Beast Academy and rising 3rd graders...

[TXBeth]

Is anyone taking the plunge and going to BA for your main curriculum? I am actually considering it, just supplementing with reflex math for fact practice and maybe Singapore CWP. I don't want to give it up, but it is too expensive to get BA and Singapore both! Am I crazy?

It seems that the Scope and Sequence are similar enough that I should be able to jump back to Singapore 4 next year if I wanted to.

 

What do you think? Anyone else doing this, or considering it, or wishing they would but too nervous since the whole series isn't out yet?

[Five More Minutes]

I've been thinking of doing this. My dd loves Beast! I'm going to use at minimum the Singapore IP and CWP along with Beast..

 

But ... I've also got the Singapore text and workbook handy in case we flounder. And just recently some folks here made a pretty convincing argument for continuing with the full two programs. In reality, this is probably what I'll do.

 

It's definitely the most expensive math year yet!!

[boscopup]

It seems that the Scope and Sequence are similar enough that I should be able to jump back to Singapore 4 next year if I wanted to.

 

Are you sure? Singapore teaches long division in 3A, and I don't think BA teaches it in grade 3 at all, does it? Long division is kind of the big boogey man in Singapore where it differs from other curricula, because most curricula start that in 4th grade (and I suspect BA will also).

 

BA goes deeper in some topics, but they actually hit major topics later than Singapore does. For example, they teach the basics of multiplication facts in grade 3, whereas Singapore did that in grade 2. BA goes deeper than Singapore did, but the main topic of "multiplication" is done later.

 

Now you may still be able to go BA to Singapore 4 with just a little extra work on some topics on your own. If it's just long division, you could always teach the long division yourself or just spend more time on it when it's revisited in SM 4. I just didn't want you to go in thinking that their scope and sequence is similar. They really aren't.

[Coffeemama]

I'm hesitant to rely solely on BA.

 

I bought BA 3A to start next year. My DD8 will continue to work through Singapore 3A this summer and start 3B in the fall. We slowed her pace in Singapore both to cement multiplication facts (Math Drills on iPad) and to work through the elementary Life of Fred books; she LOVES those...on Honey now. So I am looking at doing three math programs with her next year. I am a little concerned with the cost of 4 sets of Beast Academy books, so I figured with start with 3A and see how it goes, I'll likely get 3B as well, but I'm going to take it one book at a time. I already own all of the Singapore texts, so I only need to buy the workbooks and CWP. If I drop something, it will likey be the Singapore WB, I've done sections of Singapore with my oldest using only the textbook.

 

So many great programs and not enough hours in the day!

[TracyP]

I am using BA as my main math program. I used Math Minutes last year as a quick review and I plan to do the same thing next year. We are only through 3B, and this program is so new that I don't think that anyone can tell for sure whether or not BA will make a good stand alone. I am going out on a limb and trying it though because ds loves it so much.

 

I have no clue about S&S compared to Singapore, but 3C does cover long division.

[Farrar]

Once we finished Miquon, it has become our main program. I don't care about the sequence much and we won't be moving to SM at any point. BA is, I'm pretty sure, common core aligned, so SM's unusual teaching of long division in third aside, it should put one in a good place for most curricula.

[TracyP]

nm

[Chrysalis Academy]

We're still a year away from this decision, but I'm strongly considering switching to BA as Mo's main math when she finishes MM2, so I'm listening in to what y'all are finding. . . I have A & B, and did the geometry part of A with Miss P at the beginning of 5th grade, and thought it was pretty amazing.

[FairProspects]

Long division with single digit divisors is in 3C. BA definitely includes it.

[Alte Veste Academy]

We love BA here. LOVE it! But I personally would not move to it as my main program yet because the publication schedule is just not going to keep pace with a school year (or even a calendar year, so they say!). At some point, this will necessitate a switch-back or slow-down for those who moved to it.

 

Lucky are the children whose calendar/grade progression will allow them to make a smooth run through BA, but it is too early for mine. :(

 

 

[boscopup]

Long division with single digit divisors is in 3C. BA definitely includes it.

 

 

Really? I'm surprised! Then you should be good to go back to Singapore in 4. They don't do two-digit divisors until grade 5.

