Rightstart users... how far did A get you?

[PagesandFields]

I'm starting K with my son... but I think I'm going to do a year and a half of K...  He's a really young k-er and I want him and his sister to be 2 grades apart... plus we're going to school Jan -Dec, not fall to spring..  I'm not going to hold him back at his learning, but not going to rush him at all either.. plus I'm pretty CMy and plan for mostly language and nature until age 6.

 

So... I desperately want to use Rightstart... but my budget's pretty tight right now and I'm worried that by the time I get to buy it the A program will not take us very far...  But if it might work for the year and a half I want to do K I'd love it.  

 

Thanks so much!

[EmilyGF]

If you feel confident, you could use B and use three days per lesson, playing a lot of games and such. However, A can easily last a year if you MASTER the concepts by playing a lot of games. If you just want to introduce concepts and move on, then it can be much faster.

 

Some people say A skips around a lot, but there is a rhyme and reason to the skipping around (ie count by 5s on day 1, count around a clock on day 2, learn about nickels on day 3, figure out number of fingers in a room on day 4 - all of these teach and apply counting by fives in different ways). With RS B, you won't get the same layers of learning and understanding, but the first thirty lessons of B cover the concepts which are in A. 

 

Emily

[nature girl]

I've been working through A (2e) with my DD, and her understanding of all the (sometimes advanced) concepts is so much deeper than I think it could have been with almost any other program. Plus it's so gentle and fun, a lot of singing songs, playing with different tools and games, it's something she asks to do every day and something I truly look forward to doing with her.

 

I was debating starting in B, since there's review of many of the concepts in A and my daughter is pretty mathy. But I'm glad I started in A because apparently B ramps up pretty quickly and I think the slower approach has really given her an amazing foundation and confidence...She might have been able to get through B but I don't think she would have had the same level of understanding. (It's not going to take us a year, actually might not take more than 6-7 months, but that's only because she wants to do it every day, sometimes 2 lessons a day...They actually recommend you only do it 3-4 times a week, which sounds like what you're planning anyway.)

 

It's pricey, but I think resale for the books is pretty good. (You can actually find the 1e on ebay for not too much. Since you're concerned about whether he'll get enough bang for the buck that might be the way to go...I think it was around $25 for both the manual and workbook when I was looking.) We're actually using sheet protectors so we can reuse the workbook, and I'm copying the pages that need to be cut out. The priciest part is the manipulatives, and the same set of manipulatives can be used throughout the program. I found almost all of them on RR (not produced by RS but every bit as usable) for significantly less!

[Crimson Wife]

If your budget is really tight now, I would skip A and just use MEP Reception & 1A (which are FREE to download) until your student is ready for B. That's what I did with my 2nd child. B was the original entry point into RS and A was added later. So you won't miss anything if you skip A and just start in B.

[melbotoast]

DS usually managed a lesson a day, so it took less than a year. I'm just starting with DD and I think it will easily take a year and a half because she is very easily distracted. (Oh, now I have to rearrange the tally sticks and tell you a story about them.) I'm not sure how the new edition is, so you may want to look for reviews if you're interested in that. The old edition will be easier to find used though :)

[nature girl]

I'm just starting with DD and I think it will easily take a year and a half because she is very easily distracted. (Oh, now I have to rearrange the tally sticks and tell you a story about them.)

 

Yesterday DD imagined our Place Value cards into turkey sandwiches, the numbers written in mustard, and we had to eat through each of the stacks as we constructed them. :lol:

[Crimson Wife]

Another thing that DS did while I was waiting for him to be ready for RS B is Evan-Moor "Take it to Your Seat Math Centers". It isn't free like MEP but it is budget-friendly: http://www.evan-moor.com/p/640/early-learning-resources-math-games-and-centers

[melbotoast]

Yesterday DD imagined our Place Value cards into turkey sandwiches, the numbers written in mustard, and we had to eat through each of the stacks as we constructed them. :lol:

That sounds about right. :lol: :)

[Marie131]

We used RSA for Kindergarten spending only 10-15 min per lesson.  We had a baby that year so schooling wasn't particularly consistent.  I don't think we quite finished it and we schooled year round with a long break from Oct-Jan when we had our baby.  I think it can last you as long as you want it to.  You probably could stretch it out to last a year and a half if you do short lessons, play lots of games and only do math 3-4 times per week.  It is a lovely curriculum.

[PagesandFields]

Thank you all so much!  He'll  be just barely 5 when we start.  We've done some informal math games, but I really like the idea of going very slow.  

 

I think I'll start with the A... The manipulatives are the most expensive part and I will use them with both kiddos.  

 

Thank you again!  For some reason I was having a hard time wrapping my head around where to start.  Since most things start level 1 as first grade, sometimes the kindie level seems vague regarding it's level sometimes.  

[NASDAQ]

A can easily last a year for a young kid.

 

You can buy a used teacher's manual, al abacus, and DIY most if the other stuff.

[give_me_a_latte]

We spent well over a calendar year in RSA. I'd have to look at my binder to see how long it was, but I know I felt like we'd never finish and I was THRILLED when we were done!!! My son just kept hitting walls in places I didn't expect him to, so we had to camp out several times and just let things marinate. I'm so so so glad we did that, though. He's half way through RSB now and has an amazing grasp of the concepts. He might have been just fine starting in B. Who knows? But I feel that doing A at a pace that suited him gave us a lot to build on this year.