Beast Academy Placement Test

[AggieMama]

I have a DD who is about to finish 1st grade. I gave her the placement test for BA 3A on the way to school today and she missed one more than the cut off to start BA 3A. Should I wait until 2A comes out in August to start her on BA, or go back and remediate some skills then have her start BA 3A?

[Miss Tick]

Nobody knows since we don't know what she missed and what will be in 2A. I think, though, that if you are going to do math over the summer and you definitely want to move her to BA rather than the next level of whatever math you are currently doing - you should do it. In the past BA books have come out at least 6 months apart, so she would likely outpace their publication schedule before the end of the year anyway. You could always start and change if it wasn't working out, or just take a break to fill in gaps if needed.

 

Keep in mind that the placement tests are generally considered easier than the actual program.

[Farrar]

Unless she's really gifted, I'd hold off a little on starting 3A. Or maybe get the guides to read for fun and introduce the program properly a little down the road. The placement tests are much, much easier than the actual program. If she was the right age, maybe I'd say go for it, but I think there's no rush. My advice would be get whatever 2nd grade levels you can as they come out, continue what you're doing, and then start 3A little down the road.

[Jackie]

When we needed to leave behind our original math curriculum but DD wasn't yet ready for the challenge of BA, we filled in with a couple of the topical books from Math Mammoth.

 

Whether you choose to start her on 3A sooner or later, I'd go ahead and get 2 as it comes out. Even though DD will be into 4 this fall, we still intend to purchase 2 as a "break".

[blondeviolin]

My older two did 3a-3D in second grade. And they were super ahead after that. I found they needed a "gap" year with a less demanding curriculum so to speak to allow all of that to gel and cement. Doing it again, I'd wait till third for a bit more maturity. My next one is third grade next year and she's not even going to do BA this year because she needs for it to be not so hard...

[mathmarm]

I would not begin Beast Academy 3 with a 1st grader, unless this 1st grader was completing or had completed the 4th grade level of another curriculum.

OR was able to happily work through something like CWP 3 and the BA sample questions/exercises on the website.

[AmandaVT]

I would not begin Beast Academy 3 with a 1st grader, unless this 1st grader was completing or had completed the 4th grade level of another curriculum.

OR was able to happily work through something like CWP 3 and the BA sample questions/exercises on the website.

 

I agree with this. DS started Beast 3A in 2nd grade, but he had completed MM 4 A and most of B by then, so it wasn't too hard of a transition. I think he started about halfway through the year. It was a good place, math-wise, to switch over. 

[My4arrows]

I began BA 3 with my first grader and it went well, but he was also able to pass the test. I spread it out over a year and a half and he just finished up 3 as a 2nd grader. It is a challenging program and I'd suggest not pushing it too early so your child is burned out. I'd suggest spending this time focusing on the skills she needs more work on and getting 2a when it comes out and using that. And if she completes 2a before b comes out, to slowly work through 3 with her.

[kiana]

What has your dd done so far for math and how did she do? 

[Cake and Pi]

As others have said, it'd be important to know what she's done already as far as math goes.  Personality, maturity, learning style, and drive for learning math also play a role in how well Beast Academy is received.  Most kids will find it to be a very challenging program, even if used a grade (or more) behind another math curriculum.

 

My DS#1 didn't have any problems starting in Beast 3 a couple of months into 2nd grade, but he had already completed 4th grade RightStart math and is a math-loving kind of kid who wanted more challenge.

 

I plan to start my DS#3 in Beast 3 sooner, after completing only 2nd grade in a couple of other math programs.  However, I'm prepared for it to take longer than a year for him to complete Beast 3, I intend to alternate with a less challenging math program along the way, and I will have him do Beast 2 as it is slowly released over the next two years.

[fralala]

Are you thinking of doing BA on its own? Personally, I don't think even the most gifted first grader should be handed a curriculum in which she is expected to read the concepts and work to grasp and understand them by herself, which is kind of the point of BA as we've used it. There are many other extremely solid and challenging curricula choices for a mathematically advanced young person that provide more solid support for the parent/teacher and would create a strong conceptual foundation for more advanced math topics in the future.

 

I have started BA early for one child, FWIW, the one who naturally would ask me questions like, after learning that 15+15 = 30, "Does that mean that 15,000+15,000 = 30,000?" and so forth, the one who wanted to think and talk about mathematical topics and didn't feel "stupid" if she didn't grasp something but rather excited. This, I think, was more a guideline for me of whether or not it would be suitable than the placement test. So if your child is like that, it might be fun!

[mrsduenes06]

I would not begin Beast Academy 3 with a 1st grader, unless this 1st grader was completing or had completed the 4th grade level of another curriculum.

OR was able to happily work through something like CWP 3 and the BA sample questions/exercises on the website.

 

I have a 9 y.o. who had finished 5th grade in his regular math curriculum earlier this year, and then I had originally started him on BA 4D and it was too hard for him.

 

There are two things to think about when you are doing BA - not just content knowledge, but how they are thinking about the problem. My son had a lot of content knowledge (multiplication tables, how to do long division, multiply/divide fractions, etc.) but was very weak on how to think about problems or creatively solve them. We actually went back to 3A so that he could work through all of the books and get a better foundation for how to approach problems and I don't regret it at all, in fact, I am learning new things myself! 