 

(obviously I only have 3A and 3B so far)

[TracyP]

We love BA here. LOVE it! But I personally would not move to it as my main program yet because the publication schedule is just not going to keep pace with a school year (or even a calendar year, so they say!). At some point, this will necessitate a switch-back or slow-down for those who moved to it.

 

Lucky are the children whose calendar/grade progression will allow them to make a smooth run through BA, but it is too early for mine. :(

If you are starting 3rd grade in the fall AND if they stay on the planned release dates, you should be good at this point. That still might not work for you, AVA, but I don't think anyone starting now should run into release date issues.

[Soror]

We used this as our main curriculum for part of the year last year for 2nd- (ds is older for his grade as his b-day is on the cut-off and turned 8 right before our school year started-he is actually still 8 but I already changed my sig for next year). Anyway, I really like BA. Ds loves it. I love that it goes deep and makes them think of concepts in unusual ways. However, as we've used RS I was accustomed to the spiral approach and missed it after a while. I found ds was growing rusty on some of his skills as well. So, we did most all of BA 3a-3c and are currently going back to finish RSD, which is mostly review but good practice nonetheless and introduces some different concepts .

 

For next year RSE will be our main program but we will doing BA again along w/ HoE. I believe though we are going to go back through BA to do the harder problems. We did some starred problems but skipped plenty, especially the 2 starred ones. I think we will do 3d before going back through the others, in the BA text they actually mention this as an approach that they advocate and as we have plenty of time it seems a good idea to cement concepts.

[musicianmom]

Not doing it with dd7 because she is accelerated in math, but I am buying the books as they are released and planning to use BA exclusively with dd5 and ds3 whenever they finish Singapore 2B.

[knittingmama]

I hope to use BA as the main spine with my now 7 and 5 year olds when they each get to 3rd grade. We have loved it as a fun supplement for my oldest.

[NASDAQ]

I am supplementing with my rising second grader, but I don't find the scope and sequence terribly similar to SM 3 (which she finished before we started using BA).

[Five More Minutes]

I popped back in here to link to this thread where I received some ideas about using Beast Academy as a spine.

 

In Posts 5 and 7, Dana outlined a possible Beast Academy spine / Singapore supplement progression. She suggested using BA as a spine and supplementing with Singapore IP and CWP; if the student finds something in IP confusing, that's the time to turn to the Singapore text. I was really intrigued by the idea that with this combination, Gr. 6 could be mostly Singapore CWP / IP with some other fun resources thrown in.

 

In Post 12, Bill makes a pretty good case for continuing with the full Singapore program alongside of BA. (Bill has never been a friend to my pocketbook! :001_smile: )

 

I found their thoughts so helpful as I'm figuring out math next year.

[TXBeth]

I popped back in here to link to this thread where I received some ideas about using Beast Academy as a spine.

In Posts 5 and 7, Dana outlined a possible Beast Academy spine / Singapore supplement progression. She suggested using BA as a spine and supplementing with Singapore IP and CWP; if the student finds something in IP confusing, that's the time to turn to the Singapore text. I was really intrigued by the idea that with this combination, Gr. 6 could be mostly Singapore CWP / IP with some other fun resources thrown in.

In Post 12, Bill makes a pretty good case for continuing with the full Singapore program alongside of BA. (Bill has never been a friend to my pocketbook! :001_smile: )

I found their thoughts so helpful as I'm figuring out math next year.

 

 

I do like this idea, but my problem is that I can't afford to do it all and I refuse to give up Beast because it has really awakened a love for math in DD. So either Singapore goes (except the CWP which we will keep), or MCT LA goes (and we continue with Rod & Staff instead). I wonder what Bill would make of that scenario? :p

[UrbanSue]

I am currently using BA as the only program for my 8yo who is finishing third grade. He is an extremely quirky learner and hated math with Singapore though he could do it all. He just loves BA. I thought we would outpace the publishing schedule quickly when we first started but we ended up having a spring with so much sickness in it that we're just now finishing 3A. So he'll be using BA a year "behind" but I don't really care since he loves it and it is plenty challening. I'm still not sure what we'll do if we end up with publishing gaps with BA. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'd missed Lynnita's thread so I'll check that out, too.

 

My 6yo dd who is finishing first grade will be in SM 2B or possibly 3A by the fall and she is dying to do Beast. I'm more inclined to run both programs at once with her because she moves so fast. I'm not really sure yet if she really has an amazing grasp of math or is just a really quick learner (is there even a difference? I don't know.).

