How do you use Beast academy?

[LEK]

I have just ordered beast academy 3 for my DD who is finishing up 3rd grade at the end of this year. The plan very roughly is to finish 3A this year and then 3B-D in the 1st half (ish) of her 4th grade year, starting 4A half way through 4th grade so we will always be about half a year "behind" if looking at the numbers on the books.

 

Now to the actual point of my question, most people here seem to agree that beast alone is not enough drill and practice of basic skills. So how do you use it while making up for this lack of basic drill practice? Do you have a second curriculum to supplement? Are you using beast as a supplement? Are you using something else to practice these skills? If so what? I would love to hear how you tackle this issue. I am toying with the idea of one day a week spent on math fact practice (using what???) and 4 days a week on beast, or maybe adding in something daily like evan moor daily math practice (which we already own), would that be enough?

 

 

I also own math mammoth which I could pick pages from to supplement. We are currently supplementing with khan however that is also not a lot of drill etc although the kids like it a lot.

Argh, I am probably overthinking it but I like to have a plan in mind before starting something, I don't mind having to change the plan but I need some form of plan.

Thanks :)

[redsquirrel]

Well, we use beast academy as our main math program.  I do use Daily Math Review and a daily mental math exercise, but I did that even when we used Singapore. It only takes about 10 mins total for both, if that, and it is more of a brain 'wake up' than anything else. We also use LOF once a week, but again, we always did that no matter the math program. I just like to mix it up a little bit.

 

But I don't think Beast Academy must have more added to it to be a complete math program. I am not even sure that 'most' people do. I use extra stuff no matter what program I am using.

[BrookValley.]

I just make up my own extra problems in a notebook or on the white board. We also do a few problems from Zaccaro Primary Challenge Math a couple times a week.

 

I have some Math Mammoth levels and I've been thinking about using some pages from that as extra practice; I think it would work well.

 

ETA: if it wasn't clear, yes we use BA as our main program.

[kateingr]

I use it as my main program, too. I added a box of flash cards and the Kumon 3rd grade multiplication book to the grade three program to add in multiplication facts reinforcement, but I didn't find a need for anything else in that level. (He did them for five minutes a day for a while.) My son is just starting 4A--looking ahead, I expect I'll add some drill on division facts, multi-digit multiplication, and long division, but that's about it. 

 

You're probably right that you don't need to worry about it too far ahead of time. (I know, it doesn't stop me from overplanning either!) But once you start Beast, you'll quickly figure out how it's working for your daughter and whether there's anything you need to add. 

[....]

My daughter is also using it as her only math program.  The only thing we added was Times Tales.  We stopped BA for a couple of weeks and used Times Tales to solidify her multiplication facts.  I'm not sure if you would have time to add another curriculum to it.  I wonder what basic skills people think BA is lacking?  It doesn't have addition/subtraction or money, but I think it's assumed you've mastered that before you start 3A.  If you look at BA's scope and sequence...what's it missing?

 

I wonder if people are thrown off by the approach. ?  My oldest did AOPS Prealgebra (and I worked through it with her) and those AOPS books are for a certain learning style (I feel very adamant about that after using it myself).  They won't be a good fit for everybody.  I really think they're set up for whole-to-parts thinkers.  I even see that in the BA books. 

[ErinE]

I think if your child is particularly skilled at math, Beast Academy could work as a stand alone. Had Beast Academy been available for my oldest, it would have been his primary program. For my second child, we used it as a supplement. Some weeks we would work through Beast Academy; other weeks she would work through Math Mammoth. She was usually able to finish Math Mammoth 5-6 months into the academic year so she would use Beast Academy and Singapore CWP the rest of the year.

[Julie of KY]

Beast may or may not need supplementing depending on your child.

 

IF my oldest had done Beast, I doubt I would have supplemented at all. He did SM and skipped big chunks (he skipped all the "easy" problems and went right to the hard problems and chapter reviews or straight to CWP..

 

My daughter is currently doing Beast behind her grade level (as the books come out), but it challenges her and I don't think she could go faster. She's been moving forward with SM and/or MEP. Her math skills are all over the chart - computation is difficult (probably due to her dyslexia), but her math logic is excellent. Right now she's starting Derek Owen's Prealgebra alongside Beast 4d. Once her skill set is a little better, I'll start her on AoPS Prealgebra.

