Beast academy

[macmacmoo]

How are you using Beast Academy in your homeschool?

is it your main math or a supplement? If it’s a supplement what is your main math? 

Do you do so many pages or for so much time? 

Do you work the problems together with your kiddo? Stay nearby while they work the problems and if they have trouble you work together? They are totally on their own? 

[Jackie]

It is our main math. DD works on it for 30 minutes at a time. When she went through a phase of dawdling, I would eyeball how much I thought she could get done each day, round down a bit, and tell her if she did that many problems, she could be done before the half hour was up, which helped keep her on track.

The first year we used it, I mostly had to be right at her side. I didn’t work the problems with her, but she would melt down when she couldn’t get an answer immediately or made a mistake, so I was there more for emotional support. By level 4, she was starting to enjoy the challenge and I could wander off a bit. She’s now in 5B, and I’d say she is 95% independent, asking for occasional help on especially challenging problems or when she doesn’t understand instructions on puzzles.

[Targhee]

41 minutes ago, macmacmoo said:

How are you using Beast Academy in your homeschool? We use it as main math. Kids do/did it mostly independently. I am there for consulting with and helping through tough problems.  They know to read the guide and watch for the stop sign and practice pages.  

is it your main math or a supplement? If it’s a supplement what is your main math?  We did use DragonBox as a supplement.  They worked through it without correlation to BA though - just whatever the app choices were.

Do you do so many pages or for so much time? Three practice pages a day (4days a wee) or a certain time (depending on age it was 25-45 min) - whichever comes first.  If they finish pages and there’s still time they did DragonBox for the rest of the time. It was very much “do the next thing.”

Do you work the problems together with your kiddo? Stay nearby while they work the problems and if they have trouble you work together? They are totally on their own? You can see some of this in my first comment.  I was also right by, often doing dishes or laundry, and they knew I was available.  Also they go through solutions with me or I mark them right/wrong and bring them problems to rework.  We rework almost all missed problems. I take the solutions out of the back of the workbook because a couple times it was just too tempting for DS to peak before trying the problems.

 

[smfmommy]

For one kids it is his main math.  I sit right by him and read the text and the problems.  But he's only 7 and doing level 2.  I wouldn't have him do any curriculum independently at this point.  I tend to think in terms of 'let's finish these pages' but if he gets too squirrelly we finish.  We have a lot of living math books and games that we supplement every math program we do.

For my older children it has been a supplement - as in they read the comic books for fun.

 

[Noreen Claire]

I use it as the main math for DS9. We supplement with Singapore Math Extra Practice books, so that he gets a bit more repetition of topics after-the-fact. 

He flew through BA 3A though 4A with very little help or input from me needed (he's in 3rd this year). He's just started 4B. I'm nearby if he needs me, and if he asks for help we review the guide (he reads it himself, I find the relevant section that he might need to reread) and then I ask him questions to help him solve the problems.

[serendipitous journey]

My children both adore the textbooks and despise the workbooks.  I mean, truly despise.  So I just let them read the textbooks and we do our math programs (MEP for the younger, currently MUS secondary for the older). 

I seem to be part of a minority: those whose very-math-capable students find BA workbooks soul-crushing. 

[purpleowl]

We use it as our main (and only) math.

The kids devour the guide books as soon as they come in the mail. I just let them use the guides on their own. On very rare occasions, they've said, "Let me go check the guide before I do these problems." But normally they just do the practice problems without referring to the guides.

We average two pages per day. At the beginning of each chapter, they are usually doing three (or more) pages per day. When things get challenging, they may slow to one page per day. (Well, I usually assign two at those points, and if they're working productively and still taking forever to get through the first page, I say they can do the other page the next day.)

I stay nearby. I usually check to make sure they're getting started okay, and then they prefer for me to leave them alone and let them do the problems. If they get stuck they ask me for help. I check answers after each page is completed, so they don't get too far doing things incorrectly.

[Kinspired]

It’s our main math curriculum. She supplements with Mathmania because she loves it. I usually stay nearby to help her not dawdle all day. 

[nixpix5]

We use it as a supplement. My mathiest kid hates it with a burning passion. My DD finds it fun as a supplement a few times per week and my other DS likes it well enough. Sometimes they just like to get it out in the evening and do some pages for fun. 

[Condessa]

It is our main math (we do Singapore, too, but sometimes skip questions, and we never skip anything in Beast).

Dd1 can do it mostly independently, but she's so much slower, and she likes cuddling up with me for math, so we came to a compromise: So long as she's working diligently, I work with her for 20 minutes, and then she works for another 30 independently and stops wherever she's at.  If she's not being diligent I will assign her a number of pages.

Dd2 is dyslexic, so I work with her almost always.  I may have her do a few questions on her own if there is a non-wordy section.  I generally just assign a few pages, aiming for around 20 or 30 minutes of work.

Ds1 works 100% with me, and does whatever he feels like--though I will occasionally tell him he has to do a page of Singapore before I will do more Beast Academy with him (to keep him making progress in Singapore, in which he is a grade level behind BA).  Ds's schooling is mostly child-led.

[LMD]

We use it as our main math. I sit with them for the most part, though I try to be hands off. We just work until a natural stopping point, average of two practice pages a day.

I use it as a supplement for one child who does better with Singapore style. He mostly just reads the guides.

[Dramorellis]

We use it as a supplement in our home. For my DS (11) he used MiF and is now using AoPS Pre-Algebra as his main. We've also used Keys to Algebra as a supplement when he does BA. So it's usually main spine and then maybe twice a week he does BA. He now does it on his own with me helping when he asks and then we work the problem together. For my other two children we are doing it also as a supplement and I do it with them. Maybe the 8 year old will do a few problems independently but mostly I am there. The 5 year old does what he is able orally. They both use Horizons as their spine. 

[Sarah0000]

BA is our main math for practice. DS usually reads the guide on his own. Since we do BA behind our other stuff he jumps around doing whatever in the workbooks until he wants to stop. He does about half independently, it just depends on his interest in the topic.

I use Singapore for scope and sequence and word problems, education unboxed for initial teaching, and other random things for drill and breadth. But as far as what he actually outputs on paper each day, primarily BA and Process Skills/CWP.

[SoCal_Bear]

We used SM as our main math, and BA was used a level behind to deepen understanding. It was helpful to us to have two different approaches to math. It kept BA focused on problem solving skills.