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What is your plan with Beast Academy?


Miss Tick
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For those of you who are planning to start soon (c'mon shipper of choice!), I'm curious what your general plan is. Won't there be a point where you have finished the available books and have to wait a few months before the next? Will you go back to your current math? Will you use it as a supplement and try to pace your children/selves so that you are on their schedule? Are you expecting it to be "difficult" enough that you won't catch up to them?

 

We won't be ready to start until the end of the calendar year, but I'm still expecting that the 5th grade books won't be ready when we are ready for them (assuming everybody stays on track).

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For those of you who are planning to start soon (c'mon shipper of choice!), I'm curious what your general plan is. Won't there be a point where you have finished the available books and have to wait a few months before the next? Will you go back to your current math? Will you use it as a supplement and try to pace your children/selves so that you are on their schedule? Are you expecting it to be "difficult" enough that you won't catch up to them?

 

We won't be ready to start until the end of the calendar year, but I'm still expecting that the 5th grade books won't be ready when we are ready for them (assuming everybody stays on track).

 

Working through the Sample Chapter they sent out was fun, but it wasn't a breeze. It will take some time methinks.

 

As to their release schedule, every red-blooded human-being reading this should write AoPS and implore them to meet keep up with a release of no less than one quarters worth of content every quarter as a moral imperative :D

 

Nose to the grindstone!

 

Bill

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We'll be starting in fall, probably using BA3 concurrently with MEP 3b. Assuming BA is as solid as one would expect, we'll then jettison MEP as a full program (*sigh*). If are in the position anywhere along the line of having to wait for the next installment of BA, the time can be filled with interesting diversions: I have more math supplements than is decent to admit in mixed company.

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For those of you who are planning to start soon (c'mon shipper of choice!), I'm curious what your general plan is. Won't there be a point where you have finished the available books and have to wait a few months before the next? Will you go back to your current math? Will you use it as a supplement and try to pace your children/selves so that you are on their schedule? Are you expecting it to be "difficult" enough that you won't catch up to them?

 

We won't be ready to start until the end of the calendar year, but I'm still expecting that the 5th grade books won't be ready when we are ready for them (assuming everybody stays on track).

 

I have a first grader doing 3rd grade math, so I am hoping this program will be the much-needed "brakes" for him. Even with their "not optimal" future release dates, we will finish the elementary series before 6th grade. Since so many people have advised against starting AoPS upper level math early, I am going to stretch the next four years with Beast, Challenge Math and SM (or MEP). The latter only if we run out of material. Oh, forgot about HOE, which I don't yet own, but I probably will soon. :D

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I am tossing a few options around. Big girl is in SM 3a so we are at the same point with BA. I can't decide if I want to continue with SM or let BA take over as our spine. I also thought about just using the "comic book" portion as a fun thing to read together or for her to read on her own.

 

Still pondering....

 

ETA: I haven't ordered it yet! :tongue_smilie:

Edited by MissKNG
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I wasn't planning on getting BA until the fall but then our charter school's board restored the $200 in funding that they had cut in December. The catch is the money has to be spent by the end of this month. I'm super-tempted to order 3A/B now even though DS probably won't be ready for it until the fall at the earliest :lol:

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I wasn't planning on getting BA until the fall but then our charter school's board restored the $200 in funding that they had cut in December. The catch is the money has to be spent by the end of this month. I'm super-tempted to order 3A/B now even though DS probably won't be ready for it until the fall at the earliest :lol:

 

You have 200$ and you need to spend it this month :svengo:. What are you waiting for?? :lol:

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If all goes well, I plan to switch 8 yo dd from Singapore (she HATES their textbook, no idea why, we've just been trudging through with occassional workbook pages, and supplementing with LoF,lots of math story books, math games and living math.) She recently told me that she wished that math would be like a puzzle that she could figure out on her own... I can really see her digging into the texts and reading until she understands (as she does with lots of the science/nature magazines that we get), or us reading it together. Manipulatives seem to irritate her, she is drawn to something with a storyline.

 

So, fingers crossed that this will be a good fit for her! I want to keep up with the living math/math games but use Beast Academy in place of Singapore. I don't think she is a math genius, truly, just your average kid who does better with engaging stories/materials.

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I have a first grader doing 3rd grade math, so I am hoping this program will be the much-needed "brakes" for him. Even with their "not optimal" future release dates, we will finish the elementary series before 6th grade. Since so many people have advised against starting AoPS upper level math early, I am going to stretch the next four years with Beast, Challenge Math and SM (or MEP). The latter only if we run out of material.

 

:iagree: I also have a 1st grader (well, technically K according to PS) who is doing 3rd grade math, so I am hoping that this will be challenging for him to take a little more time. He has been SPEEDING through Singapore and while I am happy that he is getting math so easily, in many ways I wish he would slow down a bit!

