sarahjokim Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 My son who is almost 6 is currently working though the newer version of RightStart B. He's about half way through on lesson 65. Before RightStart he did Singapore Earlybird A, MEP Reception and half of MEP Year 1. We also used cuisenaire rods quite a bit. He has a great foundation and I'd like to eventually move him to Beast Academy 3A. What do you recommend we do in between RightStart B and Beast 3A? We like RightStart but I understand C isn't as good. Should we use it anyway? Do Singapore 2A and 2B? Is that the best level of Singapore to follow RightStart B? Something else I should consider? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshineslp Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 We are finishing RS B and my son tested into 1b (and he's pretty mathy). The thing about RS vs SM is that RS doesn't do much subtraction in B and SM covers it a lot (in level 2). I'm actually going to start him in 1a, and zip through, just because it covers things differently than RS. But for you I'd say have him take the placement test. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Rightstart C. We liked it just fine. I started getting nervous when I saw everybody jumping ship after B, but really, there's nothing wrong with C! We're also doing D. (And Beast.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VorLady Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Use C. I'm just finishing it up (second edition BTW, maybe first ed had isues?) It's been great. I really like the gentle intro we've had at the end to multiplication, division, and fractions. My daughter clearly gets that those are all related operations. She's 6.5 so we started C right about the age your son is. We're going to start D (my Cyber Monday deal copy just arrived!) and in six months or so when I think she's developmentally ready, add in BA. I am debating adding some sort of math fluency drill since her addition/subtraction facts are not super fast. She gets the right answer, thanks to RS methods, but she doesn't necessarily have them memorized just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I was in your boat. We ended up doing RightStart C (kinda) because I didn't want to switch her to a different curric and then to BA. It felt too scattered. I'm not a fan of RS C - too much review of stuff in B and not enough new. It felt like subtraction wasn't covered nearly as well or as thoroughly as addition had been. We stopped about 2/3 of the way through or so because all the rest of the book was introducing topics DD already knew more about than was taught in the level, so there was no point. We did do all of the subtraction sections and reinforcement in C and I still didn't feel DD's subtraction was strong enough to go into BA, since BA assumes addition and subtraction are thoroughly understood. The concept is there, but there wasn't nearly as much practice with the algorithm as there had been with multi-digit addition. Now, we use both BA and do addition/subtraction review with Math Mammoth's topical series. In retrospect, and if my kid had been ready for the challenge/possible frustration with BA, I think I would have just used MM's topical series to fill in information and start BA. Their addition/subtraction topic books at level 3 and 4 are what we're using for review, but they would have accomplished what we got out of RS C for a much lower price point and time commitment. (The time commitment being an issue because my daughter started hating RS partway through C and wanted to be *done*.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waa510 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Full disclosure: Used to work for Rightstart, still would if not halfway around the world The "not so good" that you've heard about Level C probably applied to the 1st edition of level C. This is because a ton of information was packed into level C to the degree that it very often took people a year and a half to finish...sometimes even 2!!! So, Dr. Cotter has split the info from 1st edition C into 2 volumes (2nd edition C and D) and even created a level F now to help with the shuffling a bit. The info in the 1st edition also was very subtraction heavy and people felt very bogged down with that. She also hired a woman who was a former teacher to assist her in creating review sheets, activities, etc in the second edition that weren't present in the first. This makes the lessons much smoother and easier to teach. I would go through Level C, 2nd edition in prep for Beast. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahjokim Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 I'm not a fan of RS C - too much review of stuff in B and not enough new. It felt like subtraction wasn't covered nearly as well or as thoroughly as addition had been. Which version of RS did you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshineslp Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I just don't love the second ed C. And I adore A and B. But for just an interim year before beast it's probably fine, maybe add more subtraction :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Which version of RS did you use? Second Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingmom Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Full disclosure: Used to work for Rightstart, still would if not halfway around the world The "not so good" that you've heard about Level C probably applied to the 1st edition of level C. This is because a ton of information was packed into level C to the degree that it very often took people a year and a half to finish...sometimes even 2!!! So, Dr. Cotter has split the info from 1st edition C into 2 volumes (2nd edition C and D) and even created a level F now to help with the shuffling a bit. The info in the 1st edition also was very subtraction heavy and people felt very bogged down with that. She also hired a woman who was a former teacher to assist her in creating review sheets, activities, etc in the second edition that weren't present in the first. This makes the lessons much smoother and easier to teach. I would go through Level C, 2nd edition in prep for Beast. :) Yeah, we are using edition 1. My 3rd child is getting near the end of level C (yes it will be a year and a half or slightly more when done..... and it took the other 2 a year and a half....) I am so tired of C. One more kid to go.... but I'm not skipping it! Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cake and Pi Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I did 1st edition RS A-E with my oldest before starting him on BA. With DS#2 we switched to 2nd edition RS. He got through A and B and about 1/2 way through C, but I really didn't like 2nd ed. C. There was too much review, not enough new stuff, and I just liked the way they taught subtraction and single digit multiplication in 1st edition better. (I think 2nd ed does a much better job with multi digit multiplication in D though). So we switched back to 1st ed C. At the same time, I started him in BA3. He's moving much more slowly through BA than he might if I were to wait another 6 months, but it's just a fun extra for now. When he wraps up 1st ed C he can move to BA full time and will already be fluent in his multiplication facts from RS and familiar with the problem solving and frustration of BA. I think it's the best of both worlds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 My answer depends on the kid. For my oldest, I used RS 2nd ed. A-C...but he made it through C in just a couple months because there was so little new material. For him--since math is intuitive--I think I could have easily gone straight from RS-B to BA3 and he would have figured out anything he needed to know as he went along. With my second, I only made it halfway through C. I don't know if she was too busy comparing herself to her brother or if she was just done with RS games and wanted a clear progress bar/finish to her work, but I felt it was necessary to pull the plug for her. She wasn't ready for the challenge of BA, so I moved her to SM2A. I could have easily moved her straight to 3A even without finishing RS-C, since she zipped through SM2 A and B in a few months with no difficulty at all (the only thing that took any effort was making sure she understood multi-digit subtraction), but I wanted to rebuild her confidence. Now that she's into SM3A there's finally some new material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahjokim Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 Thanks, everyone. It sounds like it would be a good idea to do the Singapore placement test when we finish RightStart B to get a better sense of where my son is. Subtraction he understands quite well conceptually since it was covered alongside addition in MEP and I forgot to mention we also read Life of Fred (we're on Edgewood). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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