Stick with Right Start or switch to Beast Academy??

[vaquitita]

My 1st grade son had been using and loving Right Start B this year, but during a recent family crisis I gave him BA 2a to do because I just didn't have time for RS. I need to help him occasionally, but he does most of the workbook on his own. He loves it so much that he picks it over RS, which he used to ask for every day.

 

Now I'm wondering if I should just let go of RS and let him do BA and some fact practice. He can finish 2a this year, with some fact practice games to fill in. And then next year he could do 2b-c-d (I think that works with the production schedule?) plus fact practice.

 

Or would there be a benefit to continuing to fit in RS twice a week? Tho that did create work for me because I already had to condense lessons for this kid and if he's doing BA also is need to condense even more, but without making his math lesson too long. If I did continue both for now, would it be best to do the Subtraction lessons in RS C before dropping it? We're using 1st edition.

 

Eta: I just redid the RS placement test for him and they recommend level C. He's only done half of level B, but he picks things up quick.

Edited February 28, 2018 by vaquitita

[Jackie]

We moved from RightStart to Beast Academy. My daughter needed the RS lessons heavily condensed, and eventually she also grew to dislike the heavy use of manipulatives, which she felt slowed her down once she knew how numbers worked well enough not to need them. At the time, BA2 wasn’t out at all, so we covered some of level C before switching. Now, with BA2 coming out, I would have happily switched at the point you’re at now.

 

While my daughter likes math and likes to have variety, attempting two full programs would cause her to mutiny. We use BA as a standalone program, with various explorations and rabbit trails in between chapters.

 

BA 2B is scheduled to come out any day now, it is currently at the printer.

BA 2C is estimated around July.

BA 2D is estimated around December.

[mamamoose]

RS Cand D are much more challenging than A and B. I like the program a lot through D. We use Beast too but honestly I struggle with it as a stand alone, even tho we have been using it that way for ds this year. I’m not sure we will continue that tho.

[Sarah0000]

BA doesn't cover enough as a stand alone in my opinion. It covers basics and covers them well, but it doesn't cover time or money for instance. These could be covered with Kumon workbooks or RS card games. BA also doesn't have as much variety in terms of types of problems, which is important to me but might not be for others. Miquon is good for this and can be independent.

[nixpix5]

Personally I don’t like BA as a core program, so much as a supplement. My kids don’t retain it well compared to something with more rigor. I do suggest sticking with Rightstart through D, the lessons do begin to move faster after A and B :). We switch to Saxon after that out of personal preference. BA is the fun side supplement.

Off topic I know but do you move to Saxon 5/4 after D? I am thinking about this recently too.

 

I also like BA as a fun supplement but I don't feel confident using it as a standalone.

[vaquitita]

My kids don’t retain it well compared to something with more rigor. I do suggest sticking with Rightstart through D, the lessons do begin to move faster after A and B :).

 

RS Cand D are much more challenging than A and B. I like the program a lot through D. We use Beast too but honestly I struggle with it as a stand alone, even tho we have been using it that way for ds this year.

This is very helpful. I know the later levels are much harder than 2, so I will probably prefer to use it behind grade level as we go on. It's good to know RS picks up speed later on too. My biggest problem with doing both is time/condensing issues. I believe in short lessons for my little guys and I'm feeling constantly time crunched with four kids to teach. But then I also feel the pressure to finish each RS level in a year. LOL

 

If, based on the RS placement test, my little guy places in level C now, should I skip ahead to C? It has so much review, that I'm thinking anything he hasn't totally mastered from B will be reviewed enough that he'll have time to get it?

 

Eta: ooh using BA as a supplement would fix one problem I have with RS, what to do on busy days when I don't have time to teach RS

Edited February 28, 2018 by vaquitita

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

I was in a similar situation after RS B. RS C (2nd Ed) was going waaaaay too slow but 2A wasn’t even out yet. We moved into Singapore 2A, which has worked well. The Intensive Practice books are fabulous - we use them en lieu of the workbook. I plan to continue with Singapore as our core & BA as a supplement.

