Anyone loved Rightstart level B?

[Guest mami de dos]

I want to order Rightstart for my upcoming first grade DD to supplement her PS Everyday Math curric. Just read a thread where a lot of parents gave up on it because of the way it is organized. Now I'm unsure. Does anyone have success stories using RS?:confused:

[learningmama]

I really like A and B, but my daughter was struggling with it midway through C. C has some good concepts and it is where they really work on multiple digit addition and learn subtraction. Lots of geometry added in too. Oh and it introduces multiplication as well, which my daughter picked up fine. But for whatever reason though she was really frustrated each day with math halfway through the school year. I will be using Horizons with her this fall. She needs the extra practice and likes the colorful page aspect.

I plan to use A and B with my son the next two years. I do wish subtraction was covered sooner than C.

[Catherine]

For the right kind of learner, it can be wonderful. I would not recommend it for a very math-intuitive child, unless you are going to go through it quickly and skip any unneeded repetition. My youngest really struggled with Singapore, which had worked very well for his brothers. When I found RS, I never looked back.

 

Its great strength is in really promoting deep understanding of concepts. Drill is often in the form of games, and understanding is sometimes assessed by asking the child to explain something. For my son, who struggles with multistep processes, and who has trouble enough even when he DOES understand, conventional math programs would be a big FAIL.

[PeterPan]

Love? Well let's just say I about *cried* when I sold my RS B. So that probably qualifies as love. :)

 

I don't know much about Everyday Math to help you know if it's a good complement to it or not. The main thing is to look at the samples. RS B will be just like the samples. Like the others said, RS is terrific on conceptual explanations. Love the manipulatives. Drill is through the games. If what you're mainly wanting is practice and are happy with the explanations in Everyday Math, you might prefer to get the Games Kit along with a few extra manipulatives (the place value cards, base 10 picture cards, and fractions puzzle). You could also consider the original format of the program which is the Activities for the ALAbacus. It's inexpensive and when paired with the Games Kit would make a great supplement to the regular curriculum. Activities for the ALAbacus is going to have all the explanations from the grade-leveled curriculum, but it's going to be by topic rather than broken into lessons by grade. As I recall, it won't cover geometry or the extras, just computation. But check the toc for it to be sure.

 

If you like the samples, you'll like it.

[Mommy22alyns]

Yes, I loved A and B. Started to question things midway through C, but stuck with it. Heard negatives about higher levels, so I decided to drop it. But it really, really helped Becca with math skills, amazingly so. Highly recommend it!

[melissel]

Yes, I loved A and B. Started to question things midway through C, but stuck with it. Heard negatives about higher levels, so I decided to drop it. But it really, really helped Becca with math skills, amazingly so. Highly recommend it!

 

:iagree: Except that we're going to give the upper levels a try anyway. This is what I posted in another thread about the choppiness issue based on my experiences with A, B, and C:

 

RS does feel choppy, but I've found that it's all very carefully calculated. There were things that seemed so unnecessary early on, but later I found out that they tied to a different concept and made learning that concept easier. For example, we're in C now, and we spent a series of lessons with the clock and showing the hands at various quarter-hour positions. Not long after, we slid into learning about fractions. The understanding of the quarter and half sections of the clock circle helped with the concept of fractions. Over the long haul, all the tedious skip counting is how the student learns her multiplication tables without torturous chanting.

 

I've also found that sometimes RS will introduce something seemingly at random, and only once or twice. Sometimes they were things that DD or I struggled with a bit, but then they vanished. When they suddenly reappeared many lessons later, whatever that information was had time to germinate in our minds, and the concept made more sense. I've lost faith in RS a few times over the past three years, but each time I've just taught according to the book, even if I was the one not understanding, and each time I've come through realizing what needed to be learned and why.

 

HTH!

[Acadie]

I'm going to second Melissa's post in that I've wondered about RS at times. But having scanned what's ahead and just plugging through the book, I've been able to see the logic and, most importantly, the benefits for my dd.

 

I've used RS A, B and we're partway through C, and it really is coming together despite my occasional doubts about the unconventional sequence.

 

Like a pp, I thought subtraction was introduced a bit late in C, but recently I've talked to several hs'ing friends whose children use other programs and keep confusing multi-digit addition and subtraction. I think my dd may not be having that difficulty because she spent so long solidifying 4-digit addition that she knows the how and why inside out. Encountering subtraction a bit later than the standard sequence, she easily comprehends it as a discrete yet related operation.

 

We originally started with Singapore 1A, but it confused dd1 so we switched to RS, and I plan to use RS with my younger dd too. We may switch back at some point, but midway through RS C I'm so pleased with the depth of what she's learned that I plan to continue. I wondered about all the geometry in C before subtraction is introduced, but then noticed all the addition and multiplication practice there is in the warmups for those geometry lessons. There's so much that the child is making their own in those lessons and postponing subtraction seems very deliberate.

