Beast Academy Guide as supplement?

[8circles]

My kids are in 3rd and 5th, using Math Mammoth plus Dreambox & Khan Academy.  They've been getting tired of Math Mammoth and so we've been using it for the tests & some sections, but avoiding it when we can.

 

I'm considering getting the Beast Academy 3rd & 5th, but just the guides, to make it more engaging as we finish the year & to use as summer review.

 

I've not seen the books - does my plan make sense or are the guides not really useful without the practice books?

 

TIA!

[Farrar]

Yes, absolutely. It's like having a cool living math book with a few example problems to do as you go.

 

The one thing I'll say though... the meat of the program is in the practice books. The problems in there get much, much harder (and some are easier too, to warm up or practice concepts) and much more in depth. So as long as you don't think that they got out of Beast what you get out of it by using the practice books, then yeah, go forth and cannibalize the program for your own purposes.

[Coco_Clark]

You can read the guides and do problems along w/ the characters w/out the workbooks. You won't get the famous *challenge* aspect of the program. But it works and it's fun and it's mathy.

[redsquirrel]

They are interesting and fun, but as the PP mentioned, there is a LOT that isn't in the guides. The guides serve as an introduction to a topic, and then the practice books take it much further and deeper.

 

I also wonder if there is a change that if you only use the guide, there might be some difficulty as you move along b/c there is the assumption that you have done the work in the practice books? For example, you might get through a-c in the guide, but then go through a-e in the practice books. Then the guide might pick up at f.  Does that make sense? 

 

And I would have even the 5th grader go through the 3rd grade books. The program really does build on itself and it will NOT be a waste of time to start at the beginning.

[minuway]

This is what we do with Beast - my kids don't have the frustration tolerance to work through the practice books, but they love the guides. They aren't super expensive, so I think its a great supplement to another program.

[Targhee]

We love Beast Academy at our house, and even my oldest likes reading through the guides. There are jokes, allusions to sci-fi/fantasy staples like Star Wars and Dr Who, and the format is very approachable (it's a comic book after all). However, if I had extra money to toss towards a supplement I would choose something else. The glory and pain of BA is in the practice books. The guidebooks only introduce a topic, but the practice book teaches it through problem solving. I would add Zaccharo books, or subscription to DreamBox, or go with some good math books (Penrose, The Number Devil, Mathematical Mysteries, Math Quest series, Martin Gardner puzzle books, etc).

 

It is totally possible to use just the guides as supplement. I just don't think you learn very much from them without the follow up in the practice books.

[8circles]

Thanks everyone!  We'll go ahead with the guides & I'll consider the practice books also.  Is there enough in the practice books that I could have my oldest do a few problems in each section but there'd be enough problems left for subsequent kids to use it?

 

& yes, we'll still be using MM, Dreambox, & Khan.

 

Thanks again!

[sweetpea3829]

Honestly, if I could only buy one....it would be the practice books. There is teaching in the guides, but the practice books include additional teaching on the topic that the guides do not.

[sweetpea3829]

If it helps, we buy one set of both the guides and workbooks, and then I have my son complete the workbook pages using dry erase pockets and wet erase pens. Then I refile the completed pages for the next kid. Saves a ton.