[Greenmama2]

DD7 is using it as her main program along with LoF and multiplication fact practice. We love it & the transition from SM2B to BA3A was perfect for her.

[fairy4tmama]

:seeya: I think we will be doing this. I just got 3a and ds8 is super excited after looking through it. I am considering continuing LOF and or EM daily math practice.

[TracyP]

I do like this idea, but my problem is that I can't afford to do it all and I refuse to give up Beast because it has really awakened a love for math in DD. So either Singapore goes (except the CWP which we will keep), or MCT LA goes (and we continue with Rod & Staff instead). I wonder what Bill would make of that scenario? :p

 

If you really want to keep another program with BA, I would recommend Math Mammoth. For less than the price of one year SM, you could get MM grades 1-6. It is similar in S&S to SM and very strong in the conceptual teaching department.

[nov05mama]

We are still using it alongside Singapore. I'm not ready to let Singapore go just yet :p Since we started BA last year, I also had to worry about whether or not the 4th grade level would be out in time (we managed to stretch 3A and 3B enough to where it will hopefully be a non-issue since we'll finish 3C and 3D fairly quickly when we start back next month and hopefully by then 4A will be released).

[Lucy the Valiant]

*** Bumping an old thread ***

 

So how is this going for those of you who ran Singapore alongside Beast Academy?

 

I have a DS8 who is mildly bored with Singapore - I have a feeling he would love BA, but - aaack, the price! We would keep up with Singapore, as I know he will age past BA's production rate, but I'm interested to know how it works out alongside Singapore.

 

 

-----> Off-topic but slightly related: How long does your 3rd grader work on (required) math each day, approximately?

[sweetpea3829]

*** Bumping an old thread ***

 

So how is this going for those of you who ran Singapore alongside Beast Academy?

 

I have a DS8 who is mildly bored with Singapore - I have a feeling he would love BA, but - aaack, the price! We would keep up with Singapore, as I know he will age past BA's production rate, but I'm interested to know how it works out alongside Singapore.

 

 

-----> Off-topic but slightly related: How long does your 3rd grader work on (required) math each day, approximately?

 

First to answer Katie's question on required math each day...

 

DS7 doesn't have a set amount of time that I require of him each day, he works until his work is done, lol.  He typically has a math lesson each morning, with new material...usually a Singapore chapter section.  He'll have Singapore Workbook pages related to that new material on that same day...usually both sides of 1 page, sometimes more depending on how much is actually on the page.

 

Then, he has a page of Word Problems every day...sometimes from IP, sometimes from CWP, sometimes from Process Skills, etc.  

 

Depending on the week, he'll have a math review page (reviewing past concepts and topics) on MWF or T,TH.  Math Drill (usually from Sprints or the Singapore Mental Math exercises) on MWF or T, TH.  And he'll have something from logic/critical thinking on either MWF or T, TH.  

 

 

As for the OP...I'm curious what others have to say about aligning BA with Singapore.  We just ordered the entire BA grade 3 as DS is finishing up Singapore 2B.  I plan to start him on BA right away and work through the summer.  At this point, I intend to pick up Singapore 3A come September, but am not sure how, or even if, I'll integrate BA in with Singapore at that time.  A lot will depend on how he does with Beast over the next few months.  

 

Honestly, I'm kind of excited to add Beast to his math repertoire...lol! I think the different approach they take (based on what some folks from here were saying) will be good for him.  

[SierraNevada]

We just finished SM 4b and are now working on more of BA 4a. We started BA before SM4, but only did the geo chapter. Now we are going back to do exponents, and binary. Haven't decided if we will do the multiplication chapter yet though. Might just skip it. I don't like the idea of doing them side by side. I prefer to stop SM and do a chapter or two of BA. I'm more interested in using just the part of the BA books that are extra topics-- like the binary section, upcoming logic section, exponents (not sure where that is covered in SM sequence.) Then it doesn't matter at what point/grade we do them. I would happily use them as a primary spine if we could though. They don't seem like mere supplement to me.

