If you supplement RightStart, please read....

[jewel7123]

I have started RightStart A with my 5 year old K'er (as well as her 3 year old tagalong) and we are loving it so far. Before this we used Singapore Earlybird 1a and 1b (the older edition they no longer carry). We have also done some of the newer Earlybird 2a standards edition, but I've dropped it because I don't want to confuse my daughter while she's learning the "Righstart way". (singapore uses cubes and groups of tens instead of groups of 5 like Rightstart.....was I wrong to drop it?) I have read many threads on RightStart though, and I know many people supplement it for various reasons. I would like to hear from those of you who use RightStart as well as another program. Can you please share what other program you use, when you started it, and your reasons for using it (what does it offer that RightStart doesn't?) Thanks for your help!

[patchfire]

We use Miquon as well. Why? I love Miquon. I don't want to use it without another program, and RightStart appealed to me for several reasons as well. I wouldn't call either one a supplement though; we do both.

[jewel7123]

Just bumping up! =)

[Snowfall]

We used MEP Yr. 1 and RS B for a looong time. RS B just does not have the practice my kid needed for memorizing those math facts (emphasis on 'my kid' just because that's not true for every kid ;)). Once she got her under 10 facts down and we were at about lesson 40 of B, we stopped using much MEP. Now we supplement a worksheet from all kinds of places here and there, but not as often. We just grab whatever we need to keep those under 10 facts solid, so maybe something twice a week nowadays. Next year we're going to use MM and RS, but one will just be a supplement. I'm thinking it will be MM, but we'll see. If so, we'll just use it to help teach things from a different angle, because my dd doesn't always understand what RS is trying to explain, so it helps to have another option.

[cherylw]

We are using RS and nothing else. I just appealed to me and I thought the boys would like it...since they are in 3rd and 4th coming from PS it has been a slow transition. It took me a long time to pick a math curr. so we got a late start as well.

[Mommy22alyns]

We use CLE as well as RightStart. I like CLE for the paper & pencil work and the scheduled drill, counting, and writing practice. RightStart does have practice/drill sheets, but they're not scheduled and can be easy to forget.

[Sunkirst]

With my eldest, we went through B, C, D, and E, without any supplements. It was (is) a constant struggle to play the games as often as is necessary, and my ds 12's multiplication speed slips if I don't play multiplication war (or do timed drill sheets) periodically. We are currently doing Geometry, but I'm not sure my son was ready for it after E.

 

When I do it over again (with my girls), I won't proceed directly to Geometry after finishing level E. I found that my son was wildly unprepared to handle "real" long division, fractions and percentages. These subjects were touched on with RS, but my ds really needs to thoroughly understand how something works before it sinks in (and then only with much practice). RS guides learners to discover how math works, but with fractions and percents, my ds really needed to have cold hard explanations.

 

We just started with Life of Fred Fractions - We'll likely work through this and the Decimal and Percents books double time (ds feels he's been demoted, and wants to get back to were he should be). Thus far, we both like them. Ds pauses during his reading several times per chapter to comment on something interesting, and he seems to understand much better.

[FlutterbyMommy]

We do RS B and I have supplemented on occasion with Kumon workbooks and was going to use MEP. I was supplementing because my daughter seems to enjoy math and was seeking a bit more. I thought I would work more on mastery work, because RS is a soft spiral.

 

We also do CC, so she gets skip counting work and memorization of math facts there.

 

I took a break from any supplementing though after listening to advice given here that supplementing at this age with RS wasn't needed. If she asks for new work though, I will reconsider this. She seems happy for now, is responding well, and there are no gaps, so I will stay the course.

[happyhappyjoyjoy]

I started RS B in June. By the time we hit lesson 25 or so, my son wanted more book work so we added Singapore. They complement each other very well (number bonds).

[jewel7123]

More responses....thanks! We started late as my DD is already 5.5, so that's another reason why I wonder about supplementing. I was thinking I would keep using the Singapore I have, just not the parts that relate to addition and using groups of ten just yet? Or should I wait to supplement until we get to RightStart level B? Any opinions?

[MeganW]

We started late as my DD is already 5.5,

 

And I thought I was paranoid! :tongue_smilie: Relax, momma, 5 1/2 is NOT late!!

[jewel7123]

LOL, well it seems a lot of people start A at 4, and have already moved on to B by the age of 5. =) I believe it's even implied on their website that a 4 year old can do level A, but I could be wrong.

[FlutterbyMommy]

I think technically that A is kinder and B is first grade. Remember the first part of B is A. So if your kindergartener is doing B, they could be viewed as ahead and if tehy are doing A they are right on target.

 

We started B last year and took a break due to serious life issues. We picked it back up this year but are moving at a very slow pace. She is still little and so we do what feels right for her. If she wants things a bit different, we supplement. If life gets busy, it goes to teh back burner.

 

I wouldn't stress at all...

[Beth in SW WA]

x-post from another thread re RS....

 

I confess I am phasing out RS B in favor of MM. My dds love worksheets, workbooks, etc. MM, Singapore & Horizons workbooks are our main programs. I will refer to RS B sometimes -- especially use of the place value cards and base-10 pictures (love those!).

[cmarango]

I missed this thread earlier, but I wanted to say that I use 4 math programs: Singapore Essential, Rightstart A, MEP Reception, and Miquon. I found that Earlybird was not so great, but that Essential math is much better. When counting though I always emphasize groups of 5 no matter which math program we are currently working with.

 

I have a blog post about our math choices here if you are interested.

[FairProspects]

I started RS B in June. By the time we hit lesson 25 or so, my son wanted more book work so we added Singapore. They complement each other very well (number bonds).

 

This is exactly where we are and we had the same feeling this week! Are people finding that Singapore or Math Mammoth is a better supplement for worksheets or does it not matter?

[Terabith]

I'm on RS C now, and I am combining Horizons 2 and Challenging Word Problems 1 with it. Last year, the first semester I did parts of MUS Alpha with it. We just needed more practice with learning the facts than we were getting with the games, but I decided it wasn't my preferred supplement. I had good results with it, but it was a lot of work to "teach" the facts the RS way. However, once she could do her basic facts, I switched over to Horizons and I've been VERY pleased with that. It offers spiral review, which is a nice contrast to RS. It keeps her from forgetting how to tell time or count money or add multi digit numbers when we're doing other stuff in RS. I don't try to line anything up, just do the next thing. She doesn't generally have to do all the problems on a Horizons page. I mark off about a third or half of the probems, but it makes a really nice supplement.

 

My little one really wasn't ready for RS A. She doesn't have the IDEA of one to one counting down terribly solidly, so the idea of visualizing numbers was becoming "guess what number of objects this is." So, we're using Singapore Early Bird and lots of one to one practice. I sort of hate to do this when we're going to go to RS A, but I think this is a more foundational skill. We're probably going to finish Earlybird Standards and do MEP Reception before we move into RS A. My plan is to combine RS A with Miquon for her, but we'll see what happens.

 

I just have decided that by first grade, I really like to combine awesome concept teaching with a spiral practice program for my kids. They need more practice. We still play the games, but I see it as insurance.