caayenne Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 My ds9 has just finished up Singapore 4B, and he is pretty bored with math right now. I would like to try BA to see if it will inspire him to love math again. But I had a couple of concerns with him going into 5th grade next year. Should we start at the beginning with 3A even though it would mean that we might not have time to finish Beast before starting AOPS Pre-A in 6th grade (at least that's the plan)? We tried the assessments, and he places around 4A or so, but there are individual topics he doesn't know from the earlier levels, like area of a triangle and how to multiply big numbers quickly, etc. I would love to have him work on those skills, but I'm just not sure whether we can get through enough books to be worth it! I am looking to switch to BA as our full-time math if he likes it, as I was not a big fan of SM 5 when my older ds went through it. I am hoping for more algebraic thinking to be emphasized sooner, and I have been super impressed with the samples of BA. I had the idea that maybe he could just work through the first few guides and maybe skip the practice books until the later levels, but I am not sure if he would get as much out of the program that way. Has anyone done that? Also, my ds would like to know if the books have a continuing storyline, because he doesn't want to miss anything! :001_smile: Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 We love Beast here! I would definitely start with the first level (3A), as it presents familiar topics in atypical ways. You don't want to miss those. I also would not skip the practice books, as they are gold. I have lots of post-secondary math, and still found some of the problems hard. (And am eternally grateful for the very complete solutions at the back of the book!) If your ds finds them easy, great -- he'll get through the program that much faster! My dds vary at their rate of consumption of these books. Some chapters and even books were absolutely devoured in a matter of weeks; others took longer. I would imagine that a strong Gr. 5 student could easily finish 3, 4, and part of 5 in a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I would start with 3 too, and expect him to go through it faster. But 5 isn't written yet. If you started in 4, you might run out of material before grade 5 was over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I would definitely start with the first level (3A), as it presents familiar topics in atypical ways. You don't want to miss those. I also would not skip the practice books, as they are gold. I have lots of post-secondary math, and still found some of the problems hard. (And am eternally grateful for the very complete solutions at the back of the book!) If your ds finds them easy, great -- he'll get through the program that much faster! My dds vary at their rate of consumption of these books. Some chapters and even books were absolutely devoured in a matter of weeks; others took longer. I would imagine that a strong Gr. 5 student could easily finish 3, 4, and part of 5 in a year. I agree with all of the above. There's very little work in the guides; the work is in the practice books. He wouldn't get very much out of just reading the guides, though I certainly wouldn't recommend skipping them. Each quarter of a grade level is released about every six months (4D is due out any day now), so if your son is in fourth grade and you want him to start Pre-A in sixth, you won't make it due to the publication schedule. That doesn't need to hold you back, though; my DS started Pre-A after finishing 4B (the most recent publication at that time), and my DD will start after 4D. I had to use some other resources to cover a few topics for DS, but those are now covered in 4C and 4D. I'm sure that when it's finished working through the entire series will be the ideal, but for now, this is working for us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Regarding the story, there's not one continuing story line, so it's not as though you wouldn't understand what was going on by starting with 4A. There are some recurring vignettes, and the characters certainly have distinct personalities, but not an overarching story. I agree with everyone else that you wouldn't want to skip the practice books, as that's the main substance of the program. There's a lot of wonderful math in the level 3 books, and they're well worth doing. If you'd rather not invest in the whole level 3 set, one option would be to go straight to 3B or 3C. 3B's treatment of perfect squares and the distributive property is outstanding, and you definitely wouldn't want to miss the variables chapter in 3C or the fractions chapter in 3D. Both lay really important groundwork. I'd caution against starting with 3D just because the chapter on fractions is one of the least interesting, in my opinion. It's essential work, but I don't think that chapter really gives you the full flavor of the curriculum. Enjoy! Hopefully Beast will be just the thing to pique your son's interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.