3rd grader catching up: RS and/or BA?

[Squawky Acres]

My 3rd grade DD went from Saxon 2 last year to RS Level C (the 2nd grade level) this year, and has had a great year with math.  Her number sense and understanding of place value is immensely improved, and I actually did not find a lot of overlap between the programs even though they are both 2nd grade level.  I had planned to go on to BA 3 after RS C, but now I am afraid of hopping around between programs too much, and am wondering if we should progress on to RS Level D.  She has completed some of BA 3A already, does Reflex Math for math facts, and is working through the Kumon multiplication book.

 

I think using both would be ideal, but I am very anxious to get her "caught up" and on grade level in math.  She is a diligent student, and very bright -- and it is my fault that she is behind in math because I didn't know what I was doing a few years ago and chose the wrong program.  

 

One idea was to just drop BA for now, as it will be easier and more streamlined to catch up with just one program.  If we start on Level D (3rd grade) right away, and work a few days a week during the summer (we tend to do a little light school in the summer if we have nothing else going on), she can begin Level E in the winter of her fourth grade year and possibly finish it by summer. 

 

The other option is to just drop RS and jump into BA now.  She has already completed a lot of 3A, so we have a head start, and could just work on that during the summer (which sounds like a lot more fun . . .).

[Jackie]

What math does she enjoy more, RightStart or Beast Academy?

[Squawky Acres]

She finds Beast Academy to be more fun because of the comic book presentation, but can get stuck and frustrated with some of the more challenging problems.  RightStart is better for her confidence at math, and includes more drills, which I think she still needs.  I like that we can make such nice, incremental progress with RightStart, and that there is a lot of guidance for me as a teacher. 

 

So I think it is the lessons in BA that she enjoys more because it is such a fun story, but when it comes to the actual doing of the math, she seems happier with RightStart.  She would much rather have math within her comfort level than be completely stretched and challenged by it.  Now, if we were at grade level, I would love to give her a stretching/challenging program -- but since we are catching up, I'm not feeling that I have time for her to be stretched and challenged.  I know that sounds terrible, but I just want to get her to fourth grade math!  

Edited April 26, 2016 by Squawky Acres

[Jackie]

That sounds like RightStart is winning for her, then. If you're ok with multiple math books, you could slowly work through BA whenever RS gets a bit too boring ;-)

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the grade level. RS is designed to transition into the pre-algebra program of your choice in 7th grade and BA would have you doing pre-A in sixth grade. That gives you a few years to gently "catch up".

[Squawky Acres]

That sounds like RightStart is winning for her, then. If you're ok with multiple math books, you could slowly work through BA whenever RS gets a bit too boring ;-)

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the grade level. RS is designed to transition into the pre-algebra program of your choice in 7th grade and BA would have you doing pre-A in sixth grade. That gives you a few years to gently "catch up".

 

Thanks.  So maybe I could jump into RightStart D this spring, and then work through some of BA 3 next year when I start to feel more caught up . . .

[Jackie]

Or, if you and she prefer, you could use RightStart during the school years and Beast as your summer math. Honestly, whatever feels right. They're both good programs.

[kateingr]

Or, if you and she prefer, you could use RightStart during the school years and Beast as your summer math. Honestly, whatever feels right. They're both good programs.

 

:iagree:   

 

Also, just wanted to say that I hope you're not beating yourself up for making a choice that didn't work originally. It sounds like you've figured out what works better now and made a success of it, so pat yourself on the back. :) Homeschooling well sometimes requires some failed experiments. (Ask me how I know!)

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Beast Academy ended up being the catch up curriculum for my oldest.  She had done a combination of RightStart and Singapore PM during grades 1-3.  She finished Singapore 2A and was 3/4 of the way through RS C when she started BA 3A.  By the end of 4th grade she had just finished BA 4B.  She loved it and was very motivated to finish the workbook pages so that we could read more from the guide.  She's in 6th grade now and working on Jousting Armadillos and BA as it comes out.  BA is mostly too easy for her now but she loves it so much that we keep buying it anyway.