 

I had planned to hold off on BA until July, but I am sure we will start right away. It's still too early to say (for certain) that BA will completely replace Singapore for us, so for now, he will still do Singapore 3A along with BA.

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I plan on using it to slow down my twins. I am all for advancing based on skill, not age, but at this pace they will hit algebra by age 9. So hopefull, BA + HOE + everything we're currently doing (MEP, MathRider, Khan Academy, IP/CWP) will keep 'em busy for a while.

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:iagree: I also have a 1st grader (well, technically K according to PS) who is doing 3rd grade math, so I am hoping that this will be challenging for him to take a little more time. He has been SPEEDING through Singapore and while I am happy that he is getting math so easily, in many ways I wish he would slow down a bit!

 

I had planned to hold off on BA until July, but I am sure we will start right away. It's still too early to say (for certain) that BA will completely replace Singapore for us, so for now, he will still do Singapore 3A along with BA.

 

Speeding through Singapore... LOL I can't imagine that with C! But I can see L doing that. :) I would just think that Singapore might seem kind of "blah" after the Beast Academy? (Remember, I'm a parent of a kid who is more drawn in by stories/puzzles than the sheer joy of doing math problems... though I hope that it kindles some of that in her too...)

 

My youngest says she also wants to do it... She's kindergarten but I haven't done ANY formal math with her, she's learning addition on her own, but that's about it. So it will be interesting to see if it engages her at all, even if she doesn't "get" all of it.

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I'm going to use it for fun, since we're in SM4B right now. I'm trying to pad things a bit so maybe he'll be mature enough for AoPS prealgebra when we get there. If we were in 3rd grade math still, I'd totally make the big switch. My next kid will use BA when he gets to 3rd grade math. My youngest can hopefully start at the grade 2 book. :D

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Glad to see I'm not alone in this maze of figuring out how to justify this for my first graders. This smorgasbord of ideas sounds great!!!
If I had a child doing first grade work, I'd wait for the second printing (i.e. the corrected text) before buying BA. It's not that I expect the text to be riddled with errors, but there are always a few in the first run.
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If I had a child doing first grade work, I'd wait for the second printing (i.e. the corrected text) before buying BA. It's not that I expect the text to be riddled with errors, but there are always a few in the first run.

 

that is a good point. DD is doing 1st early 2nd grade work. We might wait

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If are in the position anywhere along the line of having to wait for the next installment of BA, the time can be filled with interesting diversions: I have more math supplements than is decent to admit in mixed company.

 

Yep, that. I'll be starting my youngest on it as soon as he is done with his current math book, likely June. If we have to wait, we'll fill in with what's on the shelf, LoF, stuff from livingmath.net, Family Math games, Jan Van Cleave math project books, stuff like that.

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My 8yo will finish Miquon and Singapore 2B in the next week and then we will start immediately on BA. I plan on doing Primary Challenge Math one day per week and adding in CWP 3 at some point. We also have Singapore 3A-4B if we need it. And Khan Academy.

 

I'm going to let my dd decide if she wants to do BA through the summer or not. I have no idea what she'll want to do, but that will for sure affect how far we get in the program before they release the next book(s).

 

I think we have enough to keep us busy while we wait.... but hopefully we won't have to wait!

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I'm hoping it will be a fun supplement. My daughter has already begun CLE 5, but with AOPS timeline of beginning prealgebra in 6th grade, I'm wondering is this really a 3rd grade curriculum I'm buying? I'm hoping there will be some challenging problem solving there even though it is only "3rd grade" material.

 

I know someone was saying that some of the problems were as difficult as what is in Singapore 5, so I'm hoping this will work out for us.

 

Then I hear 99% of the people who bought it have 7 year olds, so I begin to wonder. I'm assuming this program is drawing the gifted crowd? We'll see. If it's way too easy, I suspect there will be a good resale market for it.

 

Lisa

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I know someone was saying that some of the problems were as difficult as what is in Singapore 5, so I'm hoping this will work out for us.

 

Then I hear 99% of the people who bought it have 7 year olds, so I begin to wonder. I'm assuming this program is drawing the gifted crowd? We'll see. If it's way too easy, I suspect there will be a good resale market for it.

 

It's been really hard to gauge the difficulty level from the samples. I think we're all wondering about that.

 

I'm one of the 99% :D you mention. Yes, I do think that this program is drawing the "gifted crowd," because the upper level Art of Problem Solving curricula are well-known among families whose kids are very advanced at math. It's not surprising that they'd hear about BA first and be the most excited about it.

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It's been really hard to gauge the difficulty level from the samples. I think we're all wondering about that.