[Forgiven]

We started with doing both BA and MM3 at the beginning of this year for my DS, who's in 3rd grade. After about a month he wanted nothing to do with MM anymore. He told me that BA is harder, but he likes it more, so that is all we do. I sometimes worry about all the stuff in MM3 that isn't in BA3, but watching my DS enjoy math and get it exhilerates me. We even do the starred problems. He gets so pumped when he finishes a double-starred problem, it's as if he has conquered the world. We aren't going very fast (we're almost done with 3B), but we also took the entire month of December off and a lot of November due to illness and my work schedule. We school year-round though, so we plan on him being in 4A in the fall.

 

I'm nervous that he'll out-pace the release schedule, but as someone else posted before (In June, maybe?) we'll cross that bridge when/if we get there. Right now I'm just trusting BA, and allowing my DS to enjoy math.

 

My DD, who is two years older than my DS who is doing BA, wishes she could do BA. I think she'll do some during the summer. I think she's jealous becuase DS is doing perfect squares in 3B, and she hasn't gotten to that in MM5 yet...I'm not even sure it's in MM5 (again, we're a bit behind due to illness and work stuff from over the holidays--she just started MM5B last week). I'm going to have her skip the geometry section in MM5B and do the geometry section in BA3A. We really enjoyed that with DS.

[MotherOfBoys]

Listening in.... I'm thinking of MM with beast next year.

 

The price of beast is making me nervous and the lack of review. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

We started with doing both BA and MM3 at the beginning of this year for my DS, who's in 3rd grade. After about a month he wanted nothing to do with MM anymore. He told me that BA is harder, but he likes it more, so that is all we do. I sometimes worry about all the stuff in MM3 that isn't in BA3, but watching my DS enjoy math and get it exhilerates me. We even do the starred problems. He gets so pumped when he finishes a double-starred problem, it's as if he has conquered the world. We aren't going very fast (we're almost done with 3B), but we also took the entire month of December off and a lot of November due to illness and my work schedule. We school year-round though, so we plan on him being in 4A in the fall.

 

I'm nervous that he'll out-pace the release schedule, but as someone else posted before (In June, maybe?) we'll cross that bridge when/if we get there. Right now I'm just trusting BA, and allowing my DS to enjoy math.

 

My DD, who is two years older than my DS who is doing BA, wishes she could do BA. I think she'll do some during the summer. I think she's jealous becuase DS is doing perfect squares in 3B, and she hasn't gotten to that in MM5 yet...I'm not even sure it's in MM5 (again, we're a bit behind due to illness and work stuff from over the holidays--she just started MM5B last week). I'm going to have her skip the geometry section in MM5B and do the geometry section in BA3A. We really enjoyed that with DS.

 

This is what I did with Shannon.  She was starting 5th grade when BA came out.  I got A and B for her, and we did the geometry sections in A, and then I had her go through and do most of the starred problems.  It was pretty easy for her, but it did help her to start thinking about math in a new way.  (I could only justify this b/c I knew I had another kid coming along who would use it! I'm not suggesting that people buy it for their 5th graders).

[FairProspects]

The lack of review has been a problem for us. Maybe if you were able to use BA straight through on the intended sequence it would be less of an issue, but because we have to jump around due to the publication schedule, even when I feel ds has a strong grip on a concept by the time we hit it again in another program his retention is less than ideal. I frequently pull out the BA books to review because the explanations are so good, but I wish there was more written into BA. We needed to do MM Multiplication 2 and Division 2 in addition to the long multiplication/division sections in BA and we are currently covering additional geometry work. For us at least, BA was just not enough to cement the concepts (even though many chapters are very interesting concepts). I wish there was something like IP or Extra Practice for BA too so you could pull out additional problems when you need a bit more.

[deerforest]

Honestly, the lack of review has been fine here, and I think there is a subtle, underlying build-up and reinforcement that's happening all along. It just isn't a blatant, spiral review.

 

Maybe t it just depends on your kid. When we finished BA 4A, I just dabbled in different things, mostly decimals and percentages because she loved fractions and long division so I thought it was a good transition. We used Key to.., McKellar's books, Simply Charlotte Mason Business Math, etc. A couple of weeks ago I finally caved and moved to Singapore (which we didn't like or use in the early years.) Based on the scope and sequence, I chose to start with 5a instead of 4a. It has been a really good fit for her. As an example, the 3rd chapter in 5A is review of factors and prime factorization, which is a chapter she loved from BA. We just re-read McKellar's content, watched a few Khan and AoPS videos, and it all came flying back to her. It didn't required a lot of effort. 