 

My youngest is loving Beast and is quickly moving through the fist books of level 3. I'm pulling some extra problems from SM3 - they cover harder multidigit addition and subtraction deeper as well as other topics that aren't touched much as this level of Beast. I suspect as he moves along we'll do all of Beast and skip big chunks of SM, but pick and choose pieces to do.

[eternallytired]

We're using Beast as our main curriculum for ODS.  When we started, I had him do three random review problems each day (from unused worksheets in RS-C, our last program) just to rotate through various topics and keep them fairly fresh. At the moment, he's doing enough of his own supplementing, specifically through the online Prodigy game, so I don't feel the need to add any more review right now.  At some point I'll probably do some drill so his multiplication is memorized, but he's pretty fast at figuring things out by going from what he knows, at the moment.  He's pretty intuitive with math, though, so even if he initially can't remember how to do something, one moment of pondering will have him re-creating the algorithm.

 

I think when DD is doing Beast, she will need more extensive review.  She tends to get frustrated more easily and isn't quite as math-intuitive, so I don't want her forgetting skills and having to relearn them.  With her I may do a page of Singapore and one of Beast each day or something similar--that would also ease the frustration of the "hard" math, since it would be balanced by something she finds simple.

[Chrysalis Academy]

We use BA as a supplement to MM, which is our primary math.  BA is running about half a year behind - we did 3A & B in 3rd grade along with MM3, and this year we most likely do 3C & D with MM4.  I do skip the geometry and measurement chapters in MM and do BA instead, so it's not two full math programs. But I've found that the extra drilling/practice in MM is helpful for my dd.  She also doesn't want the challenge of BA every day so while I try to have us do a page a day, there are days we skip it, and days when it's fun and it clicks and we do 3 or 4 pages.  I don't sweat scheduling it.  Between the two programs, we are covering everything with depth and with sufficient practice.  

 

I do see that it has made a difference for her. Her sister started homeschooling in 4th grade, and that first chapter of MM4 just about killed us - she'd never done mental math or anything conceptual in ps and it was like learning a whole new language.  With Morgan, having done MM 2&3 and BA 3a&b, this chapter is going pretty smoothly.  Not easy-peasy, but much more smoothly than it did 4 years ago!  So this stuff is really working. That makes me happy!

 

Morgan is a perfectionist and hates to struggle/not understand her math, she feels stupid if she doesn't understand something immediately and starts to shut down. So having something more easy/straightforward to fall back on when the challenge ratchets up is good, it keeps us moving forward while incrementally increasing her tolerance of challenge, frustration, and the need to persevere in solving hard problems.  It's really teaching a whole approach to learning and life. It takes time but it's so worth it.

[....]

What is it that people are needing to add?  Is it review problems?  Or computations?

[Chrysalis Academy]

In our case, more practice using basic algorithms, and more practice to become fluent with addition/subtraction and multiplication facts.  And a break from the challenge on days she doesn't feel up to it.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

It really depends on the student.  Beast Academy is my oldest dd's main program and would be her only program if all of the books had been out a year ago.  BA is aimed toward students who would be bored by lots of review, so it just comes up naturally while studying other topics.  If you have a student who needs review work, just add it in (though I have no advice for what to use).

[eternallytired]

Morgan is a perfectionist and hates to struggle/not understand her math, she feels stupid if she doesn't understand something immediately and starts to shut down. So having something more easy/straightforward to fall back on when the challenge ratchets up is good, it keeps us moving forward while incrementally increasing her tolerance of challenge, frustration, and the need to persevere in solving hard problems.  It's really teaching a whole approach to learning and life. It takes time but it's so worth it.

 

Whoa!  This perfectly describes my daughter!  I'm comforted to know that this approach is working, since it's just what I'm planning to try.  I also feel a bit better knowing that there are other kids like this, so it's not something I have somehow driven her to...

 

Whoops!  Forgot to multi-quote, but in response to what extra is needed--occasional review of algorithms might be helpful (if DD forgets something--like long subtraction, for instance--she will probably flip out about having to relearn it, being perfectionistic and all), and a bit of drill on facts (like multiplication), since the focus is on concept mastery and usage of skills and not memorization.  (And while it's great that my kid can deduce 8x7 by breaking it up, he'll be much happier down the road doing algebra if he has these basic facts down cold.)

