Beast Academy--not retaining?

[lindsey]

Sigh. I'm feeling frustrated. We're in 3B. Sometimes it's like, by the time it 'clicks' he has two more practice problems and we're on to the next thing. :/ And if I cycle back to something we did a couple of weeks ago, he doesn't remember how to do it. I bought the Math Mammoth grade 3 printables pack for extra practice and gave him a worksheet on the distributive property (which we have done in BA already), showed him the example and talked him through it, he 'got it'...and then got everything wrong. GAH. He needs to slow down and pay more attention, but has a tendency to rush and assume he knows what he's doing...and then gets all moody and defeatist when he's missed a bunch and has to redo them. This was not a problem in 3A for whatever reason...I guess we are in a rough phase. 

 

Does this mean BA is not working for us? I can't tell if he just needs more worksheets/practice problems, or if it's all just a comprehension/attention issue. We can't keep moving forward when stuff isn't mastered, but why isn't it being mastered? Should we try something else? He really likes BA but something is not right.

Edited October 31, 2016 by lindsey

[73349]

I sit beside DS and interrupt him if I see him doing something wrong, because I don't want him to do the whole page wrong. I know he would not be happy about redoing. (Just started 3C.)

[Code Lyoko]

Do some problems together on a white board to make sure he is understanding.  Then he can do some on his own but with you nearby to confirm he is doing it correctly.  Pick some problems to do again in rotation.

 

Or what you might do is have a program that is more spiral with a LOT of built in review, like CLE, as the spine but use Beast as the conceptual side of things.  Rotate or do some of each each day.  Some kids do better with Beast as the enhancement program, not the spine.

[SoCal_Bear]

Beast Academy is not designed for kids that need for review/practice or a spiral approach. I have a pretty mathy kiddo, but I don't use Beast as my spine. I use it behind Singapore Math to explore math in a different way and solely for problem solving. I actually also use it a year behind where I am in SM. I intentionally do this so the concept is taught and mastered first before he picks it up again in Beast later. 

If you have a student that needs review and reinforcement, you will have to supplement the program if you intend to use it as your spine.

 

[lindsey]

3A went so well I was not expecting this--it's just with the multiplication stuff, for some reason. :/ Hmm. Back to the drawing board, I guess! 

[Julie of KY]

My kids have needed more practice that Beast alone. We've added Singapore math, but not done it all. Beast brings a different level of thinking.

[Roadrunner]

I would insider another program. You can use BA as a supplement.

[redsquirrel]

I have used BA and SM. We check answers after every single question.  I don't let them do a page, only to find they were doing incorrectly the whole time.  Sometimes, if it is clear that they understand a concept I will push to do three or four questions before checking.

 

For more BA review, you can always just have the work done on separate paper and then go back and redo some pages. It is unlikely he will remember the correct answer from the last time he did it. 

 

And how often do you read the guide?  I break it up into as many bits as possible.  I make sure we aren't reading too far ahead from the actual work.  And when we start a section I might pull the guide out and go back over what we read the day before, just to remind him of what was covered.

 

Now, all that said, some kids just need a lot more review than BA gives.  You can also use SM CWP a year behind, or even on level, as a review.

[ondreeuh]

We could not use BA as a sole math program. Like a PP, we use it behind Singapore math and as problem-solving practice. We did 3A after MiF 3, and it was such an odd way to present concepts. My son is mathy and doesn't need much review, but it was either too easy or too hard to get anything really useful out of it. He quickly did MIF 4, and then we started 3B - but we took a break to finish memorizing multiplication facts and he started MIF 5A. We'll go back to BA 3B soon for a different perspective, but MIF works so much better for my kid.

[SeaConquest]

We use BA as our spine, but do additional programs for drill and review (Prodigy and Times Attack, thus far). If a chapter is difficult for us, we will back up and review with something like Singapore Intensive Practice.

Edited November 1, 2016 by SeaConquest

[LEK]

We use beast as a supplement only. For us it is an amazing supplement but it was just not right as a spine for several reasons.

[Cake and Pi]

You could devote one day each week to review.  Just write out questions from previous chapters/sections until you have enough to get your kid through math time.  Or, you could start each day with a "warm up" (review of 1-3 questions from earlier chapters/sections).  Alternatively, you could start each day with something like E-M Daily Math Practice, Math Minutes, or AEA267 Daily Math Reviews, and then throw in a review of Beast problems for math time once a week.

 

One of my boys has thrived with just BA, and he's the one that needs little to no review.  He must just be really efficient at moving information to long term memory, lol.  Another of my boys will forget just about anything without a steady stream of review.  He grasps concepts quickly but requires many repetitions in order to remember anything long term.  He has severe ADHD.  He really didn't do well with BA as his spine.  He opted for public school this year and is happily chugging along in Saxon 4 with BA guides for fun at home with an occasional problem from the practice books.