 

I would echo others in encouraging you to wait for 2A. 

[AggieMama]

At school she has been using envisions and at home I've used a combo of Saxon, Singapore, Mathematical Reasoning, Kumon, Mathseeds, and Prodigy Game. I know it's a lot of hopping, but this kids needs things to be fresh.

[Jackie]

At school she has been using envisions and at home I've used a combo of Saxon, Singapore, Mathematical Reasoning, Kumon, Mathseeds, and Prodigy Game. I know it's a lot of hopping, but this kids needs things to be fresh.

I first tried BA3 when DD was a young 5yo, and it didn't go over well. There were lots of meltdowns. We brought it out again a year later, at a young 6, and she's done well with it. She also likes variety and options, like you talk about with your kid. When a break is needed from BA, we just pull something else off the shelf, or we alternate with every other day being BA and every other day being something else. It's looking like it will take about one year for her to finish BA3. She had not completed advanced levels of another program (we dropped RightStart partway through C, then reinforced subtraction with a little bit of Math Mammoth). She does love reading about math and had encountered a lot of advanced topics.

 

Some of the things that have worked well as alternatives/additional math with BA are Kumon (for additional use of basic operations), Zaccaro Primary Grade Challenge Math, Hands on Equations, Developing Fraction Sense, living math books, Prodigy, and Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School. And, as I mentioned earlier, we will still be getting BA2 as it comes out to use alongside 4/5.

 

If you think BA is where you're going to end up, I see no problem with buying it and trying it. If it causes meltdowns or too much struggle, shelve it. Also know that the first chapter of 3A is notoriously difficult. It is not necessary to do that chapter first in that book, if the transition is easier with another one.

[Sarah0000]

My son also likes a lot of variety and did ok with parts of BA that he chose. He started it at 4, almost 5 and I just let him do whatever came easily to him (the dreaded shapes chapter) and let him skip what was boring to him (skip counting).

 

I am waiting until BA2 comes out in hopes he'll want to do that to mastery and not just what is fun. I don't see any problem with using it in different ways for different levels. I figure he can go back through the parts of 3 that he didn't do the first time.

[Farrar]

Are you thinking of doing BA on its own? Personally, I don't think even the most gifted first grader should be handed a curriculum in which she is expected to read the concepts and work to grasp and understand them by herself, which is kind of the point of BA as we've used it. 

 

I just want to point out that that's not at all how we used Beast and not how many others have as well. I definitely don't think of it as an independent program. If that worked for you, that's awesome and if anyone thinks that will work for their student, they should definitely try it, but I wouldn't want people to think that's the way it needs to be used or is even intended to be used necessarily. The teaching for us was in sitting and discussing some of those hard problems together or even working them together. We sometimes read the guide together too as ds is not a strong reader.

[wendyroo]

I would not begin Beast Academy 3 with a 1st grader, unless this 1st grader was completing or had completed the 4th grade level of another curriculum.

OR was able to happily work through something like CWP 3 and the BA sample questions/exercises on the website.

 

I agree.  My son started slowly working through BA 3A during the second half of his first grade year.  However, he did so while concurrently working through Math Mammoth 4 (after having already completed MM 3 and Singapore CWP 3).

 

He has spent the last 18 month working through the four BA 3 books, and only now, as he finishes 2nd grade, is he moving on to BA 4A...just about the same time as he is finishing MM5 and Singapore CWP 5.  Even with BA being two "levels" below DS's regular math, it has still been providing adequate challenge.  I expect DS will still be finishing up BA 5 even after he has started AOPS pre-algebra.

 

Wendy

[rebcoola]

If I thought it was the right program for whatever reason I would review all that she missed.  I would also have other resources ready for when she gets stuck and I would be prepared to go incredibly slowly.  

 

Are you thinking of doing BA on its own? Personally, I don't think even the most gifted first grader should be handed a curriculum in which she is expected to read the concepts and work to grasp and understand them by herself, which is kind of the point of BA as we've used it. 

 

I started my daughter on it in 1st but we never used it like this.  Sometimes DD would readd the guides for fun but we always went over it the sections together doing buddy style reading and working through the example problems.  Just because it is written to the student doesn't mean you have to just hand it to a kid.  

Edited May 4, 2017 by rebcoola

[AimeeM]

I do wish they would release at least a placement test for 2A -- and soon. Most of us are prepping for next school year, but have no real way of knowing if our kid will or won't fit into 2A well. 

 

Do they ever release a placement test prior to releasing the book?

[AggieMama]

I will be sitting next to DD every step of the way guiding her when she needs it. I might give her the option to read the instruction part on her when she want, but go over it with her when we sit down together. This kid loves reading chess manuals at bedtime. As for the only curriculum, no, I don't see her nor I being able to do that successfully.

[purpleowl]

I'd start 3A with her, working alongside her like you said, and supplement with something else if she hits a wall and you think she needs to build up some skills in an area before proceeding in BA. And like others mentioned, the first chapter in 3A (shapes) is challenging in a different way, so it's quite possible (likely!) that she'll need more handholding there than in subsequent chapters.