I have a love/hate relationship with Righstart.

[JRmommy]

Maybe I should try something else...

 

I know that many like the foundation that Rightstart gives, and I am sure it does. I can't put my finger on it, but I just don't like to use it to teach. Maybe it is because it is so scripted. Maybe it seems to move slow. I'm not sure.

 

My 6 year old is my oldest, so I'm not a seasoned homeschooler. I haven't really switched from curriculum to curriculum. I'm trying to figure out if not liking to teach using a certain curriculum is enough to jump ship. We are on lesson 62 in Level B, and while he is learning, I loathe pulling out the manual to do a lesson.

 

Anyone else feel this way about Rightstart? I'd love some advice.

 

I wonder if I would like teaching math better with another curriculum. Maybe Singapore?

[EmilyGF]

I have used RightStart with my oldest since he was four, with brief dives into Miquon. He is now finishing 2nd grade and uses RightStart E as his main curriculum and Singapore CWP/IP as independent work.

 

I have used RightStart with my second since she was 4.5, with a dark 2 month period spent in MEP this winter. She is finishing 1st grade and is *almost* done with RS B. She is 6.5.

 

I like teaching RightStart since I paraphrase however I like but I know what the important points are. I was so frustrated with MEP because I felt like I didn't know what was important and what I could skip. I feel like I can speed things up easily with RightStart - maybe because I am familiar with it?

 

I've gotten frustrated with RightStart sometimes because people talk it down on the forum as being too slow, but I just can't stop because my kids really really understand math and really like it (the second hated it until I let her read over my shoulder - thus the brief break with MEP). I've started to understand the educational philosophy behind RS better and even plan to use VideoText algebra, despite being totally against videos, because the layered approach that she uses to teach is amazing.

 

My husband is an astrophysicist. I am an applied physicist by training and worked as a computer modeler. I continue to be impressed by the skills and understanding my kids have learned with RightStart.

 

Treat the manual as your slave, not your master, and maybe it'll get better. I think it's worth it!

 

Emily

[longnightmoon]

I think RS is a wonderful curriculum that lays a great foundation. My dd has a keen understanding of place value thanks to RS. That said, I loathed teaching it. For me, the spiral nature drove me crazy. I never had a good idea where the lessons were headed and the geometry lessons were seemlingly thrown in at random (they probably arent but it seemed that way). So when my dd started having trouble with some of the conceptual leaps I tried some other programs for a break and ended up abandoning RS. We've finally settled on Miquon and it's fun for both of us. I am grateful for the foundation that RS has given my dd but I'm even more grateful to pull out a program I don't dread teaching and we actually both enjoy doing. HTH!

 

Good luck!

[Flux]

Maybe I should try something else...

 

I know that many like the foundation that Rightstart gives, and I am sure it does. I can't put my finger on it, but I just don't like to use it to teach. Maybe it is because it is so scripted. Maybe it seems to move slow. I'm not sure.

 

My 6 year old is my oldest, so I'm not a seasoned homeschooler. I haven't really switched from curriculum to curriculum. I'm trying to figure out if not liking to teach using a certain curriculum is enough to jump ship. We are on lesson 62 in Level B, and while he is learning, I loathe pulling out the manual to do a lesson.

 

Anyone else feel this way about Rightstart? I'd love some advice.

 

I wonder if I would like teaching math better with another curriculum. Maybe Singapore?

 

 

Ha! Are we twins?

 

We, *ahem* I, have been stuck on lesson 71 for an embarrassing year. My daughter can kick my butt in place value and yes, so far, Rightstart is responsible for her receiving a better math education than I ever got. But what I ultimately found is that that is my problem. Math is hard for me. A while back I ordered Singapore and found it even more difficult to teach, or rather, to teach well. Turns out I need the scripting, because without it, I'd just be passing on my own cr@ppy, surface understanding of basic arithmetic. So we've mostly been working on skip-counting lately, while I come to grips with the fact that my inner brat needs to do math whether she likes it or not. :scared:

 

So no advice, just commiseration I guess. I'm going to press on with Rightstart, or, just take myself out of the equation (pun intended) all together and do TT or something...

Sorry I'm not of any help.

[Kathie in VA]

I could be that it is scripted or it could be the approach.

 

I didn't like the approach. I tend not to do well with spiral type programs. I like to teach one thing and then work on that till I know they have it and then build on that understanding. I do like teaching with the abacus though. So to compromise in K, I used some of the Right Start tutor book Activities for the Alabacus and Worksheets for the Alabacus

http://store.rightstartmath.com/activitiesforalabacus.aspx

Then we moved on to Singapore math. We still use the abacus. We are in SM 2B and are slowing down for better understanding and memorizing facts but I've been thinking of pulling this out again as a supplement. This should help to make sure we are using the abacus right and give her more practice.

 

just my 2 cents, ymmv

[kristinannie]

.

 

Treat the manual as your slave, not your master.