 

I'm one of the 99% :D you mention. Yes, I do think that this program is drawing the "gifted crowd," because the upper level Art of Problem Solving curricula are well-known among families whose kids are very advanced at math. It's not surprising that they'd hear about BA first and be the most excited about it.

 

Well, I am curious to see it. I am interested in it more for the problem solving than the actual math, because I do not have children that are "gifted", if that makes sense. Normally, this program would not be a draw for me, but with the comic book presentation, I'm thinking/hoping both of my kids might enjoy it and get something different out of it. If they get the computer component up and running, they will totally suck my daughter in.

 

Lisa

Edited by LisaTheresa
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I think I'll have ds do it when he finishes MM3b and have him do 3a and 3b through the summer. I'll have dd start it some time next year (depending on how ds does with it). Hopefully it won't be a waste of his time and he will enjoy it. If he does, I'll probably keep it as a supplement as he continues on with MM4 next year. All subject to change if he doesn't like it or I feel he isn't gaining anything from it. DD will sart next year as long as we feel it is a good fit for her :)

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Then I hear 99% of the people who bought it have 7 year olds, so I begin to wonder. I'm assuming this program is drawing the gifted crowd?

 

Lisa

 

 

I think you're probably right. I'll be using it with an 8.5yo (who, if she even is gifted, would be more so in the LA type stuff), but my 6yo should be ready for it within a year, I think, so that would put her at 7yo when starting it. And she definitely is "mathy."

 

I have a feeling it will be used as a full curriculum more often by gifted kids and the guides used as a supplement more often for "average" kids. Just a guess.

 

I'm also wondering if this will pull from the Life of Fred crowd. People seem to like LoF because of it having a storyline and being so different from any other program out there. It looks like BA takes it one (or several!) step further by adding better graphics, more characters, and what looks like it will be a more engaging story. It also will absolutely be a more complete program than LoF elementary.

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I'm hoping it will be a fun supplement. My daughter has already begun CLE 5, but with AOPS timeline of beginning prealgebra in 6th grade, I'm wondering is this really a 3rd grade curriculum I'm buying? I'm hoping there will be some challenging problem solving there even though it is only "3rd grade" material.

 

I know someone was saying that some of the problems were as difficult as what is in Singapore 5, so I'm hoping this will work out for us.

 

Then I hear 99% of the people who bought it have 7 year olds, so I begin to wonder. I'm assuming this program is drawing the gifted crowd? We'll see. If it's way too easy, I suspect there will be a good resale market for it.

 

Lisa

 

I'm getting it for my Ds7, but he may be close to 8 when we start. He is not gifted. He is almost done with Saxon 3 so some things will be a review.

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I mentioned this on another discussion, My DS (8) is very excited about BA. We are finishing SM 4B. I bought 3a and 3b for BA. We have a month of traveling ahead of us, so I am thinking this will be great to take along, and finish BA over the summer as a summer review. I don't see a problem with backtracking a little bit if it will ignite DS's passion for math and problem solving. If BA will not turn out to be as challenging as I expect it to be, then we will return to Sm 5 and continue with Singapore, and then go to Aops pre algebra.

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I'm hoping it will be a fun supplement. My daughter has already begun CLE 5, but with AOPS timeline of beginning prealgebra in 6th grade, I'm wondering is this really a 3rd grade curriculum I'm buying? I'm hoping there will be some challenging problem solving there even though it is only "3rd grade" material.

 

I know someone was saying that some of the problems were as difficult as what is in Singapore 5, so I'm hoping this will work out for us.

 

The sample chapter on area & perimeter definitely went beyond what is in the Singapore 3B and 4A textbook and was more similar to the level of problems in the 3B/4A IP's and the 5A textbook. A few of the problems in the sample were harder than anything even in the 5A IP's and my DD (who was working in Singapore 5A at the time) found them challenging.

 

That's why I'm not sure about ordering BA for my DS now. He is finishing up the 1B IP and Right Start B at the moment and by the time we got the order from our charter teacher he'd most likely be in Singapore 2A/RS C. He'd love the BA comics but I'm not sure how much of the workbook he'd be able to do at this point.

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If the sample chapter is representative of the full program, then I think it will have sufficient practice for a bright student. Average students may need additional supplementation.

 

Good grief. There are going to be around 900 pages of practice work (beyond the approximately 400 pages in the Guide (comic style textbook) per year. And the problems are HARD!

 

Bill

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If the sample chapter is representative of the full program, then I think it will have sufficient practice for a bright student. Average students may need additional supplementation.

 

I was actually wanting to find out if the scope of BA was complete or if it is more of a supplement. For instance we love LOF but it jumps around a lot and I wouldn't use it alone.

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I was actually wanting to find out if the scope of BA was complete or if it is more of a supplement. For instance we love LOF but it jumps around a lot and I wouldn't use it alone.

