Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Years ago I purchased everything one would need to use RS A-C but it didn't work out. I was still in the stage of three toddlers and I was just plain tired all the time. I didn't have the energy to use RS. I gave it all away and really don't want to spend that kind of money again (now I can't afford it anyway ;)) but now that I plan to have group math sessions with my children I'm wondering if I can get away with purchasing the teacher manuals only. I don't want to use the whole program per say, just get some ideas and presenting math in a different light for my kiddos. I have many manipulatives and don't want to purchase an abacus (I had four RS abacuses at one time :banghead: and again don't want to fork the money out again). Would only owning the TM work for our group sessions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 If you just want RightStart ideas to supplement a different math program, how about getting the "Activites for the AL Abacus" book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 If you just want RightStart ideas to supplement a different math program, how about getting the "Activites for the AL Abacus" book? I don't really want to use the Abacus :blush:. I understand that the Abacus is a big part of RS though. I do have one of the mini ones laying around somewhere. Maybe I should seek it out. I'm so bummed I gave the larger ones away.{wonder if my MIL still has the one I gave to her:glare:} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 What about the transition teacher manual? There weren't too many samples of that one, so I couldn't get a feel for it. Since the Transition manual is less expensive I can add the worksheets {not sure if we'd do the worksheets but they are always nice to have on hand} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) I can't tell exactly if you own all the RS manipulatives and just want the lesson plans or if you want a quick/easy/cheap way to do some RightStart concepts? Another option is the game pack. It comes with all the cards, A small abacus, manual explaining every game and activity, words to the songs, appendices of many of the reproducibles, and lists of orders of the games. For example: games used in K, games used in 1st, etc.. It also gives suggested orders for learning facts. I owned levels A and B at one time, and the best comparison is that the game pack contains the entire program without the lesson plans or worksheets. For supplementing, it's really ideal. If we're doing clocks in our other program, I just go to the table of contents and find the section of clocks and look through it until I find a game that covers the concept I want covered. Edited October 20, 2010 by snickelfritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 If you don't want to own the abacus, why RS? Why not another (probably cheaper) asian math book? How about the math games book? Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 I can't tell exactly if you own all the RS manipulatives and just want the lesson plans or if you want a quick/easy/cheap way to do some RightStart concepts? Another option is the game pack. It comes with all the cards, A small abacus, manual explaining every game and activity, words to the songs, appendices of many of the reproducibles, and lists of orders of the games. For example: games used in K, games used in 1st, etc.. It also gives suggested orders for learning facts. I owned levels A and B at one time, and the best comparison is that the game pack contains the entire program without the lesson plans or worksheets. For supplementing, it's really ideal. If we're doing clocks in our other program, I just go to the table of contents and find the section of clocks and look through it until I find a game that covers the concept I want covered. I don't own any of the RS manipulatives anymore. I use to have the game pack but sold it a year ago after it sat on my shelf forever. I don't mean to sound so difficult but I don't want to purchase that either {again}:tongue_smilie: at the time when I owned it they didn't have the dvd, wonder if that'll make a difference. Hmmmm.............. If you don't want to own the abacus, why RS? Why not another (probably cheaper) asian math book? How about the math games book? Emily I've tried Singapore & Miquon twice and it just doesn't work here :001_huh:. Math Mammoth I own and love but my son's brain doesn't work that way. I like the way RS manual is set up. It tells one what to say and has examples. This is why I'm wondering if one can just purchase the manual and work with the manipulatives that I already own. I have tons {just not the RS manipulatives}. I have a base-ten set, counters, well, lets just say I've purchased the Saxon, Horizon, McRuffy, Bob Jones manipulative kits and some in between through the years:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I like the way RS manual is set up. It tells one what to say and has examples. This is why I'm wondering if one can just purchase the manual and work with the manipulatives that I already own. I have tons {just not the RS manipulatives}. I have a base-ten set, counters, well, lets just say I've purchased the Saxon, Horizon, McRuffy, Bob Jones manipulative kits and some in between through the years I suppose you can make anything work. But, I kinda think that if you don't want to use the abacus, manipulatives, or card games.....you don't REALLY want RightStart. Most of the "different" way of explaining things seems to use one of those 3 things????? I'm not very creative, though. I'm sure other people could make it