 

[blondeviolin]

My second grade son is very mathy. We are using BA as his math this year. We set a timer for 40 minutes and he does what he can. He finished 3A-3C in 16 weeks this way. He will probably outstrip their production schedule and I'll have to figure out where to take him from where he is. But I'm very comfortable just teaching him concepts and making my own problems for him to practice.

[Soror]

What is it that people are needing to add?  Is it review problems?  Or computations?

My son does well with BA but unfortunately he needs more review and practice to keep things in his head (he has some memory issues)and get his fluency up(I'm thinking we're finally getting there- ya! ). I don't think it is lacking anything. I have a hunch that my upcoming k'er will do well with just BA alone, I'm planning on rolling her into 2nd grade when it starts releasing, she is doing Miquon now, I'll just have to wait and see if I'm right. I'd love to have ds in just one program, he did RS until he started BA and it worked great, until it didn't and we've been fumbling along since then combining BA with various programs- currently Horizons 6- it strikes him as so funny that the BA4D book is harder than the Horizons 6 book, which led to an interesting discussion about grade levels! I wouldn't pre-emptively add anything to it but it is good to be aware that your kid may need a different amount of practice/review than BA provides.

[....]

So, that makes sense.  It sounds like all of the important topics are being covered, but some students need more review problems...  Just making sure we don't need to add anything (you know, second-guessing myself here).

[rimk3]

My son started Beast at the end of third grade because we were trying to find a good math fit and I wanted him to start at the beginning, so he is working about a grade level behind in BA.  My son is an average math student and needs some support during BA and he is also a bit slower at computing, so we are not going to move fast to "catch up".  For this reason, we use Khan Academy to allow him to continue getting exposure to new grade level topics and also to provide some spiral review of previously learned concepts.  Khan works great for this because he doesn't have to waste time on concepts he has mastered, but gets the continued practice of concepts he has not yet mastered.  

[redsquirrel]

So, that makes sense.  It sounds like all of the important topics are being covered, but some students need more review problems...  Just making sure we don't need to add anything (you know, second-guessing myself here).

 

Just so you know, BA is  Common Core aligned and is able to be used as a regular math program in a school.  So, yes, all of the "important topics" are being covered, just as they would be with SM or MM etc across grade levels.

 

One of the nice things about it being CC aligned, is that if you do want to use another math program it should cover the same topics in the same grade. It won't do it the same way, each has their own way of covering the information, but there shouldn't be any gaping holes if you move from one CC aligned program to another.

 

I moved from SM to BA three quarters of the way through third grade. The transition was seamless b/c the same basic topics had been covered.

[Verity]

My son just came home after two years at a private school and I don't feel he was taught/challenged well enough in math while there. We are using BA a year behind (started 3A and he is technically 4th grade). I am alternating BA with Singapore every other day and have to help him with the BA, to talk through the challenge problems. For us I feel it's a good balance, basic computation practice and good "out of the box" ways of thinking about math from BA for his engineer kind of mind.

[KSinNS]

So, I, so far, have a totally different approach to the beast. T really wanted to do BA, so we did it as a supplement with MUS, because computation has been a massive struggle for her. I honestly thought we would do it for a week or so, and move on because she would HATE it. Boy, was I wrong. She LOVES it with extra hearts. She still needs a fair bit of drill and practice, so I'm working through Gamma with her, and will probably do Delta as well, but we spend about 20 minutes/day on BA-first thing when she is fresh. She can usually manage a page or 2, and I stop when she starts to scream or looks like she might start to scream (which she inevitably does because it's hard). We're working through perimeter and area, and all of a sudden she's figured out how to add in her head-amazing! The skip counting chapter also worked wonders for her computation (though I had to watch her because she would make up different skip counting patterns, rather than actually working them out.) Her problem solving is also really improving. The other day, she started to scream, then went and got the white board, gave me a dirty look, drew a picture, and got it! She was very proud, and so was I. Anyway, it's a great program, and I'll see how the rest of it goes. I may be able to start using it as her primary math at some point, though I suspect with any program she will need more practice. We'll see though. Anyway, despite the drama, every day, she's excited to pick it up, and it's her favourite thing to do. Who knew?

 

I'd actually ordered BA for my next kid (D) who will start in a month or so. I'm hoping to use it as his primary math because he typically doesn't need a ton of drill and calculates quickly. We'll see though. He has ZERO frustration tolerance, and likes his math to be long lists of numbers. He refused to do kindergarten math because math (as he screamed at me) "Math has numbers! And plus signs! And no pictures! And no same and different!"