 

From their website:

 

All Beast Academy books are aligned to the 2010 national Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.
That's a full curriculum, not a supplement.

 

ETA: And there was plenty of practice in the workbooks. Nothing like LoF.

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Good grief. There are going to be around 900 pages of practice work (beyond the approximately 400 pages in the Guide (comic style textbook) per year. And the problems are HARD!

 

Bill

 

I was thinking more along the lines of fact practice. The 3rd grade level is going to be covering multiplication and division, and like Singapore, average students may need more drill. Hard problems are great and all, but the student won't be able to tackle them until he/she has memorized the facts.

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Please don't anyone worry about the resale market! I'm already getting a wristband for that line. :D

 

I'm waiting until Fall (mid-to-late) before we start because my dc are working through Saxon 3/CWP/etc. and I can see that they need a little more time for the facts to sink in gently (as opposed to flashcards and timed tests). I'm not worried about any review - in fact I'm counting on it, it will help ease them in.

 

Plus, this gives me a chance to hear from all you high achieving go-getters as you work through the first few books. Yay team!

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The sample chapter on area & perimeter definitely went beyond what is in the Singapore 3B and 4A textbook and was more similar to the level of problems in the 3B/4A IP's and the 5A textbook. A few of the problems in the sample were harder than anything even in the 5A IP's and my DD (who was working in Singapore 5A at the time) found them challenging.

 

Oh good, this is what I was hoping to hear - the way I justified getting BA now for dd, who is in MM4, is that a) we haven't done the geometry chapter yet, and it looks a little dry, and b) she never really did geometry in ps (or at least she doesn't remember any of it). I think we will do the geometry chapter in its entirety, and then perhaps she will read, and do me-selected problems from the others. She has her computation skills down cold, and we've spent a ton of time on mental math, and multiplication and division, but she needs to work on word problems - mostly multi-step word problems. I'm hoping BA's word problems will be just the ticket. Seems so from the samples.

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I'm also wondering if this will pull from the Life of Fred crowd. People seem to like LoF because of it having a storyline and being so different from any other program out there. It looks like BA takes it one (or several!) step further by adding better graphics, more characters, and what looks like it will be a more engaging story. It also will absolutely be a more complete program than LoF elementary.

 

I was wondering the same thing. I could see us easily dropping LoF elementary for BA. Then using MM for additional practice, if necessary (only because I already have it.)

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Hard problems are great and all, but the student won't be able to tackle them until he/she has memorized the facts.

 

I respectfully disagree. Both dds do 'hard' word problems via cwp/ip without having mult-div facts 100% solid. Dd8 is doing alg and sometimes still skip-counts. Rarely, but it does happen. Dd7 is mastering mult-div facts via tons of fractions work.

 

A math beast can learn facts on-the-job.

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If the sample chapter is representative of the full program, then I think it will have sufficient practice for a bright student. Average students may need additional supplementation.

 

I think such assessments might be premature given that we haven't actually seen the program. ;)

 

I was thinking more along the lines of fact practice. The 3rd grade level is going to be covering multiplication and division, and like Singapore, average students may need more drill. Hard problems are great and all, but the student won't be able to tackle them until he/she has memorized the facts.

 

Bright students don't necessarily learn facts faster than average students, and some bright students never manage it. FWIW, I strongly suspect (yup, I'm guessing) that the online component will have modules for fact practice. This accommodates everyone without the added cost of printing drill sheets.

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I think such assessments might be premature given that we haven't actually seen the program. ;)

 

 

 

Bright students don't necessarily learn facts faster than average students, and some bright students never manage it. FWIW, I strongly suspect (yup, I'm guessing) that the online component will have modules for fact practice. This accommodates everyone without the added cost of printing drill sheets.

 

When is the online module supposed to be available and is there an additional cost for that? I'm assuming there will be, but maybe someone knows for sure?

 

Lisa

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When is the online module supposed to be available and is there an additional cost for that? I'm assuming there will be, but maybe someone knows for sure?

 

Lisa

I don't know. Their online materials for their courses and other books are both robust and free, though I believe this is perpetually qualified as "currently."
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I respectfully disagree. Both dds do 'hard' word problems via cwp/ip without having mult-div facts 100% solid. Dd8 is doing alg and sometimes still skip-counts. Rarely, but it does happen. Dd7 is mastering mult-div facts via tons of fractions work.

 

A math beast can learn facts on-the-job.

 

I wish I would have had this attitude a year ago. It really would have changed the way I taught math.

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...I suspect there will be a good resale market for it.

 

Yup! My plan for Beast Academy is to wait till one of you is done with it and then take it off your hands. :-)

Please PM me in the fall or winter. My dd will begin 3rd grade in Jan.

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