work brilliantly. I haven't actually watched the game DVD, but I need to just to see what I'm missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) I suppose you can make anything work. But, I kinda think that if you don't want to use the abacus, manipulatives, or card games.....you don't REALLY want RightStart. Most of the "different" way of explaining things seems to use one of those 3 things????? I'm not very creative, though. I'm sure other people could make it work brilliantly. I haven't actually watched the game DVD, but I need to just to see what I'm missing. It's just that I have so many other manipulatives. I was thinking the base ten blocks that I have can replace Abacus cubes and tiles they have. Many of the other manipulatives like, color tiles,cubes, geometric solids, fraction charts, tangrams and such I own. The main thing I wouldn't have are the card games and the Abacus {although I know I have a RS mini abacus laying around somewhere} Do you think the manipulatives I have could be used in place of RS? Again, I don't want to use their whole program. I plan on once a week having a group math session and go over things like place value, addition, subtractions and so forth. If I really do need the RS manipulatives I can purchase it, I'll just have to wait until the next school year because my funds for this year are gone, so I can always have our math sessions using what I'm learning from Bob Jones then get some ideas from RS later. Thanks :) Edited October 20, 2010 by Homeschooling6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I had four RS abacuses at one time :banghead: and again don't want to fork the money out again. I bought a cheap abacus from some toy store and painted it to look like the RS abacus. It worked just fine. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangearrow Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 We've been using RS for the past couple of months with my youngest child. The only manipulative that I think is an absolute must-have is the abacus. Everything else, I believe, I could have made-do with the manipulatives we already owned. I mean, having the exact manipulatives is a nice perk, but we could have made-do with a little imagination. But, that particular abacus... well... it's just flat-out essential to the entire program, imho. We own two other abacus(es?) and there's just no way I could have made them work with this program in a useful way. hths! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 We've been using RS for the past couple of months with my youngest child. The only manipulative that I think is an absolute must-have is the abacus. Everything else, I believe, I could have made-do with the manipulatives we already owned. I mean, having the exact manipulatives is a nice perk, but we could have made-do with a little imagination. But, that particular abacus... well... it's just flat-out essential to the entire program, imho. We own two other abacus(es?) and there's just no way I could have made them work with this program in a useful way. hths! :D Thanks, maybe I can purchase one Abacus. I just really dislike to spend money on more manipulatives when we have so many. To think I gave one of my Classic Abacus to my MIL who loses everything! Maybe I'll ask her to hunt it down. I know she hasn't used it with any of the grandkids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 When we began RS I just used the TM and copied problems for him on a dry erase board. The only manipulative I had was the abacus (try some spray paint on the one you've got). I jury rigged other stuff to work. I watched the youtube videos of the games and made or adapted uno cards to play them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Would only owning the TM work for our group sessions? I have used RS A-C. I don't think only owning the manual would work. The math concepts are explained in light of the manipulatives used. If you didn't have the manipulatives, I don't think the explanations would make much sense. Plus, you would need the worksheets so that the kids could practice what they have learned. At the absolute barest minimum, you would need an abacus, because the abacus is the foundation of the RS way of thinking about numbers. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Thank you ladies. I really appreciate you all helping me out. I guess I'll cave and get the Abacus {or see if my MIL can find the one I gave her}. I'll also purchase the student worksheets as well? Again, I don't plan to use this everyday, maybe once a week. Okay, I have another question, are the student pages reproducible or do I have to purchase one per child? I also saw somewhere on the RS site that there was a cd of all the student pages for $100.00, would that work? I can't find it right now but I'll look later. It might have been in the 'classroom' section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveBaby Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) The abacus is at rainbow resource for $13, I think, instead of the $20 from AlAbacus. I know our local homeschool store has a copy of the transition lessons and worksheets, I could go get them for you! ETA: Ok...after thinking about this for a minute, I think you shouldn't do anything with rightstart, mama. You had it and sold it once for a reason. Trust that decision and the decision you've made with math this year and stick with it. I'm sure that between the maths that you have available and the manipulatives that you have available, you have plenty to pick from to do weekly math sessions. Jot down that you want to cover "additon" for the next