Beast Academy poll

[Bensmom]

Sorry I messed up the other thread. Here's the poll

[Upward Journey]

My son loves BA. I guess we're using it as a supplement, except that he does it every day. He is in 5th grade, and just really enjoys both the guide and the practice book. I think it's kind of on the easier side for him so far (he's in Singapore 4B), but the challenge questions do make him think. He is able to do it completely independently and frequently comes over to show me something that he finds funny in the guide or a problem that he thought was really fun to solve :) I wish that they'd write them faster :D AND that shipping to Canada wasn't as much as the books themselves :001_huh:

[Snickerdoodle]

I really like BA and think it's a great program. However for my son, I think it would have been better to do level 4. I'm not sure I'm going to buy it anymore because of that. (which means, I need to sell the texts for 3a,b,c--lazy woman that I am).

[Jayne J]

We are using it as our sole math program right now, but not our main one, if you follow. When we finish BA b, we plan to switch to MM4, which has been our main math program all along. We love BA, and if the progression were finished and published, we would likely use it as our primary math for ds, but since it is not, we are using it as an extra fun need-break-from-regular-math kind of thing. I hope to do BA c and d (if it is published) over the summer, and keep up with the new levels as they are released.

[Halcyon]

My 2nd grader uses it, and i called it a core, but really, we have two cores:math mammoth and BA that we alternate between.

[matilda]

We love Beast, but they are not coming out with the books fast enough for us to use it as a core. We also use SM.

[Spy Car]

The use of BA as a "core" is limited by the fact that only 3/4s of one year's materials have been released so far.

 

I love it. We will use it as released. But we don't have the same options users will have 5 years from now.

 

Bill

[Dmmetler]

DD was beyond 3rd grade level when it came out, so it's a supplement for us that she enjoys. Had it been out when she got to 3rd grade math (and had the other levels been out so it progressed from that point, I would have happily moved her over to it as the core.

[sagira]

We use MM as our core (right now on 3B) and ds9 reads BA 3B just for fun - and of course he's absorbing math as well ;) We are going to gift him 3C for Christmas. If and when 4A comes out, we'll be sure to get it. Fun math is always a plus!

[Nart]

If all of third and fourth BA were available, would you use it as your core or would you still use it with SM/MM? Are there topics that SM covers in third grade that BA doesn't? My son won't start BA for another 12 to 18 months and I am wondering if I should order SM3. I like to see where we are going in math and order books a year in advance .

Edited October 5, 2012 by Nart

[Spy Car]

If all of third and fourth BA were available, would you use it as your core or would you still use it with SM/MM? Are there topics that SM covers in third grade that BA doesn't? My son won't start BA for another 12 to 18 months and I am wondering if I should order SM3. I like to see where we are going in math and order books a year in advance .

 

See, that is the question no one can answer with authority, as we can't know what exactly will be in the future books. My "best guess" is I would not give up a program like Primary Mathematics, because it is so good with the "nuts and bolts," where BA is great with adding depth. But too soon to make that call with certainty.

 

Bill

[deerforest]

Core for us but not our only thing. We also use RS, Math in Focus, Simply Charlotte Mason Business Math, HoE, living math, etc. So I haven't been bothered by the release dates.. I use them all in different ways to provide different perspectives. But BA does take priority over the others which is why I would label it our core now.

[Dolphin]

My son loves BA. I guess we're using it as a supplement, except that he does it every day. He is in 5th grade, and just really enjoys both the guide and the practice book.

 

I also have a 5th grade son. He is still catching up with Math, so he finds BA easy at time and challenging at others.

 

The use of BA as a "core" is limited by the fact that only 3/4s of one year's materials have been released so far.

 

I love it. We will use it as released. But we don't have the same options users will have 5 years from now.

 

Bill

:iagree:

 

If all of third and fourth BA were available, would you use it as your core or would you still use it with SM/MM? Are there topics that SM covers in third grade that BA doesn't? My son won't start BA for another 12 to 18 months and I am wondering if I should order SM3. I like to see where we are going in math and order books a year in advance .

 

I don't know what it will be like as they keep bringing out levels. So far BA looks like it has meat enough to be a core, but I think we will keep using it as a supplement with my younger just because it is "fun". If I used SM as our supplement and BA was our core there would be whining. Really, we will be doing 2 core programs, I label BA as "fun", it and LOF are the treats they get for doing their other math.