 

The games are a blast. If nothing else, get the games book and cards and have fun.

 

Amy

[trailofsparks]

I have loved RightStart B, C, D, and E. We are into Geometry now and it's going well, too!!! LOVE IT. In fact, I can't bring myself to sell my Level B and we've been done with it for a while. (But my grandkids might need it someday, and it may not be available :lol:)

 

Each of my 3 kids are very different learners, and RS covers it all. I don't know what pps are talking about re: choppiness in the curriculum or repetitiveness. Well, there is some review at the beginning of each level, but that's the way it is with other curricula, isn't it? You can either skip review or move through it quickly - I have done a little of both. But b/c I'm convinced of the importance of a strong math foundation, I don't skip much. We play the games as needed, which are fun for dc.

 

I originally began supplementing Level B with Singapore (CWP) b/c I didn't think RS had enough word problems. But when I saw my first dc just skip through CWP, I thought it a waste of our time, and discontinued CWP. My dc are excellent with word problems and math IRL application. RS gives just the right amount of worksheet practice for each of my dc. I've never used the practice sheets even. But my dc are not bored with a bunch of repetition either.

 

My ds used Life of Fred before going into RS Geometry and he really missed the way RS taught the concepts. I'm so thankful my dc all have a great grasp of math concepts - and so do I now!!! Love RS!

[Penelope]

Gave it a good try. Love the games, for older children, too.

 

Curriculum is just okay. I like Singapore so. much. better. Same concepts, but less clunky to me.

 

I really thought it was great until about lesson 30, where dc was supposed to make these paper manipulatives representing different quantities for a base-10 system. I guess it's a cheaper way of getting the idea across, but not user-friendly at all. And then there was the math journal. Too many different parts when Singapore gets the same result.

[Kirch]

Loving A with my younger ds, loved B & getting ready to start C with his big brother. ITA with the previous comments--the internal logic made a lot more sense in hindsight (definitely after finishing B, but even several times in the middle of it there were lightbulb moments--"oh, that's why she did it that way" kind of thing.) I feel like it has given my older ds a great foundation in really understanding math, and I'm floored every now and then when my younger ds casually explains how he knew the answer to a problem I didn't realize he could do--I can tell from his answer that he's thinking about it the RightStart way and really *gets* how the numbers work.

[Cassy]

DS6 has just finished RS B and is on lesson 17 in RS C. It has worked really well for him and he adores the games. DS10 will finish RS E in a couple of weeks and this has also been a great success. I feel that RS has helped both boys become very strong in math. RS Geometry doesn't fit with future plans for DS10, so we'll be moving on to Singapore Standards 5a and 5b, and I must say I feel terribly sad about leaving RS behind. It is rather demanding on the teacher, but my boys do like my involvement, and in fact DS10 rather needs it (which is another issue in itself :glare:).

 

DS4 is also just making a slow start on RS A. I intend to go through to RS E with both DS4 and DS6 unless some unforeseen problems arise.

 

Cassy

[linders]

Love all the levels of RS. DS10 is starting RS Geometry and is bummed there's nothing beyond it, DS8 just finished RS D.

 

I thought the organization of Level B (and C, for that matter) was fine. I did do a small bit of reorganizing for Levels D and E, but overall the RS approach has been just right for my boys. And they are both scoring very well on standardized tests with it.

[Mom0012]

I loved A, B and C. We moved onto something else at that point, but I do plan on using RS Geometry with my daughter. I would make sure that B, rather than A is the level you want, though. B covers everything that A does, but moves through things much more quickly. If you do A, I believe it is only 60 lessons, but then you can cut out about 20 lessons of B.

 

Lisa

[cathmom]

I can tell from his answer that he's thinking about it the RightStart way and really *gets* how the numbers work.

 

I can tell this with my son who is halfway through B! It's so exciting!

 

If you do A, I believe it is only 60 lessons, but then you can cut out about 20 lessons of B.

 

Lisa

 

It's 77 lessons.

[Soror]

We are using B w/ my 6.5 yo. I have found some of it to be tedious to be honest. IIRC there was a few weeks of lessons that we just sloughed through around Lsn 40 or so. Like building the fractual, goodness that was a pain. We had to do a break for a few months as some things I didn't think he had down the best and I needed a break from it. However, we have started back and are really, really, really enjoying it again. It is challenging but in a good way. We are taking 1.5 yrs to do this level, I had read that it isn't uncommon and it gives me time to do CWP and practice w/ MM as well. I do think it is really cementing the mental math and that thrills me. I am looking forward to doing RS A with my 4 yo.