vaquitita Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 I will have four students for the first time this school year and I'm nervous about whether I can handle it. I'm suddenly having a math panic attack. What was I thinking, thinking I could do right start math with TWO kids??? My oldest two are set. My 7th grader will be doing beast academy 5, mostly on his own, with help from me on hard problems/sections. My 5th grader will be continuing in CLE, that worked fab for her last year. Similarly doing it mostly on her own, with daily check ins with me. And then I'll have my youngest two boys, in 2nd grade and TK, who I blithely planned to use right start with (levels c and a, respectively). What was I thinking? How am I going to have the time and energy for that??? Last year my 1st grader did RS B the first half, family emergencies threw a curve ball at us, and he did beast academy 2A the second half of the year. I'd read the guide with him, but he did the workbook semi independently. He loved it. I gave him the RS placement test at the end of the year and he placed in C, so I was planning to just move him into that this year. But now I'm wondering... I have a time crunch, he picks up math quickly... Should I switch him to something else less time consuming for the teacher? Singapore? Horizons? Ack!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Well, I'm doing Rightstart with three this year. You can do it. If you think something else would be a better fit that's fine, but it is very possible to do two levels of RS at once. You could get the child in C started, and then when he moves to the worksheet, do A with the younger boy. And if you miss some days of A here and there, that's okay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 11 hours ago, vaquitita said: I will have four students for the first time this school year and I'm nervous about whether I can handle it. I'm suddenly having a math panic attack. What was I thinking, thinking I could do right start math with TWO kids??? My oldest two are set. My 7th grader will be doing beast academy 5, mostly on his own, with help from me on hard problems/sections. My 5th grader will be continuing in CLE, that worked fab for her last year. Similarly doing it mostly on her own, with daily check ins with me. And then I'll have my youngest two boys, in 2nd grade and TK, who I blithely planned to use right start with (levels c and a, respectively). What was I thinking? How am I going to have the time and energy for that??? Last year my 1st grader did RS B the first half, family emergencies threw a curve ball at us, and he did beast academy 2A the second half of the year. I'd read the guide with him, but he did the workbook semi independently. He loved it. I gave him the RS placement test at the end of the year and he placed in C, so I was planning to just move him into that this year. But now I'm wondering... I have a time crunch, he picks up math quickly... Should I switch him to something else less time consuming for the teacher? Singapore? Horizons? Ack!! Why not stick with Beast Academy for your 2nd grader? I absolutely love RS level B - such a great foundation for math! But we didn't feel the love with C and so my kids switched into BA (one switched about half way through the year, and the other I used singapore 2 and then BA because level 2 wasn't out yet). Not only is it solid math, he likes it, he did well with it (he placed into RS C after only half of B and one BA book), and he does it semi-independently! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 I would put the younger kids in sm or mm. It doesn’t sound like math is a subject that you need to be intensively involved in for them to learn and be relatively content. Save your time and energy for other things where it is needed. It will be ok, really. They will still get a great math education and you will be less stressed. It might even mean you are more available for other fun things like field trips, art, or music. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 4 hours ago, Targhee said: Why not stick with Beast Academy for your 2nd grader? I absolutely love RS level B - such a great foundation for math! But we didn't feel the love with C and so my kids switched into BA (one switched about half way through the year, and the other I used singapore 2 and then BA because level 2 wasn't out yet). Not only is it solid math, he likes it, he did well with it (he placed into RS C after only half of B and one BA book), and he does it semi-independently! That's a good question... I guess some combination of "right start = the best for wiggly boys" thinking being stuck in my head, plus some regrets of not using it with my oldest son, plus beast 2 not being fully released yet, etc etc... I hadn't even really thought about what I was doing for math with him, just assumed I'd continue from last year. I sat down this afternoon and flipped thru RS C... And remembered all the reasons I found it hard to use with him. Some how he enjoyed it despite that, but his love for beast academy definitely surpasses RS. I looked on my shelves and I have some random math things that he can do alongside beast for more practice: subtraction facts that stick, thinking tree's Minecraft mysteries math book, and Singapore 2 extra practice. He will enjoy most of those. After this year I will have to assess what proportions to continue in beast and Singapore with him, which one will be the spine/which one will be the supplement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Syllieann said: I would put the younger kids in sm or mm. It doesn’t sound like math is a subject that you need to be intensively involved in for them to learn and be relatively content. Save your time and energy for other things where it is needed. It will be ok, really. They will still get a great math education and you will be less stressed. It might even mean you are more available for other fun things like field trips, art, or music. Good points. Math Mammoth was a fail with my oldest and I see it being a fail for the same reasons with my other boys (pages too crowded, etc). But Singapore math is an idea... I used it several years ago and liked it, we ended up switching partly because it was a bad fit for my daughter and I was still trying to keep everyone in the same math back then ? and partly because I was letting the curriculum be my master instead of my servant. ?I think I could use it again and do better with it this time. My youngest is just TK and I do think I will stick with RS over Singapore for him this year, he's not ready for the amount of writing/lack of fun in essentials (I have used that before). Unless someone writes my heart's desire program in the next two weeks... If right start math and cuisenairre rods/miquon had a baby, that math program is what I want. LOL Eta: you know right start is pretty much the math equivalent of AAR. And that program made me want to poke my eyes out. ? I used it with both my middle two, but neither finished it. None of us could take it anymore. Edited August 4, 2018 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 If BA is working, stick with it till it's not. I like your mix of BA plus supplements. As long as it's working, it's working. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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