[Jackie]

I found RightStart C much slower paced and easier than B, though the geometry in it was great. And after doing only part of C, I redid the placement test and my daughter was only one question away from placing into E, which made me think there wouldn’t be very much in D for her.

[Farrar]

You have RS, BA2 isn't all out yet. I'd finish RS-B, just at whatever pace you manage to get it in. It's a great foundation. Let him do whatever part of Beast he gets in alongside that. Then, I'd find a bridge before you head into Beast's third grade books.

[mamamoose]

Listening in as I'm right where you are. Ds6 starting kicking up dust about the manipulatives with RS B and that he was bored. He gets extremely ticked when he feels like he's having to repeat something he already knows. Beast Academy is a match made in heaven for him because he really likes the challenge and figures it out quickly. But. The books aren't going to be out in time and he's not ready for 3. I tried MM, but I am 75% sure it's not a fit. Too much repetition and too hard for me to figure out how to accelerate it and what to skip. And it pales in comparison to Beast, which is the Ultimate Awesome of all Math Programs to ds. That's all he wants to do.

 

And similar to you, I felt RS was a pain to accelerate, so I hesitate to jump him to C and put more money after a maybe. Right now I've thrown him a few MUS Alpha videos (I just bought Alpha for his little sister) and lessons to help cement his math facts while we finish up Beast A. I was very disappointed to see the books aren't available for Beast 2B yet and they keep pushing back the dates for 2C and 2D, now it's to early 2019. I have no idea what I'm going to do next. I'm considering buying him MUS Beta, because he seems to like the videos and he actually likes the MUS manipulatives at the moment. Maybe because they're new. He has me stumped. And I'll be broke if we don't settle on something soon!

We use Marh mammoth for my oldest , and do 1/3 of the problems. If she gets those correct we move on. If not we jump back and check in with more to solidify. I love that there are a lot of problems but we don’t have to do them all. I think this gets easier to implement in the higher grades because facts are already solidified.

[mamamoose]

This is very helpful. I know the later levels are much harder than 2, so I will probably prefer to use it behind grade level as we go on. It's good to know RS picks up speed later on too. My biggest problem with doing both is time/condensing issues. I believe in short lessons for my little guys and I'm feeling constantly time crunched with four kids to teach. But then I also feel the pressure to finish each RS level in a year. LOL

 

If, based on the RS placement test, my little guy places in level C now, should I skip ahead to C? It has so much review, that I'm thinking anything he hasn't totally mastered from B will be reviewed enough that he'll have time to get it?

 

Eta: ooh using BA as a supplement would fix one problem I have with RS, what to do on busy days when I don't have time to teach RS

Let me look at the lessons from B and see. Then I would go and cover anything that isn’t reviewed. The nice thing is that if you do all of B, C won’t seem so intimidating. But I get that there are things you don’t want to repeat. We are skipping the last 20 lessons in C because I don’t like the way it introduces certain things. I fill in with Marh Mammoth. But ds is my BA kid. And I fill in with a combination of RS or MM for him. Those are the programs I currently own.

[mamamoose]

By the way, the geometry in C is unbeatable. I get tired of it but it’s better than any other geometry I’ve seen at that stage and my kids have loved it.

[MaryMak07]

By the way, the geometry in C is unbeatable. I get tired of it but it’s better than any other geometry I’ve seen at that stage and my kids have loved it.

[MaryMak07]

The geometry in 1st or 2nd edition? Or both?

[mamamoose]

The geometry in 1st or 2nd edition? Or both?

I’ve only used 2nd edition.

[Btervet]

We use both RS and BA. This year we finished up RS C and BA 3, and will be skipping RS D, doing RS E and BA 4. 

 

I think they complement each other wonderfully. BA is hard and makes the kids think differently. It's full of puzzles and difficult questions. But it's not great at teaching algorithms or incremental lessons. This is where RS comes it. It's ability to not just teach an algorithm, but to teach the why behind the algorithms is wonderful. It's repetition and mental math teaching is far greater than BA. 

 

In terms of time, sometimes RS is just way to slow. We condense lessons, do 2-3 lessons in one day picking out the highlights, or just plain skip things he knows. We are skipping an entire level because between BA3 and RSC, he's covered all the material in RS D already.

[vaquitita]

Thank you everyone for your help. I will be continuing to do a RS/BA combo with him.

 

Because of comments the weaknesses in BA as a sole program, I now have a question about my oldest. My 6th grader is doing Beast as his only program. He started in 3 this school year and is in the middle of 3D now. I figured he'd get thru 4B this year and next year do 4C-5D, putting him in pre algebra in 8th, which is fine. If he already has mental math ability, already knows time and money, and knows the algorithms for addition/subtraction/multiplication/long division (from past years with Singapore and MUS), will this still be a problem? Or for an older kid, do these weaknesses not apply and BA is fine as a stand alone?

[Cake and Pi]

Thank you everyone for your help. I will be continuing to do a RS/BA combo with him.

 

Because of comments the weaknesses in BA as a sole program, I now have a question about my oldest. My 6th grader is doing Beast as his only program. He started in 3 this school year and is in the middle of 3D now. I figured he'd get thru 4B this year and next year do 4C-5D, putting him in pre algebra in 8th, which is fine. If he already has mental math ability, already knows time and money, and knows the algorithms for addition/subtraction/multiplication/long division (from past years with Singapore and MUS), will this still be a problem? Or for an older kid, do these weaknesses not apply and BA is fine as a stand alone?

 

I don't think you don't need to worry about any gaps.  The only gaps I can think of in BA are pre-3rd grade concepts: time, money, etc... and maybe those will be addressed in the remaining volumes of BA 2.  I guess they never really get around to teaching the traditional algorithm for multiplication or division, either, but students do just fine with the methods taught in BA and if he already knows them, no issue, right?  I have not found BA to lack anything important, anyway; my oldest did BA 3-5 as a stand-alone after completing RS A-E (1st edition).

 

That said, my DS#3 is running RS alongside BA right now.  He's about 1/3 of the way through RS E (2nd edition, after doing A-C in 1st and D in 2nd edition) and has maybe 3 weeks left until he finishes BA 3.  He does BA in it's entirety, and I compact the crap out of RS.  I don't find accelerating RS to be particularly difficult.  We skip all of the review and assessment lessons.  I have him skip the assigned warm-ups and instead give him a quick task or two each day for the purpose of review or drill based on what I feel he needs at the time (which, okay, sometimes is part of the assigned warm-up in RS).  On the worksheets that contain any repetition I have him do just the hardest 2-3 problems and skip the rest.  Like Btervet I often combine 2 or more lessons in one day, picking out the pieces that my kiddo needs.  There are entire lessons we skip because I find them too redundant, but usually there's something in each non-review/assessment lesson that's worth going over.

 

I like using both RS and BA at the same time because they often teach things differently.  They offer different points of view and different "extras" that fall outside of the traditional elementary S&S.  My kid is young and still a very hands-on learner.  He loves the manipulatives in BA.  He loves loves LOVES the drawing lessons.  There are a lot of little extras sprinkled into RS that I think he really benefits from, like the focus on finding patterns in the various multiples, the idea of finding area on a multiplication table, check numbers, the study of Pascal's triangle, the sieve of Eratosthenes through 1,000, short division, geometry through drawing, and the lining up of repeated addition, partial product multiplication, and traditional algorithm multiplication of larger numbers to compare these methods.  BA, otoh, has complicated word problems, puzzles, mazes, and squeezes in some much higher level concepts.  BA slows my mathy kiddo down and makes him think.

 

We sometimes alternate between RS and BA for days, weeks, or even a month or longer at a time.  Other times, like now, I have DS#3 work a little in each curriculum each day.  A lesson or three in RS usually takes about 10 minutes.  Then he spends the remaining 20ish minutes on BA.  It works well for him.

[shawthorne44]

To be fair to my beloved BA I thought I'd type in here what all of BA 2 covers from the back of BA 2A

2A

Place value

Comparing

Addition

 

2B
Subtraction

Expressions
Problem Solving

2C

Measurement
Strategies (+ & -)

Odds and evens

 

2D

Big numbers

Algorithms

Problem Solving