 

Emily

 

 

 

I think this is so important. Some people want a scripted program and some don't. I am not beholden to the manual and I just use it as needed. I also do Miquon so I don't do RS every.single.day. I think that I would get burned out if I did that. We do RS 3 times a week. I absolutely love it. Maybe you could take a little time off and come back. A lot of people spend two years on RS B since it is so meaty.

[boscopup]

I'm trying to figure out if not liking to teach using a certain curriculum is enough to jump ship.

 

 

It absolutely is!

 

I tried RS A with my middle son. He really wasn't learning much (he needs a pictorial presentation *with* the concrete presentation), and I hated teaching it. Really hated it. I hated all the different manipulatives. I hated having to make copies of various things for each lesson. I hated never knowing what we would do that day. I also hated that they were teaching things like 5 and 3 make 8 before ever *showing* that 5 and 3 are 8 by sticking those objects together and counting to 8.

 

I switched that kid to Singapore (my oldest was already using Singapore - RS would NOT be a good fit for him, as he does not need/like manipulatives and is an abstract thinker). Singapore matches how *I* think, and it matches how *I* want to teach. It makes sense to me. It is open and go for me. And I use ONE manipulative with it (C-rods) if needed. I taught place value on my own with a 100 chart, straws, and coins (how my oldest learned in private school, using Saxon K). We have rock solid place value going on, and middle son can do mental math of 2-digit numbers with regrouping, when he hasn't even gotten to regrouping in Singapore yet. Excellent foundation that allowed him to figure out more.

 

There are many ways to give a good math foundation. RS is one of those ways, but there are several other programs that are equally good, IMO. Use the one that YOU enjoy teaching.

[NASDAQ]

I am using RS A with my JKer because I don't like the Singapore Early Bird program and I've yet to find the absolutely perfect early math program. My first finished SM 3A yesterday.

 

I don't like teaching RS. I feel like I don't know where it's going. It feels too spiral. I don't like math games. With Singapore, I feel like I have a notion of how the whole thing hangs together. I'd probably have a much better notion of this with RS if I'd used the program before. I should probably just sit down and read the entire manual some day.

[blondchen]

I don't like teaching RS. I feel like I don't know where it's going. It feels too spiral. I don't like math games.

 

 

This, mostly. I can't really say I don't like teaching it because I find it to be very easy to teach (I can quickly skim the lesson and edit on the fly as needed), and I like seeing DD get the concepts, but it really does feel too spiral. I hate having a concept introduced and then abandoned, only to be reintroduced at a seemingly random time and abandoned again. I just don't get the point (though as a non-math person, the problem could be with me and not the method). I'D probably be more comfortable with a mastery rather than spiral program, but since I think it's working okay for DD at this point, I've already bought Level B, AND I've heard rave reviews about Level B in particular, I'm going to stick with it for another year and evaluate my options after that.

[sbgrace]

I disliked teaching RS. For me it was the spiral/seemingly random nature of things. I know there is a method, but I could never see the path clearly and that aspect bugged me. I also never felt I had a good handle on exactly where one child, particularly, was in terms of mastery. We left after B, picked up 1/2 of C, then left for good. It truly wasnt' a good fit for me as a teacher. But if I had another child, I would still probably do the early levels of RS. It truly is a great foundation. I own 1/2 Singapore, Math Mammoth, and 1b-3b of Math in Focus. None are quite as good in some key areas as RS in my opinion. But I did hate to teach it.

[JRmommy]

I appreciate the responses. I think the spiraling is the main issue. The scriptedness is probably my second issue. I LOVE math, and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree. I just have to figure how not to be a slave to the teacher's manual. I once read that someone changed the order of Rightstart B. I wonder if I should consider that. It drives me nuts to work on place value one day and parallel lines the next.

 

Perhaps, I should consider a mastery based approach to math. Hmmm... Decisions, decisions

[JRmommy]

Double post

[Kathie in VA]

.....

I once read that someone changed the order of Rightstart B. I wonder if I should consider that. It drives me nuts to work on place value one day and parallel lines the next.

 

Perhaps, I should consider a mastery based approach to math. Hmmm... Decisions, decisions

 

 

I don't know if you need to stick or switch, but I just wanted to clarify something I said earlier. The Activities for the Alabacus and Worksheets for the Alabacus http://store.rightst...oralabacus.aspx are basically the RightStart program before they spiraled it and made graded workbooks. So if you wanted to re-arrange the lessons it might be easier using these books. Although I tried this for a short bit but didn't want to spend that much time organizing our math... so for us this is a supplement.

[Soror]

I just posted last week about this. I have used RS w/ ds now from RSB-D. I'm continuing it for ds but have decided for now not to do it with dd. I just don't want to teach level B again. I didn't find it hard to use, so much as tedious. I think B has too much material and too many copies etc. I actually do feel pretty confident at this point with it to pull from here and there as needed to hit what he needs. I still don't want to teach B again. IF I did I would certainly skip some of the lessons though, like the whole huge fractal and writing out calendars for the whole year and counting all the dishes in the house. It isn't the only good program and I really want to teach something that I feel excited about, right now I'm trying out Miquon, New Franklin Math and MEP and we are enjoying them all so far, we will tweak as needed though.

