eternallytired Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 1. ...do you also pull out something like Singapore CWP or Zaccaro, or are those rendered unnecessary? I've seen them recommended often, but not in conjunction with BA, which made me wonder if BA serves the same purpose, more or less. I'm working on my next RR order (purchasing BA3), and I want to make sure I don't end up having to pay shipping later for a $20 book when I could just bundle it now. (A little ridiculous, but I'll pinch every penny I can to spend more on supplies. :lol: ) 2. ...do your children need "brain breaks" from BA? If so, what do you do for that "break"? Is there a good way to manage BA so as not to need breaks, or should I plan to schedule in something less challenging or at least different at some regular interval? On a related note, if I have my middle child working through Singapore 2 next, would you recommend either of those supplements (CWP or Zaccaro) or shall I just pin all my hopes on BA when she gets there? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 1) Sometimes I use Beast Academy with CWP and sometimes not...but it isn't necessarily because I want one to complement the other. I assign a page of Word problems to my son three times a week (MWF) and that page can come from any resource I have on hand that has quality WPs. CWP, Process Skills, Beast, IP, etc. 2) I don't just use Beast Academy with my son. It is not spiral enough. I use Beast as a supplement for Singapore. So last summer, I used parts of Beast 3 as summer bridge. We did a little bit of Beast last fall concurrent with Singapore. Then we completed Singapore and now he's doing solely Beast for the summer. Beast is a challenging curriculum and I find my son needs a break from it from time to time. This year, I may use Beast right away to follow up with certain topics in Singapore. If you are working through Singapore 2, I DEFINITELY recommend CWP AND Process Skills. I don't know anything about Zaccaro and refuse to look it up and add yet another curriculum option to my shelves, lol. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 So far with my DS8 (he is working on 4A right now) we have needed some basic/easy math review so that he doesn't forget "easy" procedures. He was fine without even that for a while, but then he forgot how to do 4 digit subtraction one day. :-) I've been using some free daily review sheets I printed out. (I can come back and link later when I am not on the iPad). We also did fact practice with Xtra math. I haven't found that problem solving needs supplementing, since that is what BA is strong in. We are going to take a BA break for the summer - I think we are going to do some "Murderous Maths" for fun, along with a Borac book I was able to get locally really inexpensively (But only if DS is enjoying it...if not, I got it cheap enough that I won't feel bad if we don't use it). I have been really curious about Zacarro, but not curious enough to pay full price or close to it without having seen it in person. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 My BA user uses Horizons math as her core math program (grade 2 book 2 currently). BA is a fun extra to pull out when she feels like it, when we're stuck on pool bleachers, and such. Thus far she has not needed a "brain break" from BA at all, but we're not using it every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherOfBoys Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 We use BA everyday. We love it. If he is having a hard day I give him just a couple problems (3 or so) and then we do flashcards for speed. We are on BA 4A. We have MM 1-6, Khan Academy free online, and School Zone 3 and 4. If he needs a break though flashcards and pushing himself through just a few problems is the best. We tried Zacarros Primary from Interlibrary loan. It was a bust. Too easy after BA3 and not colorful. Another thing I just realized about scheduling, for us, is to follow the schedule in the front of each practice book chapter. We read the sections on Monday and do about half the pages, odd only(maybe buddy style). Tuesday is the even(by himself or we reread). Wednesday we review definitions on whiteboard and do the last half odds. Thursday is the evens. Friday is usually needed because we took a day off for fun and have make up. This schedule gives us review and it still only takes two to three weeks per chapter. When the chapter is done we take a week off. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 My daughter has used BA at the rate it was published so we had plenty of time in between books to do SM or Zacarro. My youngest has just started BA. I plan on doing a little extra math alongside BA. For some kids I'm convinced they would need extra drill/review, but I'm not sure he is one of them yet. (My older boys went through the progression of SM to AoPS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Tigger does one page of Beast Academy, SM Challenging Word Problems, and SM Intensive Practice each day for math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 1) depends on child. If your student needs more practice to master and remember then add something. If your student needs more work because they love it and you would rather see depth/breadth than speed through a curriculum then add something. We found them for the most part to be right on for DS and younger DD. occasionally I have pulled out a worksheet from online or something from my Singapore stuff, but not often. See below for what we "add" 2) my son needed brain breaks. He doesn't think he is good at math (he is) because the BA work challenges him. We have a DreamBox subscription that they can use as a break from BA - this usually means work hard on a few BA pages then 20-30 minutes on DreamBox. I like having them work on it because then they can see how good they really are at math. And I guess it adds in some drill and practice in the basic procedures too, and uses a variety of strategies. I don't think it is necessary though. Between BA and DreamBox my kids do the majority of math independently - I'm on retainer for clarification and help with tough problems. I LOVE that aspect. Not because it frees me from lesson planning and direct instruction (that is nice though!) but because they are learning at a young age that they can teach themselves and do hard things, and how to go about clarifying things when they don't understand. We love BA! ETA: we do math 4 days a week (day off for co-op) and usually 3 practice book pages a day. Sometimes 2 if they are real thinker-type problems. My dd8 is in 3A after finishing Singapore 2, and she's doing great. She didn't use any other program (besides DreamBox) with the Singapore. My son will outpace the publication rate in a month when he finishes 4D and we will probably switch to Singapore, use the workbook and not do every problem but add in CWP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Ok, I'll be the weird one. We only use BA. My daughter doesn't need a lot of review and appreciates challenging work. I have a zaccaro book, but we only used it briefly when we outpaced the BA publishing schedule. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 my son resumed BA after doing Horizons for a while, so he is only in BA4B. But that's all he's doing for now. We may take a break and do some LOF or CWP at some point; he gets bored easily so I try and keep it interesting. Our goal is to be ready for 5A in September, however. He sometimes needs review of the basics, and when he does we just stop and review for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 1. ...do you also pull out something like Singapore CWP or Zaccaro, or are those rendered unnecessary? I've seen them recommended often, but not in conjunction with BA, which made me wonder if BA serves the same purpose, more or less. I'm working on my next RR order (purchasing BA3), and I want to make sure I don't end up having to pay shipping later for a $20 book when I could just bundle it now. (A little ridiculous, but I'll pinch every penny I can to spend more on supplies. :lol: ) 2. ...do your children need "brain breaks" from BA? If so, what do you do for that "break"? Is there a good way to manage BA so as not to need breaks, or should I plan to schedule in something less challenging or at least different at some regular interval? On a related note, if I have my middle child working through Singapore 2 next, would you recommend either of those supplements (CWP or Zaccaro) or shall I just pin all my hopes on BA when she gets there? TIA! 1. Beast has so many word problems and so much problem-solving that I don't feel that anything else is necessary. I've done a little multiplication fact practice for the tricky ones in the 7s and 8s, and one Kumon book for solidifying the multiplication facts, but that's it. 2. My son loves Beast so much that he'd be disappointed if I pulled something else out! Although Beast is a challenging curriculum, it still has an ebb and a flow to the difficulty. Most sections start with straight-forward problems and then gradually progress to the extremely challenging "double-star" problems. That seems to give my son enough of a break. I'd guess that this also depends on how long you want to do math each day. I keep my math time short and sweet (usually less than 20 minutes) so there's not really enough time for my son to get worn out. If I wanted to go longer, I'd probably need to add in some less challenging work than Beast (or at least mix things up more.) (This pace has him completing three Beast books per year, which is fine with me, but wouldn't work if you wanted your child to finish all four books each year. ) My son did Singapore 2 (IP and CWP) before moving on to Beast. I don't think I'll use the CWP with my daughter when she gets there. The Singapore 2 text and IP still have quite a few word problems, and Beast is ample for problem-solving skills and real-life application. The CWP 2 is often boring and formulaic, with lots of similar problems. Beast's problems tend to be much more complex. (For example, my son spent an entire math time recently figuring out how many days he'd been alive.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share Posted May 20, 2015 Thanks, all! It's so helpful to hear how each of you does math. From what I'm gathering, DS--my math-obsessed lover of numeric brain-teasers--should be fine using BA without enrichment or breaks as long as I don't extend math time beyond what we're currently doing with RS. (Though I can see where a bit of review on things like time/money/long subtraction could be helpful, so maybe I will plan a daily warm-up to keep those fresh.) I may want to alternate materials, though, with my convinced-she-can't-do-math DD when she gets to that point to avoid too many meltdowns (if that's possible). I'll definitely plan to buy some form of supplement for DD's Singapore; now to review all my options and try to narrow it down to one, for starters. I wish I got paid for all the hours I spend agonizing over my kids' education... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaChicken Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 We use khan academy for brain breaks and gratification (accomplishing the grade missions). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I wish I got paid for all the hours I spend agonizing over my kids' education... Yikes, I don't even want to think about how many hours that adds up to! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 We also only use Beast. My older son could be called "behind" with it since he's on 3C in 4th grade but he is not a math lover (or, I should say, he doesn't like anything that is "school time" on principle). We just do a certain number of minutes a day and he does what he does. He (oddly) self-supplements with math in his free time with stuff like his sister's BA books, LOF, Penrose, Marilyn Burns, etc. My daughter loves math and loves the challenge of Beast. She self-paces really well. She hates too much review and would hate a real "spiral" program. I have found that the way Beast presents concepts seems to have plenty of built-in review. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 My dd is not a math lover but she has flourished with the challenge and interesting text Beast Academy. It is like it was made just for her. We have dabbled in a few others things since we started BA 3A at the start of 4th grade, but only when we outpaced the production of new books. We could and would have used only BA had it all been available. 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.