 

ETA: actually covered all of Singapore 2A

Edited April 26, 2016 by Lisa in the UP of MI

[Squawky Acres]

Beast Academy ended up being the catch up curriculum for my oldest.  She had done a combination of RightStart and Singapore PM during grades 1-3.  She was halfway through Singapore 2A and 3/4 of the way through RS C when she started BA 3A.  By the end of 4th grade she had just finished BA 4B.  She loved it and was very motivated to finish the workbook pages so that we could read more from the guide.  She's in 6th grade now and working on Jousting Armadillos and BA as it comes out.  BA is mostly too easy for her now but she loves it so much that we keep buying it anyway.

 

Thanks.  I would love to hear how much catching up you did.  Did you drop RS C and just start BA 3 partway through 3rd grade?  And how many pages of BA did you do each day?

[Kiara.I]

Rightstart C is second grade, yes.  But at least in my area, for first edition, it's also a full year ahead in all the standards except for...3 items?  So while it feels like a horrible thing to have her be "behind", she might actually still be "exactly on par" for your area.  It's worth checking.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Thanks.  I would love to hear how much catching up you did.  Did you drop RS C and just start BA 3 partway through 3rd grade?  And how many pages of BA did you do each day?

 

We started BA 3A in August of her 4th grade year.  We dropped Singapore and RightStart at that point.  She finished BA 3A-3D plus 4A and 4B by June of the same school year.  We didn't do a set number of pages a day.  Sometimes she would do the whole assignment given in the guide in one day, other times less.  She did 3+ workbook pages a day, but if it was a guide day we *usually* just did the guide.  She loved the guide so much that she was super motivated to finish the workbook so that we could read the guide again.  There were even some days where we would read the guide, she would do all of the problems in the workbook, then we would read the guide again.

 

We were able to complete so many books because she was motivated to do so.  BA really is the perfect math curriculum for her.  The presentation of material, the types and amount of problems, and of course the fun comic book guide are a winning combination.

[Squawky Acres]

I just spoke with DD about her math preferences.  She said that she would like to try Beast Academy again when we finish RightStart C.  I plan to begin with the Division unit, as that will be on her 3rd grade standardized test, and we have not done much of that.  It should be an easier sell to work on BA during the summer rather than RS.  I still do have the RS D books, so can take out lessons and game ideas from D where applicable.  She became frustrated in the first part of 3A with the polyominoes, and was not able to do some of the later problems; so we went ahead to skip counting.  I have since learned that parts of 3A are the hardest in the level 3 books, and that it is fine to come back to polyominoes after completing the rest of the level.

 

In reviewing the topics covered in the math portion of the 3rd grade Stanford 10, I found that we have covered most of the topics in RS C anyway, so she may be more on grade level than I had thought.  In the next month or so, I would just like to get her working on division.

[Jackie]

Sounds great!

 

I only have the third grade level of BA so far, but I've found that within each book (A, B, C, D), there is no need to work the three topics in sequence. So DD might work on shapes until she hit something frustrating, then work on skip counting until she hit something frustrating, then on to perimeter and area. She worked each individual section in order, but bounced between them freely.

 

And days when all of BA made her mad, we pulled out an alternative math program or played math games.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I just spoke with DD about her math preferences.  She said that she would like to try Beast Academy again when we finish RightStart C.  I plan to begin with the Division unit, as that will be on her 3rd grade standardized test, and we have not done much of that.  It should be an easier sell to work on BA during the summer rather than RS.  I still do have the RS D books, so can take out lessons and game ideas from D where applicable.  She became frustrated in the first part of 3A with the polyominoes, and was not able to do some of the later problems; so we went ahead to skip counting.  I have since learned that parts of 3A are the hardest in the level 3 books, and that it is fine to come back to polyominoes after completing the rest of the level.

 

In reviewing the topics covered in the math portion of the 3rd grade Stanford 10, I found that we have covered most of the topics in RS C anyway, so she may be more on grade level than I had thought.  In the next month or so, I would just like to get her working on division.

 

That first chapter in BA 3A is one of the hardest ones in all of the books.  Even my very visual spatial son had a hard time with it.