[blondeviolin]

We have done BA this year and only BA. My oldest is a year ahead so we took some time and really chewed on some problems. She's at the beginning of 3C and is absolutely loving BA (and so am I!). We aren't having any issues with retention so far. She did struggle for a while with remembering the difference between perimeter and area, buts he watched a few brainpop videos and it came flooding back. After she finishes 3D, she'll take the DOMA and it'll be interesting to see her score compared to last year.

 

At this point, I'm thinking she'll outstrip their production rate. Because my 6yo is going to be starting 3A this fall, he may even outpace the writers. We love it anyway. :)

[FairProspects]

Honestly, the lack of review has been fine here, and I think there is a subtle, underlying build-up and reinforcement that's happening all along. It just isn't a blatant, spiral review.

 

Maybe t it just depends on your kid. When we finished BA 4A, I just dabbled in different things, mostly decimals and percentages because she loved fractions and long division so I thought it was a good transition. We used Key to.., McKellar's books, Simply Charlotte Mason Business Math, etc. A couple of weeks ago I finally caved and moved to Singapore (which we didn't like or use in the early years.) Based on the scope and sequence, I chose to start with 5a instead of 4a. It has been a really good fit for her. As an example, the 3rd chapter in 5A is review of factors and prime factorization, which is a chapter she loved from BA. We just re-read McKellar's content, watched a few Khan and AoPS videos, and it all came flying back to her. It didn't required a lot of effort. 

 

Did you go straight through? We did 3A/B, waited and did other things, 3C, waited, 3D, waited, 4A, etc. I agree with you that there is a subtle build up of review throughout the series but the publishing gaps without that reinforcement of the same style were what we found problematic. I also wrote that the long division was enough when we did it, but a year later I have not found that to be true for us. Obviously different learners, different needs, but having used BA now for all 4 books these were our experiences.

[deerforest]

No, we did not go straight through. We got the first set when they first came out and only finished 4A before the holidays. We took a very meandering path mixed with living math and assorted other things, not other curricula though. I was trying to make it last as long as possible.

[Peaceful Isle]

I'm thinking of using BA for my rising third grader next year. I already have math u see gamma, so I'm probably going to combine the two of them.

[boscopup]

Not a third grader, but my middle son is happily doing CLE 200 alongside BA 3B (we finished 3A recently). We're deep in multiplication, and he loves it! I am going a bit slower in BA than most people, so we should be ok with the publication schedule at this point (I know, famous last words :lol:). Our daily routine is to do a lesson of CLE in the morning, then a couple pages of BA Practice book after lunch. So it took us from October through February to get through 3A this way. I didn't bother to line anything up. Some topics we're hitting in CLE first, and some topics we're hitting in BA first. I think we started multiplication in CLE, but then BA jumped into the whole table and really using multiplication.

 

I think you could do the same thing with Singapore - don't bother to line anything up. Just introduce it in whichever program gets there first. :)

 

ETA: saying a couple pages of BA Practice book makes it sound like we're not using the Guide. We ARE using the Guide. ;)

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Does anyone use just the text but not the workbook portion as "free reading" type material?  Would that be pointless?  The comic book style seems really cute.

[boscopup]

Does anyone use just the text but not the workbook portion as "free reading" type material?  Would that be pointless?  The comic book style seems really cute.

 

You'd be missing a large part of the program. Some of the teaching is in the Guide. Deeper teaching is in the workbook via the problems.

 

But certainly it'd be a good read by itself, so not "pointless". My son doing AoPS Prealgebra grabbed the 3C guide book when it came in and read through it for fun. :D He's not doing the practice problems, since he's well beyond that level.

[sweetpea3829]

Does anyone use just the text but not the workbook portion as "free reading" type material?  Would that be pointless?  The comic book style seems really cute.

 

I wish they had something like this for kids that struggle with math.  I think my daughter would really like the comic book format, and it would be more engaging for her.  

[redsquirrel]

Does anyone use just the text but not the workbook portion as "free reading" type material?  Would that be pointless?  The comic book style seems really cute.

 

To me it seems pointless, but to each her own. It also seems expensive for reading material. Those 'comic books' are each 15$ plus shipping, and they are not very long. I don't think they are 60$ worth of 'cute'.

