

[Homemama2]

I got frustrated w/ C about halfway through because there was ALOT of drawing lessons. I finished C though, and once we got through the drawing lessons, I was much happier. We are using level D now and so far I love it. It does not seem to be all review to me....but I'm not very far into the book. My ds needs more review so we added MM this year (but this is my fault because I don't play the games often enough. I really need to figure out how to add the games in better...sigh...because he loves the games and does not love MM worksheets.) I think RS does a fabulous job of helping them see the "why" in math.

[momtoccm]

My kids are in levels A, C, and E. They all started in A from the beginning. It works well so I've never seen a reason to change since this is the way they're already used to learning. My oldest will finish E in a few months and I haven't decided for sure what we'll use next. I got really tired of all the drawing lessons too so I've been hesitant to go with RS Geometry. I did see that it's written to the child and he didn't mind the drawing so it may work for us.

[Honey Bee]

 

... Mulivides...

 

Heather

 

OK, that hurts my brain, can't wait to get to those!

 

We are also in B and looking to move to Singapore or continue with RS....:bigear:

 

Thanks for the thread. :001_smile: