Right Start B or MUS for 1st Grader? Save me!

[Raeof5]

I've been going back and forth for weeks now and I just need to make a choice!

I have a 1st grader who seems to get math concepts pretty easily but I also have a 9th grader who will need a lot of hands on time with me this year. I really like the thought of Right Start Math because it seems to give a REALLY solid foundation in math but I'm just not sure if it will be too me intensive this year. 

I really want something hands on because she does really well that way so I was also looking at MUS because it seems to be easier to implement. I'm just not sure if the foundation will be as good, especially in the problem solving and mental math areas.

So, if you were me, would you suck it up and just do RS math or do MUS but maybe supplement with Beast Academy or something? Thanks for the advice! I need to push the button tonight. Lol!

[HomeAgain]

I've used both RS and MUS, but different kids.  The kid who used MUS is going to college to be an engineer.  It gave him a great background (and we didn't really supplement until pre-algebra).  Right Start is working for my youngest, but it is time intensive.  It's giving him a great foundation, too, though.  Why not MUS for him?  He tried it and hated it.  He hated everything about it that worked for my oldest: the manipulatives, the clean pages...so we went for something else, which turned out to be MEP (because it was free), and from there learned what he wanted out of math. 

I don't think you can go wrong with either.  I think both programs have strengths, and I still pull out MUS lessons when RS seems convoluted in their approach or a simpler method works better.  I like Right Start for all the variety it brings.  Every day is different and interesting.  But if I had it to over again I'd base it on what kind of kid I had in front of me.

[nixpix5]

We use both. One son does RS and one does MUS. RS is intensive for the parent. The lessons don't take long but there is no doing math without the parent in the early grades. It is varied, lots of fun games and manipulatives and it is great for kids that catch on fast. My RS kid has great mental math capabilities but I feel he would anyway because he is that kid. He is a total RS kid. 

My other son needs more repetition. He needs fact practice and lots of story problem practice. MUS has provided that. He is better at story problems than any of my other kids due to MUS. He gets math well. Teaching is low intensity. We watch Steve on Monday, I do the first page with him and he completes the rest of the week without me. It is beautiful. The rods are versatile but get dull. He is a kid who likes predictability. This works for him. It wouldn't work for his brother. 

Both are strong programs for the kids they are meant for and a disaster for those kids they aren't. I would really think about what type of learner you have and choose based on that. 

My DD didn't like either program. She is a "getter done" workbook style kid. She doesn't need concrete as she lives mentally in the abstract so manipulatives drive her bonkers. 

[PeterPan]

My dc are 10 years apart, so we did that being in two worlds thing. I made check-in times with my dd at that age, appointments. So she knew have your butt up, be ready to do such and such at this time (10am, whatever). That gave me a consistent, dependable time to work with my ds. 

If you think MUS fits her and just want a fuzz more mental math, add in some Singapore word problem books and be done with it. What takes time with RightStart is the games, and it's going to be less of a good fit for a Perfect Paula, someone who is more workbooky as nixpix says, someone who wants to work more independently.