 

I just want to add that yes we are technically doing 3 math programs, but they are done slowly and over the course of year round schooling. Also at a variety of levels to fill in gaps. (not a supermom here:D)

[stripe]

Not sure. I bought 3a and b for my son, who knew most of the arithmetic covered, but the first chapter (pentominoes, etc) was quite neat. The rest was weirdly variable on levels, and I ended up dropping it for now, back to MEP + supplements. I may pull things out later. He did read the comic book parts extensively.

[Mélie]

Right now, my son is using BA as a core. I haven't yet decided whether to keep this up until we run out and then switch to SM or MM, or to add one of those in and stretch BA out. Either way, we love Beast. I think it's likely that my younger son will eventually use it as a core.

[FairProspects]

Not sure. I bought 3a and b for my son, who knew most of the arithmetic covered, but the first chapter (pentominoes, etc) was quite neat. The rest was weirdly variable on levels, and I ended up dropping it for now, back to MEP + supplements. I may pull things out later. He did read the comic book parts extensively.

 

This is our struggle with it as well. Certain chapters ds and I have found incredibly valuable, such as pentominoes, area & perimeter, and variables (and likely perfect squares, but we've just begun that chapter). Other chapters like skip-counting, multiplication, and quite a bit of division so far have been a waste of our time. Mostly because ds had already intuited that multiplication was repeated addition, and didn't need 20 pages of various puzzles to work on it. Also, being an atypical learner, repeating the same material over and over doesn't help him to learn facts, it just makes him frustrated.

 

BA has some amazing depth on certain topics, mixed with very easy arithmetic in others. I think it is because most schools don't introduce multiplication/division/area until 3rd grade, but many of us who have being using Singapore and Miquon have kids who have already been doing these for a couple of years and the parts of BA that follow the traditional S/S are less useful to us. It is sort of a mixed bag. I have a love/hate relationship with it. :)

[Upward Journey]

I don't know what it will be like as they keep bringing out levels. So far BA looks like it has meat enough to be a core, but I think we will keep using it as a supplement with my younger just because it is "fun". If I used SM as our supplement and BA was our core there would be whining. Really, we will be doing 2 core programs, I label BA as "fun", it and LOF are the treats they get for doing their other math.

 

I just want to add that yes we are technically doing 3 math programs, but they are done slowly and over the course of year round schooling. Also at a variety of levels to fill in gaps. (not a supermom here:D)

 

 

Us too :) same three. Singapore is definately our "main" program and he does it willingly, but he enjoys BA and absolutely loves Fred :D Not a supermom either.

[blondeviolin]

I have been slowing math down intentionally so we will be able to start BA next year. She will probably less frustratable and Beast will have more time to produce more levels. We will probably drop MEP as a full program on favor of BA.

[GoodGrief]

I'm not voting, because the jury is still out for me. My 8 yo/3rd grade daughter is about 3/4 of the way through 3A (had used Singapore through 3A prior to beginning.)

 

The program thus far is really different, and I'm trying to decide what I think about that. I did not intend to supplement initially, but have decided to add some Singapore materials for now (Challenging Word Problems, Speed Maths, Process Skills, plus Xtra Math drills.) It may turn out that my concerns are addressed in later books, and that I will eventually drop the supplements.

 

One recommendation I would make for someone wanting to jump into this in 3rd grade: make sure your kid is pretty solid in basic math facts prior to beginning.

[Roadrunner]

If all of third and fourth BA were available, would you use it as your core or would you still use it with SM/MM? Are there topics that SM covers in third grade that BA doesn't? My son won't start BA for another 12 to 18 months and I am wondering if I should order SM3. I like to see where we are going in math and order books a year in advance .

 

It appears that so far kids who tried BA (including my DS) on this board already knew many concepts that BA introduces. I would want to hear how kids that haven't been exposed to multiplication and long division did with BA before making a decision to use it as the only curriculum. Unlike SM, which we think teaches those concepts painfully slowly in bite size pieces, BA just expects you to quickly grasp them.

BA is meant to line up with Common Core, so that explains why its "behind" in introducing concepts, but I think it more than makes up with depth. I think the need for supplementation may arise not because some topics are missing, but because some kids might need certain concepts, like long division, drilled a bit more.

[Beth in SW WA]

but I think it more than makes up with depth.