X# of weeks, then "subtraction", then "pattern blocks/tangrams", "clocks" etc. You might also look at Math Mammoth if you still have it. Each chapter is broken down in to topics, so you could do the chapter on upper addition/subtraction, pick one on money and use the manipulatives you already own to teach and work with those concepts. The explanations given in Math Mammoth are really great and lend themselves well to "different math thinking"! :grouphug: Edited October 20, 2010 by LoveBaby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 You can make your own abacus for cheap with popsicle sticks, skinny dowels, and 2 colors of pony beads. Here's how one member here made hers: http://satorismiles.com/2010/01/11/more-fun-with-rightstart-math/ But if you don't WANT to use the abacus, that's another story, and I don't really understand why you're trying to make Right Start work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) You can make your own abacus for cheap with popsicle sticks, skinny dowels, and 2 colors of pony beads. Here's how one member here made hers:http://satorismiles.com/2010/01/11/more-fun-with-rightstart-math/ But if you don't WANT to use the abacus, that's another story, and I don't really understand why you're trying to make Right Start work. I don't want to use rightstart as a second curriculum. I only want the ideas presented. Lets say we are working on place value; I would like to get some ideas from RS to present it a different way. I plan to start having some math sessions with my children at least once a week. I'll get all the kids together and work on a concept. I'll check the links out, thanks! Edited October 20, 2010 by Homeschooling6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 When we began RS I just used the TM and copied problems for him on a dry erase board. The only manipulative I had was the abacus (try some spray paint on the one you've got). I jury rigged other stuff to work. I watched the youtube videos of the games and made or adapted uno cards to play them. Thanks :thumbup:. I'll google the youtube videos. I think this will work for the math sessions I want to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 The abacus is at rainbow resource for $13, I think, instead of the $20 from AlAbacus. I know our local homeschool store has a copy of the transition lessons and worksheets, I could go get them for you! ETA: Ok...after thinking about this for a minute, I think you shouldn't do anything with rightstart, mama. You had it and sold it once for a reason. Trust that decision and the decision you've made with math this year and stick with it. I'm sure that between the maths that you have available and the manipulatives that you have available, you have plenty to pick from to do weekly math sessions. Jot down that you want to cover "additon" for the next X# of weeks, then "subtraction", then "pattern blocks/tangrams", "clocks" etc. You might also look at Math Mammoth if you still have it. Each chapter is broken down in to topics, so you could do the chapter on upper addition/subtraction, pick one on money and use the manipulatives you already own to teach and work with those concepts. The explanations given in Math Mammoth are really great and lend themselves well to "different math thinking"! :grouphug: Jesse, you're so kind. I may take you up on that offer. I just want some ideas. Math Mammoth, maybe I'll look those over but I tried this with the children for a year and although I love math mammoth it just didn't go very well. Maybe I can get some ideas and use them in a math session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Hi Linda! I would start with level B, not C. B is where place value is taught, just to be sure you get what you want. :D Once you are done with B and C you probably won't need the abacus, but for those levels you really do need them, because unless you have multiple 1000's cubes there just is no better way to show trading. I do use my blocks in all the lessons I can, but even then I eventually have to switch over to their cards because I only have 1 thousand cube. In C they start using the T square. If I remember right in C it isn't essential they are just building base drawing skills, but in D they use the drawings to then figure perimeter and area, so it is something you would want to pick up later. They don't allow copying of the student pages, so it probably would pay off to buy the CD, which it was available when I started. :glare: Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 Hi Linda! I would start with level B, not C. B is where place value is taught, just to be sure you get what you want. :D Once you are done with B and C you probably won't need the abacus, but for those levels you really do need them, because unless you have multiple 1000's cubes there just is no better way to show trading. I do use my blocks in all the lessons I can, but even then I eventually have to switch over to their cards because I only have 1 thousand cube. In C they start using the T square. If I remember right in C it isn't essential they are just building base drawing skills, but in D they use the drawings to then figure perimeter and area, so it is something you would want to pick up later. They don't allow copying of the student pages, so it probably would pay off to buy the CD, which it was available when I started. :glare: Heather Thanks Heather, this info is very helpful. I may just go with B and look into the cd. I'll poke around RS site again to find the cd. Blessings, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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