[LynnG in Arizona]

I guess I can add my name to the list of people who have a love/hate relationship with RS Math. Well, hate is too strong of a word, but there are definitely aspects of the curriculum that frustrate me, some of which I find difficult to articulate.

 

I think so many aspects of RS are absolutely brilliant, and my children have responded very well to the hands on/Montessori-like approach. I think that approach is particularly helpful, effective, and appealing to the younger grades (for many kids, anyway).

 

I am similar to Soror in that I have gone through about 2/3rds of Level C with one child, and just completed Level A with my youngest. I am having my annual debate as to whether or not to continue RS with the older one. We're working on Math Mammoth right now, which is some ways is a welcome change. In other ways, I am already missing the more interactive, hands-on approach of RS. And the games. Yes, I know I can and should add them in to whatever else we are using for math, but I never seem to actually do it.

 

My youngest will definitely go through RS B next year, as I do think it's a particularly strong year that lays a super solid foundation. But I am also mentally bracing myself for the very full year. And I am absolutely planning to skip a very select number of topics when appropriate . . . like the calendar, and the counting to 100 household objects, etc.

 

 

[EmilyGF]

I think one thing that helped me with RightStart is that my kids have loved the drawing, which is a very unique aspect of it. If they had hated the drawing, I probably would have gotten very frustrated with it.

 

Also, when I priced out Singapore, I realized it cost about as much as RightStart, and all I'd get was books.

 

I don't play as many games as I used to (ah, logistics!) but I use a bunch of drills from math-drills.com. My second child is a visual learner and was frustrated with the game playing.

 

Emily

[Aloha2U]

I don't play as many games as I used to (ah, logistics!) but I use a bunch of drills from math-drills.com.

 

Thank you for sharing this! I just bookmarked math-drills.com.

[CrunchyGirl]

I tried to love it but no go. I really think it's an awesome program but RS B drove me utterly insane. It also moved to slowly for DS. We are far better off with Singapore for him and to be fair he blew through 1B and 2A. I do have RS A and RS B and I'm going to try with DD. I suspect she is more artistically inclined than math inclined (like DS) so maybe it will be a better fit.

[Punchie]

I have a love/hate relationship with it as well. I don't like how teacher-intensive it is, or how much extra stuff is needed to complete lesson. That being said, it works for DD. She loves it. And so to keep myself from going insane (and to make sure we get math done), I alternate it with Math Mammoth. We'll do RS C in 2nd this fall b/c of how much she likes it. I'll suck it up for her sake.

[PeterPan]

Coming in late here, but if it seems slow, you may have a mismatch as far as the level/readiness of your dc and the material. An extremely bright dc may go through the material much more quickly. It's ok to take the visualization and thought process and SPEED IT UP, condensing lessons, eliminating the overlap. It's also ok to change to another curriculum. :) Just helps to know *why* the material is a misfit, so you don't repeat the problem. Almost anything can be taught with if you understand the problem and adapt. I'm not saying you shouldn't change. I'm just saying learning how to teach your bright dc is part of growing as a teacher.

[waa510]

I appreciate the responses. I think the spiraling is the main issue. The scriptedness is probably my second issue. I LOVE math, and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree. I just have to figure how not to be a slave to the teacher's manual. I once read that someone changed the order of Rightstart B. I wonder if I should consider that. It drives me nuts to work on place value one day and parallel lines the next.

 

Perhaps, I should consider a mastery based approach to math. Hmmm... Decisions, decisions

 

 

Just to offer up another perspective( while keeping in mind that I've totally chugged a whole lot of the RS kool-aid ;)) is that RS is coming out with their 2nd edition that has addressed ( at least in the level available so far) the issues that you seem to have with it. If you liked the curriculum enough, or were just meh on it, I'd urge you to check out the website and see if the improvements made on it will satisfy your needs.

 

Just an idea. :)

[chasingbutterflies]

I hope it is okay for me to ask this here, but is it possible to do Rightstart AND Singapore together? My kids LOVE math and are good at it. I would LOVE to do Montessori but do know where to begin and the materials are SO expensive - as are their schools around here. So I am down to Singapore (we have used it in the past and the kids LOVE workbooks, but also, they love manipulatives). Right now my kids do SIngapore AND Saxon because they wanted more math (so THEY chose to add Saxon). I want something more with our math. Not JUST workbooks and problems. I want them to DO math in a more creative and real world application.

[skeeterbug]

I hope it is okay for me to ask this here, but is it possible to do Rightstart AND Singapore together? My kids LOVE math and are good at it. I would LOVE to do Montessori but do know where to begin and the materials are SO expensive - as are their schools around here. So I am down to Singapore (we have used it in the past and the kids LOVE workbooks, but also, they love manipulatives). Right now my kids do SIngapore AND Saxon because they wanted more math (so THEY chose to add Saxon). I want something more with our math. Not JUST workbooks and problems. I want them to DO math in a more creative and real world application.

 

My 8yo does RS and Singapore Challenging Word Problems. It would be too much for us to do both full curriculums, but this works well for us. Also RS games and Dreambox.