 

:iagree:

 

Don't miss Beast 3C.

[Crimson Wife]

BA has some amazing depth on certain topics, mixed with very easy arithmetic in others. I think it is because most schools don't introduce multiplication/division/area until 3rd grade, but many of us who have being using Singapore and Miquon have kids who have already been doing these for a couple of years and the parts of BA that follow the traditional S/S are less useful to us. It is sort of a mixed bag. I have a love/hate relationship with it. :)

 

This is what concerns me, although I did still order BA 3A/B. I probably will keep Singapore as DS' core at least through somewhere in PM 5. DS is on track to complete PM 2A-3B this school year so I do want to go "sideways" in math a bit.

[Nart]

It appears that so far kids who tried BA (including my DS) on this board already knew many concepts that BA introduces. I would want to hear how kids that haven't been exposed to multiplication and long division did with BA before making a decision to use it as the only curriculum. Unlike SM, which we think teaches those concepts painfully slowly in bite size pieces, BA just expects you to quickly grasp them.

BA is meant to line up with Common Core, so that explains why its "behind" in introducing concepts, but I think it more than makes up with depth. I think the need for supplementation may arise not because some topics are missing, but because some kids might need certain concepts, like long division, drilled a bit more.

 

Yes! This is what I would love to know. Anyone here go from SM2B right into BA without using any of SM3?

[FairProspects]

Yes! This is what I would love to know. Anyone here go from SM2B right into BA without using any of SM3?

 

We went from MM 2 right into BA without using any SM, but we had done bits and pieces of Miquon for multiplication/division.

[LMD]

We use BA as our core, for my advanced 2nd grader. Similar to Halcyon, we use both BA and Singapore about evenly. That's not through any fault of BA, we just like to do lots of maths :D My DD loves BA, even though it is challenging.

[crazyforlatin]

That's the problem with starting at level 3, rather than level 1. Most kids here are using SM, MM, Miquon, or something else and trying out Beast. The S/S of Beast and another program aren't going to align, which means some of the content will just be a waste of time. Oh well. However, the challenging problems are interesting enough that I have to buy it as it's released. :tongue_smilie: They also require time and patience to solve in some instances, like miniature AOPS problems, training little kids so that they have the stamina for their Pre-A.

 

Kids here are willing to let their parents sell their Beast textbooks? :001_huh: DD wants me to collect all of them. :D. Maybe it's an age issue. DD loves the characters.

[stripe]

One recommendation I would make for someone wanting to jump into this in 3rd grade: make sure your kid is pretty solid in basic math facts prior to beginning.

 

i'm not sure I agree. My son found the middle of 3a to be horribly boring. There were a lot of easy, repetitive problems, and then all of a sudden a ** (2star) difficult one. I think MEP does better with scaffolding. I too wonder how it would be for a kid who didn't know them. If I am inclined, I might experiment on my daughter.

[crazyforlatin]

Let's just say people here will use it as a core. Will 4 textbooks/4 workbooks last a year? The textbooks are not SM textbooks. And, there aren't that many problems in a workbook. It's geared toward a certain type of kid, who will most likely add in other math books.

[JenC3]

I will use it as a core for ds b/c more levels will be out, then our MM will become a supplement. Dd uses it every now an then, but we have enough livng math and games that BA just isn't a big enough draw for her.

[FairProspects]

Let's just say people here will use it as a core. Will 4 textbooks/4 workbooks last a year? The textbooks are not SM textbooks. And, there aren't that many problems in a workbook. It's geared toward a certain type of kid, who will most likely add in other math books.

 

Geez, in our experience there are too many problems and I think it is geared for a fast processor. We're actually cutting out problems. So, that probably means the amount is just about right. :D

[....]

I guess it's my 9 yro son's core math. We do several things for math. He also uses Life of Fred and he's getting ready to start My Business Math from Simply Charlotte Mason.

[LittleIzumi]

See, that is the question no one can answer with authority, as we can't know what exactly will be in the future books. My "best guess" is I would not give up a program like Primary Mathematics, because it is so good with the "nuts and bolts," where BA is great with adding depth. But too soon to make that call with certainty.

 

Bill

:iagree: We will start it officially next year, so we will probably be okay with having the appropriate books, but I will still keep MEP as my core. BA will be a fantastic supplement.

[Roadrunner]

We went from MM 2 right into BA without using any SM, but we had done bits and pieces of Miquon for multiplication/division.

