chicagomom Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I am researching curriculum choices for next year for my kids and I was looking into R&S for Math and L.A. I was just wondering if the math was a good curriculum. It will be for 4th and 2nd grade. I was going to go with saxon 54 but i am reading so many bad reviews on it I wanted to see what else there was. Right now we are using a mish mash of stuff for math. (MEP, Math Mammoth, and Khan Academey). Also are there any other recomedations for math for a mathy 4th grader, a not so mathy 2nd grader and a K'er? Thank You:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Take a look at CLE for the not-so-mathy kids. It'd be more interesting than R&S Math, I think. For the mathy one, MM and Singapore are both excellent. The non-mathy could do those also, but if those kids don't mesh with those programs, CLE would be a good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beccad777 Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I use R&S for 3rd grade and I think it is great. He is a non mathy kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I have used the preschool ABC workbooks through 5th (well, we are in the 5th grade now) and I have been very pleased. For my quick learner, we just use a year ahead. It has been perfect for both of my children that way. It is slow and steady in the early years to give mastery, and it picks up a lot in the 4th grade math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Too bad you saw only the bad reviews about Saxon. There are a truckload of good reviews. Homeschoolers have loved Saxon since Math 76 was first released in the late 80s. :-) Of course, some don't like Saxon, but it's like that with every product. :) As it happens, R&S is my favorite first-through-third publisher for math (after that it's a toss-up between Saxon and R&S, with Saxon slightly ahead because it goes through calculus; R&S does not). R&S doesn't have kindergarten; they consider anything before first grade to be pre-school. :-) However, many people use Beginning Arithmetic (first grade) for their 5yo dc, and move more slowly if necessary. Beginning Arithmetic, Working Arithmetic, and Exploring Arithmetic all depend heavily on the oral classtime instruction. IOW, there is no instruction in the student books; the teachers are expected to do the teaching, while the seatwork just reinforces what was taught. It is possible to just hand off the worksheets and show the dc what to do, but it's better to do the oral classtime (even though you can't do some of the activities because they assume a classroom full of students, lol). The oral classtime also adds warm fuzzy face time. :) So for the first three grade levels, you need the TM; that's where the instruction is, in the scripted oral classtime. You also need the first grade flash cards. You can add the blackline masters if you'd like; they are optional, but they do add some drill that looks different from the seatwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I love the TM even in grade 4. I like the built in oral review. We use is 1/2 year ahead. I sprinkle in MM and Singapore too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I am two levels short of owning the entire R&S math series. It is a good curriculum. :) The early levels are very gentle, yet gets their basics rock solid. In fourth grade it kicks it up a notch and more than catches up. I've had success with my strong and not so strong math students. The explanations are clear, and concepts are broken down into baby steps. All levels keep old concept in review frequently enough to keep them from being forgotten. My more mathy kids worked ahead of their grade level, and/or did more than a lesson a day. I set the amount of math where I felt they were challenged appropriately. I've only used Saxon math for a short season, but our experience with the 5/4 - 7/6 books was positive. They seem like solid books. There is a "lot" of review, but I'd far rather math be over-taught and become automatic than have a student struggling with basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkermamaof4 Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 My mathy ds8 is plowing through MM4 and learning lots that I believe he wouldn't learn with R&S wrt thinking in different ways about numbers instead of rote memorization of methods. My not so mathy dd11 is doing R&S6 after doing R&S 1-5 as well as MM 3-5. MM is a struggle for her, really stretches her, and I like to have her do it in addition to R&S. For mathy ds, MM is plenty. He didn't have his facts hammered in the way R&S does, but he learned them in time just the same. R&S would have squelched his love for math, I believe, bc/ of the drill, drill, drill and repetition. And it doesn't teach them to think through the why of math the same way that MM does. DS6 is doing MM1 after Rightstart and I love that path the best of all we have tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I am researching curriculum choices for next year for my kids and I was looking into R&S for Math and L.A. I was just wondering if the math was a good curriculum. It will be for 4th and 2nd grade. I was going to go with saxon 54 but i am reading so many bad reviews on it I wanted to see what else there was. Right now we are using a mish mash of stuff for math. (MEP, Math Mammoth, and Khan Academey). Also are there any other recomedations for math for a mathy 4th grader, a not so mathy 2nd grader and a K'er? Thank You:001_smile: DS 8 has done Rod & Staff grade 1, 2 and now grade 3 math. He is doing very well. For those grade the R&S have workbooks for them to the answers in so he doesn't have to rewrite the problems. Starting in 4th grade he will have to rewrite them. I'm a little nervous about that since he's a reluctant writer. But we'll take it slow. I'll probably assign only half the work to begin add as we go to build that particular academic muscle. I did this with him too when he would balk about how many problems there were per lesson (compared with the 20 in his sister's MUS workbooks) He's now doing full lessons at the end of 3rd grade without problems. Very solid, very sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I have a couple of thoughts after reading the other posts: First, I didn't ever buy the worksheets. I thought we had enough material with the T.M. workbooks (for grades 1-3), students texts (4th and up) and speed drills. 