RightStart/6-year-old boy Question...

[learningmama]

My son is 6 and we started RightStart A in August for Kindy math. He is good in math and more advanced than a younger K student, but he does not like RightStart. He is a wiggly/active boy and enjoys hands-on activities, but not when it comes to this math program. It's funny because many people say to use this program with a kid like him. He understands the concepts and does not mind using the abacus, but does not get into the card games, using tiles, etc. It's more of a drudgery to him. He does not act like this with his other subjects. He actually likes his LA Lifepacs and Rod and Staff workbooks. I'm thinking I may have to actually go for a workbook based math for him. Any thoughts?

[jillian]

We don't do the games. We do the abacus and the different like games with how many is this (using different mediums of demonstrating the amounts) but the games are only a warm up. I've got a very young K-er doing RSA--she's 3 1/2 (almost 4 really)

[FairProspects]

Yeah, my ds was exactly the same. RS was just not how he thinks about math. I loved it, so I should have known right away it would not work for ds since we are nearly polar opposites :lol:. MM has been working well for us, it is much less hands-on but includes more visual examples beyond the abacus, which I discovered was what ds was wanting.

[didadeewiththree]

I find this true with my son sometimes too...sometimes we go off the beaten path in RS A and do our own thing, although I use it as our spine. My 5yr old likes to work in big sister's 2nd grade R & S, and she complains that she wants to do his Rightstart. I can't seem to win.

[boscopup]

Some kids just don't need all the manipulatives and such to understand math. There's nothing wrong with a workbook program as long as the concepts are still being explained well (the "why").

 

I use Math Mammoth for my oldest, who would not have enjoyed RS. He would probably also have done well with Singapore (we use parts of that). He is very mathy and already thinks abstractly about math. He's needed manipulatives for ONE concept since I started teaching him (MM1B-4A), and that was making 10s to add across a 10 (ie, 8 + 4 = 10 + 2 = 12).

 

I tried RS A with my middle son when he was 4, and he could do what we were doing, but *I* didn't like it. He also didn't seem to really be learning anything from it. He could do the activities, but just wasn't getting anything out of it. I switched him to Singapore EM K, and he is really showing understanding now. He does better with a workbook. In fact, as wiggly and hands-on as he is (he's sensory seeking in general), he didn't learn how to count or learn his colors/shapes until we got a workbook that went through them. :confused: Just pointing things out in real life didn't sink in. The workbook did (R&S ABC series). Kind of weird.

 

Now I *am* using Cuisenaire rods with Singapore for DS2, and that is going fabulously. DS is really getting it with the rods. Maybe RS just had too many different manipulatives? I don't know. He can look at 2 C-rods lined up next to each other and immediately pick out the rod that will fit in the "hole" to make them equal lengths. That's with very little time working with the C-rods.

[JenC3]

I'm with boscopup about the c-rods! It's amazing how quick ds took to them. I assumed it wold take a few days..no. One. He started making number bonds to ten in the second lesson.

[sbgrace]

One of mine didn't like the games. He doesn't do workbook either though.

 

Maybe Math Mammoth would be a fit. It's inexpensive to try a level.

[Osaubi]

My dd refused to do RS A. She thought it was moving too slow so I bumped her up to RS B (already had). She liked it much better. It went faster and the games were more engaging. She is still not a big fan of the games but she tolerates them.

[Crimson Wife]

My dd refused to do RS A. She thought it was moving too slow so I bumped her up to RS B (already had). She liked it much better. It went faster and the games were more engaging. She is still not a big fan of the games but she tolerates them.

 

I love, love, :001_wub: Right Start B, but don't care much for RS A. It's much less of a "spiral" format and the sequence of activities strikes me as quite a bit more logical. I'm glad that I started my oldest in RS B because had I gone with A, I probably would've dumped RS entirely.

[learningmama]

Thanks everyone! :)

[blondeviolin]

Miquon! Definitely! If you're unsure, just try out the c rods. I bet he LOVES them.

[cholderby]

We started out with RS A last year. My son has non-hyperactive ADD (although we didn't have a diagnosis last year) and I was sure he'd love the games. He didn't.

 

We tried Singapore (he wasn't a fan of that either) and settled on CLE. I think he likes knowing exactly what is in each lesson up front, which is obvious in workbook format. He also likes that the same concept is taught in different ways in each lesson (straight worksheet, story problem, missing number problem, graphically, etc.)

 

I probably wouldn't have guessed that CLE would be a good fit for him but it was. Plus its a cheap one to try, each workbook is something like $3/piece and you could easily skip the teachers manual at first (you'd have to make up the story problems, but it would be fine for a week or two).

[Terabith]

I've found that Dreambox works well with Right Start. It uses an abacus, along with other manipulatives. I wouldn't use it as a sole program, bc I think physical manipulation is important, but my daughter enjoys Dreambox and has made a lot of progress through it, even more than using Right Start.