skeeterbug Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 One of the reasons I liked the looks of RightStart is that it is scripted. I'm having a hard time because it isn't scripted enough. Today it gave us a problem to solve and to discuss all the various methods we could use to solve it. It gave one example, just one. Where are the other methods? What games do we play? When do we do the extra practice sheets? I expect that a scripted program will tell me this. We learn a new skill and then can't remember how to do it later. I can't remember how it was taught by that time so I am scrambling through the book trying to find it again. It doesn't help that we took more than a month off over the holidays due to Christmas and moving (it's summer here). The book is always telling us to do the problems without the abacus. There is just no way he can do that at this point. I like all of the various strategies to solve a problem but get confused about what to use when, which means I have a hard time helping him with how to solve a problem. Today both of us were in tears. I cut the lesson short and managed to hide in my room so he didn't see. We are about 2/3 of the way through B. Do I backup and do some of the lessons over? We are supplementing with MM and he has no problems with it, but the problems are much simpler. I'm just using addition so he is doing math facts to ten, etc. Not two-digit problems like in RS. Maybe I should back up to where we started those. Advice? Encouragement? :( Thanks for reading. We didn't do A, started with B. Seemed fine the first half or so of B. I am hoping to start A with my 4.5 year old this year sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormbuy Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Just real quick, I need to go read bedtime stories... Definitly use the abacus until the child doesn't need it. There is a RS yahoo group that employees from RS post too, and even J. Cotter every so often. I think they even said that references to not using the abacus will be re-worded. I too get frustrated with the open endedness of the lessons sometimes. Maybe slow down a bit and do some games. Do you have the game book? You will need to read through it to find what you can use, in the back are games by grade level. I wish more game suggestions were listed in lessons, or a section on if you are having trouble do this for this.... We just finished B, but I am taking some time to work on math facts before going any further. (7s and 8s are just hard for my ds) During RS A we had to take a few weeks off at one point and do something else, we did Math Mammoth, but you could find someting online...I just started using xtra math. Sometimes things just need to sink in, and when you come back to it, it works. HTH, good luck! (and sometimes a different math is what is needed...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormbuy Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Oh, and I let my ds use any strategy he wants, he gives the answer and I ask how he got it.... In the games book is a one page summary, if you don't have that maybe look them up and write them down all in one place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindsrae Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 SLOW DOWN. Do not do a lesson every day. Yes, I agree, sometimes I wish it would spell out in the lesson...take a week off and play some games...but it kind of depends on your child. I used A last year and had some of the same struggles. Sometimes RS seems very incremental, and sometimes it seems to take a big jump. Go back and play some games. Take a week off and just do MM. I supplement with Singapore, and I just give the addition stuff since we haven't covered subtraction yet. It is easy for her, but you can't do the double digit addition without having single digit down cold! I was able to buy level C of RS used, and I am AMAZED by the math they do in second grade...so don't stress too much. Your child is getting a great foundation, but he doesn't have to get it all in one day. Take two days with a lesson...indo that for almost every lesson now that we are in the last third of the book (we did lesson 78 today, but my DD did only half of the worksheet.) Tomorrow I plan for her to finish the worksheet, play the game we just did in lesson 77--can't remember the name--and some of the warm-up activities from the three previous lessons (with different numbers, of course.) If a program is causing both of you frustration, take a break, slow down, try something new. Life is too short to be crying about math curriculum--and I say this without any harshness intended because I was there just a few months ago! Hang in there, and keep asking for help!! If we had all of this figured out, how would we learn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HejKatt Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The book is always telling us to do the problems without the abacus. There is just no way he can do that at this point. I like all of the various strategies to solve a problem but get confused about what to use when, which means I have a hard time helping him with how to solve a problem ... Not two-digit problems like in RS. Maybe I should back up to where we started those. We started straight off in B. I remember hitting a speed bump around two-digit addition too. IIRC, you are referring to the addition strategies such as two-fives and (forget the name, the one that rounds to 10). Like other PPs said, I'd slow down and play the RS games. To be honest, I didn't take that advice and I started shopping around for other Math curricula like Miquon. But I think what ultimately worked for us is time and flexibility. I don't insist that he use one strategy over the other, I ask him to explain how he gets his answer, and then say 'Good job, but you could also try..". :grouphug: and hope both of you have a better Math day tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I started my 4yo off with B, too, but it went way too fast. You want your child to love math, not dread it. Do A, 1/2 lesson per day, and you'll have fun and lay a great foundation. One of the goals of RS is for the child to love math. Don't thwart it by rushing too much. Play lots of games and relate through math. Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziewho Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I am currently using level B and C with my first and second graders. I do remember level B being difficult right in the middle. But I re-read the lesson alone, and stepped back for a a day or two. It seem to help both of us. I really didn't give up even though it was so frustrating. Now in Level C with my other one things make so much sense. I am very happy with Right Start it's giving them a good math foundation and understanding. The yahoo group offers great help and its a great place to ask questions and find encouragement from Right Start users. HTH, Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Level B was the hardest one for us. I believe it was around lesson 66 where the frustration started to set in. Use the abacus for as long as he needs it. When I thought my kids were ready I would tell them to the problem by just looking at the abacus and move the beads over in their head and then when they were good at that, I would remove the abacus and encourage them to do the problems only in their head, but I only started the weaning process when I knew they were ready. The RS yahoo group really helped me in the beginning due to the vagueness of the TM. You might want to look into that. You do practise sheets every day. I think you are also supposed to do card games every day as well but we never did. We tried to shoot for once or twice a week. Also, it is okay to park yourself at a lesson and do card games and practise until he gets used to the concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Ditto pp there was a spot around half or 2/3rds through B which was absolutely brutal for us. IIRC we took about a month off of RS. While doing the break we played games and then did MM and other worksheets I could find on topics we were doing and were struggling with. When we started back we ended up skipping a lesson or two and truncating a few IIRC. Once we made it past that everything was fine and we still ended up finishing by the end of the year, we worked our butts off through July but we did it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 What really attracted me to RightStart was that it's somewhat based in Montessori, but it's scripted. Montessori is really focussed on working where the child is at, which is nearly impossible for a book to predict. I had tried to just do lessons using what I knew about Montessori, and it was driving me nuts. So the amount of scripting for RightStart seemed just perfect to me. Having said all of that, we just moved at our own pace. We did math daily, but I didn't worry about completing a lesson each day. I felt free to add and subtract from the script. If several options are given for ways to solve a problem, let your child choose which they want to do -- that's the point of having options, letting them see that there's more than one way to think about these things. I thought there were directions somewhere in the teacher's guide about when to do the practice sheets and when to play the games, but my Level B books are long gone, so I can't check that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorisuewho Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Level B was the hardest one for us. I believe it was around lesson 66 where the frustration started to set in. I was reading through this thread just thinking, I don't understand; this is going so well for us. Then I saw your post and looked to see what lesson we are on. . .63. :001_smile: Guess we didn't really hit the mid-book trickiness quite yet! But now I'm sure to preview ahead of time so I can be sure to fully understand what is going on before I teach it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I know Dr. Cotter says that the games book is optional for level B, but I personally think that it should be required. I bought it about 2/3 the way through B when my oldest was going through that level and wished that I had had it from the start. With my 2nd child, I've been using it all along and doing that has really helped. FWIW, some of the strategies taught in RS never made sense to either my kids or me (the two 5's, the subtraction starting from the left taught in C, etc.) As long as the student can solve the problem using a different method, I don't sweat it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 We are also on a standstill/stall! Huge leap in the warmup section! What is 87+3! EEK! Where did that one come from!? We have gone back to game playing. I would recommend the doubles games too. I realized my daughter didn;t know her doubles all that well. I don't think those facts are taught in her RS b book and so I got them out of the games book. We will have to play go to the dump some more. I wonder if you can play go to the dump with the 15 facts. Anyone tried that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I use Singapore along with RightStart and it has been a great combination for us. We use only one curriculum at a time. Whenever we get stuck, bored, or to a good stopping point we switch to the other. It has helped us to get through the rough spots, as she does fine with the tough stuff after a break. I've also found that the lessons complement each other well, and there are plenty of times, especially in the second half of the levels, where many topics are review of something learned in the other curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Definitly use the abacus until the child doesn't need it. There is a RS yahoo group that employees from RS post too, and even J. Cotter every so often. I think they even said that references to not using the abacus will be re-worded. I too get frustrated with the open endedness of the lessons sometimes. Maybe slow down a bit and do some games. Do you have the game book? You will need to read through it to find what you can