[lindsey]

Looking more closely, the key troublesome areas were the "squares that end in 5" section, and the distributive property. He felt he understood it while reading about it, but couldn't transfer that to working problems on his own/easily forgot after 'getting it.' We are just slowing down and doing a week of review. I think adding a day of review every week is a great idea. Usually we just read a section, then he does the workbook pages. My husband also suggested having him be sure to tell me what the instructions in the workbook say, and how he plans to solve the problems, so we can both (my son and I) make sure he really understands what's expected of him for that page. He has no diagnosis but we've suspected ADD for some time, and a lot of these issues crop up in the way he skims/speeds through things.  

 

ETA: Oh, and the 'squaring up' section. I'm going to write up some practice problems for those. 

Edited November 1, 2016 by lindsey

[SeaConquest]

Looking more closely, the key troublesome areas were the "squares that end in 5" section, and the distributive property. He felt he understood it while reading about it, but couldn't transfer that to working problems on his own/easily forgot after 'getting it.' We are just slowing down and doing a week of review. I think adding a day of review every week is a great idea. Usually we just read a section, then he does the workbook pages. My husband also suggested having him be sure to tell me what the instructions in the workbook say, and how he plans to solve the problems, so we can both (my son and I) make sure he really understands what's expected of him for that page. He has no diagnosis but we've suspected ADD for some time, and a lot of these issues crop up in the way he skims/speeds through things.

 

ETA: Oh, and the 'squaring up' section. I'm going to write up some practice problems for those.

The good news is that he will get a lot more practice with the distributive property and exponents in level 4. I keep moving on as long as my DS gets the concepts. BA builds on prior knowledge, and hits the concepts again at a deeper level. So, while it isn't spiral, in the traditional sense, I find that review does happen when subsequent topics rely on previous underlying concepts.

[Tumbatoo]

Beast Academy is not designed for kids that need for review/practice or a spiral approach. I have a pretty mathy kiddo, but I don't use Beast as my spine. I use it behind Singapore Math to explore math in a different way and solely for problem solving. I actually also use it a year behind where I am in SM. I intentionally do this so the concept is taught and mastered first before he picks it up again in Beast later.

 

If you have a student that needs review and reinforcement, you will have to supplement the program if you intend to use it as your spine.

 

 

This is how we use Beast Academy as well!

[eternallytired]

If retention wasn't an issue in 3A, I'd argue that either a) it's just this particular concept/set of concepts or b) he's growing (unless the problem persists, and it turns out that 3A was the anomaly).  My oldest is very mathy, but when he's hit a growth spurt, all bets are off--he comes off as the biggest airhead ever.  (Not to say your kid is an airhead, just to say that sometimes there's something going on in their body's background that affects retention/comprehension/processing.) 

 

My kids play Prodigy for 20 minutes or so every day; I like that it provides some review of things we're not currently working on in Beast, and they're eager to play.

[Cake and Pi]

Looking more closely, the key troublesome areas were the "squares that end in 5" section, and the distributive property. He felt he understood it while reading about it, but couldn't transfer that to working problems on his own/easily forgot after 'getting it.' We are just slowing down and doing a week of review. I think adding a day of review every week is a great idea. Usually we just read a section, then he does the workbook pages. My husband also suggested having him be sure to tell me what the instructions in the workbook say, and how he plans to solve the problems, so we can both (my son and I) make sure he really understands what's expected of him for that page. He has no diagnosis but we've suspected ADD for some time, and a lot of these issues crop up in the way he skims/speeds through things.  

 

ETA: Oh, and the 'squaring up' section. I'm going to write up some practice problems for those. 

 

Just so you know, the squaring-up, squaring-down, and squaring-of-numbers-ending-in-5 concepts are NOT built upon in later books.  My kid who uses BA as his spine jumped in at 3C and is now 1/3 of the way through 5B.  He never learned those strategies and has gotten by just fine in the rest of BA without ever even reading that chapter.

[redsquirrel]

The distributive and associative property gets covered again and again in different contexts. And every time, ds2 acts like it's the first time he's seen it, lol.  It's fine, he figures it out and we move on.  I know for a fact it gets covered again in pre-A and Algebra.

 

FWIW, I am now very good at using it, and explaining it, lol

[Alice]

I also use BA a year behind Singapore. I think it's strength is in having the kids solve tough problems and in having them think about things outside the box but it does not work as a primary math program for us. It might have for my oldest who is also loving AOPS but it wasn't available at the right levels for him. My middle son is an average math student and needs more review and to learn concepts in a more concrete way first. However, he LOVES BA. He calls it fun math which is why we keep doing it. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by Alice

[Farrar]

I felt like the basic math concepts needed to be retained, but not some of the more Beasty things. Like exactly how to figure out how many multiominos or how to figure out some of the stuff with the squares was so higher end... It was cool to watch ds "get it" but I knew he wouldn't retain it long term and I felt like that was okay. I'd say that the distributive property is something that needs to be retained. But it will come up again and again... So I guess it's just a question of whether you feel like the program is working overall.

[blondeviolin]

BA is a GREAT program for teaching math concepts and thinking. My oldest sometimes would space the finer details, but once I mentioned them again, she'd re-remember. Three years later she still retains nearly all of the concepts she learned in Beast, though, maybe not the fiddle details. That's typical for her and as she's aged and used some of the concepts in practice again and again (which is why we moved to Saxon for her), the concepts AND details have stuck. She does reread the Beast text for fun.