2nd, With my advanced child I started her in R&S 1 for K at full speed, no problem. With the next child, she worked through the ABC preschool workbooks and when she finished those we started R&S 1 math (and reading and phonics) slowly. She worked them slowly over K and 1st and started 2nd grade in 2nd grade materials. (english, phonics, spelling, and math) 3rd, I have never bought the flashcards. I make my own with index cards. Whenever we switched to a new set of facts I spent about 30 seconds writing them up with markers and index cards. I keep a file box and have reused w/both children. I may be cheap :) But it has worked fine for us. 4th, I did make the learning posters and felt board for 1st and 2nd grade. You will want to, to do the class exercises (and they are sweet.) 5th, I think you want the T.M for 4th and up too. There is still good oral review and drill each day. And it does explain how to break down the problems and explain them for the new lesson if you need help.... I rarely use this part, but it is there. Plus the grading for the tests, speed drills, and daily work are nice to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 We have flip-flopped through math with my dd's in 5th and 6th. This year I purchased R&S Math 2-5 from a friend. I started my 5th grader in it. After finishing Chapter 1, she has filled in so many gaps and has finally made progress with her math facts. The sheer repetition and review has made a huge difference in her retention. I am predicting at the end of this year that she will finally test on (possibly above) grade level on her standardized testing with math and mathematical computation. I put my ds in 3rd grade in 2nd grade R&S math to ensure that he gets the facts down and a solid start with math. I am sold on the traditional, mastery approach of R&S math. She is also doing R&S English and it is very traditional in learning a lot of diagramming and sentence structure. I can see so much growth this year in such a short time using these subjects from R&S. For us, it has been an improvement in curriculum and I really think that my children are learning more and retaining more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyjoh62080 Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Using R&S 1, 2 & 3 and LOVING it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daybreaking Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 We've used R&S Math 1-3 and just finished lesson 49 of R&S Math 4. As time goes on, my appreciation for R&S has grown much deeper. It is extremely thorough and yet, quite gentle. I have a mathy son and yet the repetition and thoroughness has been just what he needs, plus the oral drill in the TM has been very effective and beneficial. We do Singapore along the side, but frankly, I'm finding that R&S eventually covers much of the mental math found in Singapore. I love how my son knows the facts in and out and can breeze through his math work because of that. I also love the solid conceptual foundation he has developed. My only negative is the amount of copying involved in Math 4 on up. I would prefer that the student books were in workbook form, to save time during our day. Despite that, I will say that my son is adjusting to the copying and has become quite accurate with the copying as a result of the daily work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicagomom Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 Wow thanks for all the replies. I think I will give R&S a try, and I will also look into CLE for math. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Just to throw this out there, but one of my sons is doing R&S math 4 this year as a new 8yo and I'm just having him write the answers in the student book . . . he just wasn't ready for all that copying and since the book is fairly cheap, we decided to use it as a consumable book. He writes the answers in the student book if there is room and he has a composition book for the problems where there is no room in the book (usually the story problems). To stay on the topic, however :) I'm very pleased with R&S math. This is the first level we've used, and I'm only using it with one kidlet, but I'm very impressed with it's thoroughness so far. I do prefer CLE just because of the workbook format but I had to find a different curriculum for this child in order to preserve the dignity of an older brother who is working through CLE 3 this year. It's just right for what I needed and it's moving at just the right speed for my most math-loving kid though I obviously had to jump up in levels to get the right fit for him. I originally purchased Grade 3 but it was just moving too slowly. Now that we're doing the Grade 4, he's happy and I'm happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmrranch Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My dd11 used SM and then MUS up through division. We started LOF Fractions and she just needed extra practice on some of the basics. So, I picked up Ray's Arithmetic and R&S 5 Math. I have to admit I never really gave R&S Math a second glance but now that we are into it I love it! (I also love LOF but she needed some supplementation on basic math.) Well, I have a question for some of you that may have seen Ray's Arithmetic. Do you think R&S patterns it in a lot of ways? For example, I noticed right off that some of the oral drill looks similar to Ray's but R&S is much easier to teach since there are more instructions in the teacher's guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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