use, in the back are games by grade level. I wish more game suggestions were listed in lessons, or a section on if you are having trouble do this for this.... I found the yahoo group and discovered I was already a member, just wasn't getting the messages. I browsed through old messages and found what you were talking about, people getting stuck at Lesson 68 and then later 76. It's reassuring to see that others are having the same issues. They do recommend using the abacus as the child needs it. I do have the games book but I don't see games to practice these strategies. So we'll have to try slowing down and doing extra practice. I was able to buy level C of RS used, and I am AMAZED by the math they do in second grade...so don't stress too much. Your child is getting a great foundation, but he doesn't have to get it all in one day. If a program is causing both of you frustration, take a break, slow down, try something new. Life is too short to be crying about math curriculum--and I say this without any harshness intended because I was there just a few months ago! Hang in there, and keep asking for help!! If we had all of this figured out, how would we learn? I think this is part of my problem, he is in grade 2 so I feel he should be in C. I'm pressing ahead and moving too fast. We went way too slow through the first part of B (my fault, not his) and now I am trying to make up. Thanks for your advice, life is too short to cry about math! I started my 4yo off with B, too, but it went way too fast. You want your child to love math, not dread it. Do A, 1/2 lesson per day, and you'll have fun and lay a great foundation. Sorry, should have specified that I am doing RS B with my 7yo. I do intend to start A with my 4.5yo this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Thank you everyone for your responses. I think I am going to back up about ten lessons or so and do them again, moving as slowly as needed. Seems there are many people who get stuck at about the same place we are. I'll make up some extra practice sheets to cover the strategies we are stuck on. We do a page of MM every day already, I may have a look through and see if I can find pages to supplement what we are learning right now. I don't want to put him off math, so we will just slow down for now. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakshmi Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I did start over with one child we went nearly back to the start. but it was worth it. Also try playing addition war, that one is fast and it works with all the facts. We're on lesson 63.. Also, I know a lot of folks supplement, but this is meant to be stand alone. Maybe going back and forth between written and visual is an issue as well. Just throwing something out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homemama2 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Thank you everyone for your responses. I think I am going to back up about ten lessons or so and do them again, moving as slowly as needed. Seems there are many people who get stuck at about the same place we are. I'll make up some extra practice sheets to cover the strategies we are stuck on. We do a page of MM every day already, I may have a look through and see if I can find pages to supplement what we are learning right now. I don't want to put him off math, so we will just slow down for now. Thanks. This should help. Both of mine seemed to hit a wall at that same place in level B. We stopped the RS lessons, and just practiced math facts and played games for a couple of weeks. When we started back up, it seemed that everything just clicked. This was the advice I had gotten from the RS yahoo group. I have no idea why this works, lol, but it seems too. Maybe their brains just need some time to process the info. And if it makes you feel better about your dc not being in level C, I also use MM to supplement b/c my boys needed more written practice. My oldest is now in level E (4th grade) and I was looking through MM trying to find some percent worksheets that would cover what we were learning in RS. I finally found some, but they were in MM5B. So, different books teach different sequences and end up in about the same place. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrystal in TX Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I use Singapore along with RightStart and it has been a great combination for us. We use only one curriculum at a time. Whenever we get stuck, bored, or to a good stopping point we switch to the other. It has helped us to get through the rough spots, as she does fine with the tough stuff after a break. I've also found that the lessons complement each other well, and there are plenty of times, especially in the second half of the levels, where many topics are review of something learned in the other curriculum. We use Singapore to supplement RS as well. Balancing out the great instruction of Rightstart with the practice and workbook experience of Singpore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiegers Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 We also use Singapore with RS B. A while ago we started playing a different game every day. And that seems to help a lot in cementing the basic math facts. I also find it helps to switch between the two curricula, because she gets a bit resentful of doing the same thing every day. We still use the abacus, although I am encouraging her to try to find the answer in her head first. We have some very frustrating math days. It would probably do us some good to slow down a bit and go back to some earlier lessons. I'm a bit paranoid about getting everything done for the right grade level (she's grade 2), so sometimes I tend to want to go faster through things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Also try playing addition war, that one is fast and it works with all the facts. Definitely do this. As he becomes comfortable, slyly ask, "by how much did you win." It is so easy and fun. Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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