Rod and Staff Math?

[elah]

I have been trying to use Saxon Math K for my 3rd daughter. I am just not thrilled with it and not motivated to actually use it most days. I use a lot of MP materials with my older girls and saw that they use Rod and Staff for math. I really don't know much about RS math but am wondering if I should try it. 

I would love to hear your thoughts if you have used RS, especially if you switched from Saxon or vs. 

Thanks!

[SilverMoon]

What grades are we talking about? I've used pretty much the whole R&S set with various kids, but I have limited Saxon experience. I can vaguely remember the 5/4-8/7 books. The biggest difference is R&S is a solid mastery style, which means it camps out on a topic until it's well explored and mastered before moving on. Saxon loops them through in an incremental spiral of sorts.

 

R&S 1-3 require you to teach from the TM as there are no instructions in the student text. 4-8 can be self-teaching (for kids that work that way), but there's still a scripted plan for teaching in the TM and optional oral quizzes. 1 and 2 are workbooks. 3-8 are textbooks, but 3 and 4 have enough room to write directly in the textbook while you transition to using paper. It starts out slow and gentle with a basics-basics-basics approach. 1 is more on par with K level math in other publishers (Horizons, Singapore, etc), but by book 4 it's caught up and more standard. Personally we found the 2 level to be redundant and have way too much work in it. My kids skipped swaths of pages in 2, but in 1 and 3 we did every problem in every lesson.

 

R&S was the first math book my math struggler was finally successful in. I only wish we'd found it sooner for him. ♥  On the flipside my very mathy kids outpaced the program. When my 8yo showed he was ready for the grade 6 textbook, which has a workload absolutely appropriate for a 6th grade aged child, I moved him to a workbook based course instead. His little hand couldn't keep up.

[elah]

I am looking at RS 1 to finish out the end of K and going into first grade. 

[mmasc]

We switched to R&S from CLE in first grade mid-year for my DS who was just getting lost in all of the jumping around of topics. R&S has been great for him...fewer topics per day. We're about halfway through the third grade text and it's still working well for him.

[lorisuewho]

 

R&S was the first math book my math struggler was finally successful in.

 

This was my experience with my youngest.  I tried RightStart, MEP, and Horizons.   Finally after a year in Rod and Staff we are having success.  At first I mourned over not doing the same programs her siblings used, but now I know this is a deceptively strong program and its slow and steady method is working.

 

[Zoo Keeper]

R&S is a great slow and steady program; not as flashy as some out there, but it has done wonders for my kids who needed a consistent, manageable, program geared to your average student *and* your average teacher ;).

 

Silver Moon's rundown was spot on--an advanced math student would need to accelerate or supplement the program; especially in the grades 1-3 books, the pacing is slower than many other programs, but I find the pacing can be a real confidence booster for a young child--math can be understandable and something he *can* do.    I have found that by the fourth grade book the program "catches up" to other programs.  I really like how the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade books build such a solid foundation.  I like the 7th and 8th grade books as well, but my math lover switched out after the 6th grade book; he was ready for more of a challenge (he went to Dolciani).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[2_girls_mommy]

We have loved R&S, and have stuck with it through the 8th grade book. I loved the elementary, and did all of the hands on posters and flashcards that it suggests making. 

[WoolC]

What grades are we talking about? I've used pretty much the whole R&S set with various kids, but I have limited Saxon experience. I can vaguely remember the 5/4-8/7 books. The biggest difference is R&S is a solid mastery style, which means it camps out on a topic until it's well explored and mastered before moving on. Saxon loops them through in an incremental spiral of sorts.

 

R&S 1-3 require you to teach from the TM as there are no instructions in the student text. 4-8 can be self-teaching (for kids that work that way), but there's still a scripted plan for teaching in the TM and optional oral quizzes. 1 and 2 are workbooks. 3-8 are textbooks, but 3 and 4 have enough room to write directly in the textbook while you transition to using paper. It starts out slow and gentle with a basics-basics-basics approach. 1 is more on par with K level math in other publishers (Horizons, Singapore, etc), but by book 4 it's caught up and more standard. Personally we found the 2 level to be redundant and have way too much work in it. My kids skipped swaths of pages in 2, but in 1 and 3 we did every problem in every lesson.

 

R&S was the first math book my math struggler was finally successful in. I only wish we'd found it sooner for him. ♥ On the flipside my very mathy kids outpaced the program. When my 8yo showed he was ready for the grade 6 textbook, which has a workload absolutely appropriate for a 6th grade aged child, I moved him to a workbook based course instead. His little hand couldn't keep up.

Thank you for mentioning this about level 2. I've had the hardest time finding a good fit for my oldest. I purchased R&S 2 for him but after day 3 he was revolting from the amount of repetitive problems on the page. Skipping problems doesn't work for him, he shuts down with the visual of problems upon problems. We're doing some Ronit Bird and MEP now since they have less worksheets but I might try to return to R&S in the coming years. He prefers a straightforward, incremental approach but can't keep up with all of the writing.

[Love Home]

We are now finishing up R&S 8 after doing 1-6 and part of 7. I just supplemented with a few Key to Algebra books with the gr 8 book to make it a stronger pre-algebra course. I highly recommend it for dc who are slower to average in math, but it would probably be frustrating for ones who are advanced. It's slow and steady pace really pays off in the end.

[SilverMoon]

Thank you for mentioning this about level 2. I've had the hardest time finding a good fit for my oldest. I purchased R&S 2 for him but after day 3 he was revolting from the amount of repetitive problems on the page. Skipping problems doesn't work for him, he shuts down with the visual of problems upon problems. We're doing some Ronit Bird and MEP now since they have less worksheets but I might try to return to R&S in the coming years. He prefers a straightforward, incremental approach but can't keep up with all of the writing.

 

With a kid like that I'd give him half the lesson. Like just give him one of the pages removed from the workbook. It's been awhile since I had a kid in book 2, but it seems like you could use just the second page of the lesson most of the time and maybe the just first one occasionally. I'm thinking mine mostly used the second and third page of each lesson, and the first occasionally. The fourth was redundant. And by the second workbook we were skipping multiple lessons. By the last workbooks I was cherry picking particular lesson just to get us out of dodge and into 3. 3 is more like 1. Back to two pages, one of drill/new and one of review. There's an extra workbook with extra concepts if you need more challenge (addition to the main student text; not a replacement). 3 is fabulous. I don't know what's up with that 2 book. *shrug*

[SilverMoon]

I am looking at RS 1 to finish out the end of K and going into first grade. 

 

I love book 1! I have such sweet memories of doing book 1 with my little people. You do need the teacher's manual as over half the course is in there; the student book is review of what you've already worked on together. We skipped the little drill book and blacklines, but if yours is a struggler or just needs extra review you may want to use them.

 

The scripted teaching plan will cover concepts for a couple days before they land in the workbook. I used our whiteboards heavily. By the time they get to the workbook they already know how to complete all of it on their own (at my elbow of course).

 

I used the older edition with ducks and made a felt duck pond to go with it, with felt duck shapes. It was totes adorbs. The new version uses crayons instead of farm animals and I don't know what the replacement is.

Edited May 6, 2017 by SilverMoon

[2_girls_mommy]

I love book 1! I have such sweet memories of doing book 1 with my little people. You do need the teacher's manual as over half the course is in there; the student book is review of what you've already worked on together. We skipped the little drill book and blacklines, but if yours is a struggler or just needs extra review you may want to use them.

 

The scripted teaching plan will cover concepts for a couple days before they land in the workbook. I used our whiteboards heavily. By the time they get to the workbook they already know how to complete all of it on their own (at my elbow of course).

 

I used the older edition with ducks and made a felt duck pond to go with it, with felt duck shapes. It was totes adorbs. The new version uses crayons instead of farm animals and I don't know what the replacement is.

I saved my duckies and pond and flashcards that I made all of these years, and can't wait to do it again in a few years!