 

I would love to know how long division went. My younger boy (just turned 6) has couple more months left on SM 2B and I am considering taking him straight to BA. I am a bit worried about long division.

 

What I love about BA, in addition to all the unusual awesome things it teaches (I have never heard of poliominos before BA), is how it incorporates what has been previously learnt into new material. Not only does it teach basic muliplication, but by teaching distributive property, it has kids multiply pretty interesting large numbers right away.

Sure SM teaches multiplication/division earlier in second grade, but Beast takes you from 42/6 to (54*55)/53 in the same chapter. SM teaches you multiplication of 2, 3 in 2A, multiplication of 4,5 and 10 in 2B and you have to wait till 3A to complete the multiplication table. It's painful. Even my then 5 year old had the multiplication table mastered in 2 weeks. BA is a gift for us.

So if you think concepts are too easy, sure, there are plenty of super easy problems and plenty that we skipped over, but I think it teaches material (or presents material) not otherwise taught in elementary math as far as I know (and yes, skip counting chapter is totally worth doing even if you know how to multiply).

[go_go_gadget]

We use it as a core, and supplement between publications. The delays don't bother me; we're not in a rush and it's nice to have built-in time for programs like Challenge Math. We also use things like Timez Attack and Dragonbox concurrently with BA.

[FairProspects]

I would love to know how long division went. My younger boy (just turned 6) has couple more months left on SM 2B and I am considering taking him straight to BA. I am a bit worried about long division.

 

So if you think concepts are too easy, sure, there are plenty of super easy problems and plenty that we skipped over, but I think it teaches material (or presents material) not otherwise taught in elementary math as far as I know (and yes, skip counting chapter is totally worth doing even if you know how to multiply).

 

Well, I beg to differ about the bolded with a dyslexic. With a neurotypical kid maybe, but it was painful and unnecessary language processing for ds. In hindsight I wish we would have just skipped that chapter, but our situation is very unusual so YMMV.

 

We haven't done long division yet, we are still working on the division chapter, but I'll let you know how it goes when we get there!

[Soror]

I'm using it now as a supplement to RSD. We went into it straight from RSC- which is a 2nd grade program. We are just in A now as we didn't start until last month. I'm planning to just do them as they come out and keep RS going for now. Too many uncertainties as to the future though- ie publication schedule, how it works for ds and how RS continues to work.

[rokaie]

unnecessary language processing for ds. In hindsight I wish we would have just skipped that chapter, but our situation is very unusual so YMMV.

 

 

 

ditto for my son, who is a visual learner with a language delay. He loves Beast Academy, because it is very visual, and we 'll continue using it as a supplement, but we use SM as main core because it's less verbose and the new terminology is introduced more slowly.

[Grantmom]

So it sounds like, for those who have used another curriculum before BA, that there are some new things and some repeats in BA. So, is it easy to just skip over or skim through those things your dc already knows as you encounter them in BA?

[Alice]

We also use it as a supplement, mostly because ds is ahead of most of the concepts. He is currently in Singapore 4B and a 4th grader. We started BA last year and he loves it as a supplement.

 

For us it provides the following:

1) Review that is fun. He might balk at doing a bunch of multiplication problems as review but he loves the mazes.

2) Deeper coverage of topics we've already done.

3) Some new topics that Singpore hasn't covered yet or only covered briefly.

4) And I think most important is that it has encouraged my son to be willing to think ,work harder and have fun with math. He is very good at math but had gotten a little scared of challenging problems (maybe too much Singapore). He thinks of BA as fun and will work hard at some of the problems without complaining and without thinking that it's "school". Partially this is because the problems aren't that hard for him as they are often concepts he already understands well but what I've seen is that he is now more willing to tackle more challenging problems in Singapore. This may just be maturity or it may be BA but regardless I'm happy with BA.

[Alice]

So it sounds like, for those who have used another curriculum before BA, that there are some new things and some repeats in BA. So, is it easy to just skip over or skim through those things your dc already knows as you encounter them in BA?

 

Yes, when we go to multiplication and skip-counting I had him do only the starred (harder) problems and then any others he wanted to do. He did a few of the mazes as he thought they were fun but we skipped a lot of that section.

[SonshineLearner]

My son loves/loved them and I'm planning to order the next batch... just haven't dedicated the $$$ yet :)