 

eta: For those who are gasping at the price of BA (and I am one of them, but here I am using it) I would like to direct you to MEP:

 

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

 

MEP is FREE for the printing. It is a great math program and it is definitely challenging. I love MEP. I think if you like SM and want to enrich what you are doing, then dipping into MEP with their teacher led problem solving and especially those games etc at the beginning of each lesson might interest you. It has logic games, it has activities, it has a whole lot to offer. I am always amazed I don't see it mentioned more on this board. I frequently use MEP to enrich SM or add in some extra practice. However, it is teacher led. I don't just hand over some questions.

[sweetpea3829]

To me it seems pointless, but to each her own. It also seems expensive for reading material. Those 'comic books' are each 15$ plus shipping, and they are not very long. I don't think they are 60$ worth of 'cute'.

 

eta: For those who are gasping at the price of BA (and I am one of them, but here I am using it) I would like to direct you to MEP:

 

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

 

MEP is FREE for the printing. It is a great math program and it is definitely challenging. I love MEP. I think if you like SM and want to enrich what you are doing, then dipping into MEP with their teacher led problem solving and especially those games etc at the beginning of each lesson might interest you. It has logic games, it has activities, it has a whole lot to offer. I am always amazed I don't see it mentioned more on this board. I frequently use MEP to enrich SM or add in some extra practice. However, it is teacher led. I don't just hand over some questions.

I have given serious thought to MEP...but every time I do, I always end up thoroughly annoyed by the website and the amount of legwork needed to align everything.  

[redsquirrel]

I have given serious thought to MEP...but every time I do, I always end up thoroughly annoyed by the website and the amount of legwork needed to align everything.  

 

align what specifically? Maybe someone can help?

 

They do have a scope and sequence and a weekly schedule for every year and that is what I have used.

[sweetpea3829]

align what specifically? Maybe someone can help?

 

They do have a scope and sequence and a weekly schedule for every year and that is what I have used.

 

Printing out all of the materials and aligning what goes with what.  I've had this problem with other pdf type programs...Jump was difficult for me to implement because the teacher's manual was pdf.  

 

I do better with a hard copy in my hands, and a table of contents, lol.  

[redsquirrel]

Well, if it is difficult for you then it is difficult for you. Can't really argue with that. I find the KISS website totally unmanageable but other people seem to have no difficulty.

 

With MEP the practice book worksheets match up number for number with the lesson plans. So, lesson 10 goes with practice book worksheet 10. I just printed them both out and put them in two binders. My kid had his worksheet binder and I had my lesson plans binder. Then we both opened to the same number lesson. The lesson number is right there in the corner. There are 'copymasters' for many lessons and sometimes I used them and sometimes I didn't. They are meant to be shown via overhead projector (do schools still use those, lol) as students work on their worksheet. My son liked using the copymaster to work on instead of the lesson worksheet because the copymasters were much bigger. But I didn't always print those out.

 

I found enough in the lessons that I skipped anything that wasn't manageable with just one kid or needed anything special. I substituted the word dollars for pounds and found it all easy peasy.

 

And a 'table of contents' for each year (week by week summary) is in the scheme of work at the top of the page. I printed that out and checked if off as I went along.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

To me it seems pointless, but to each her own. It also seems expensive for reading material. Those 'comic books' are each 15$ plus shipping, and they are not very long. I don't think they are 60$ worth of 'cute'.

 

eta: For those who are gasping at the price of BA (and I am one of them, but here I am using it) I would like to direct you to MEP:

 

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

 

MEP is FREE for the printing. It is a great math program and it is definitely challenging. I love MEP. I think if you like SM and want to enrich what you are doing, then dipping into MEP with their teacher led problem solving and especially those games etc at the beginning of each lesson might interest you. It has logic games, it has activities, it has a whole lot to offer. I am always amazed I don't see it mentioned more on this board. I frequently use MEP to enrich SM or add in some extra practice. However, it is teacher led. I don't just hand over some questions.

 

Thanks for the feedback! 

 

I actually don't find the price of BA that crazy, it seems like it's about the same as SM once you've bought TB, WB, HIG, CWP...  but as a supplement, the price would be too high, and I love SM too much right now to leave it.  :-)  I might consider just getting one of the BA Guides+WB for some of the topics not covered in SM, as ds is running a bit ahead and math and I wouldn't mind slowing it down.