For those who use Beast Academy as a supplement..

[MomN]

Are the textbooks worth it?  I got a great deal on the workbooks for levels 3-5 and am considering purchasing the textbooks, one at a time.  We will be using Singapore next year for my 2nd grade but I want to supplement with other fun stuff like BA.  For those who supplement with BA, do you use the textbooks?  If so, do you mind sharing your schedule.  How do you implement BA into your regular math curriculum? Thanks.

[Miss Tick]

The teaching is all in the textbooks. Those are also the "fun" part - comic book format, written to the student. The workbooks sometimes need those in order to explain the approach. I wouldn't bother with only half the program.

[wendyroo]

My kids have always read the BA textbooks for fun, so I have never scheduled them.  Even my 4 year old will sometimes choose one for her bedtime read aloud.  😄

As for how I schedule supplements, until they hit pre-algebra, my kids always do two "math" subjects a day.  On their checklist, one is labeled "Math", which in our case means Math Mammoth.  The other is labeled "Problem Solving", and my kids usually have a choice as to what to work on during problem solving time each day.

I did not start my kids on Beast Academy until they had finished Math Mammoth 2.  So, while working at the second grade level, some things they might have available for problem solving would be: Singapore Challenging Word Problems, Singapore Process Skills, MEP, Logic Safari, etc.

In the later elementary grades, I added to the offerings:  Beast Academy, Balance Benders, Hands on Equations, etc.

[MomN]

Thanks. This is very helpful.  I'll probably buy 2 textbooks at a time.  They definitely sound like they are worth it.

[Shoeless]

You definitely want the textbooks! My kid loved them and also would read them before bed. 

We usually did 4 pages in the practice book every day, and a quick review of the relevant guide book pages.  My son had read and re-read the guides so often that he really only needed a quick re-read to know what to do for a lesson.  I think 4 pages would probably be too much if a child was reading the relevant guide pages for the first time before attempting the problems.  We usually also had some other math "thing" going on in addition to BA, either a random workbook that caught his eye, a fun math story like "The Number Devil", or something from the "Key to..." series (Key to Fractions, Key to Percents, etc). 

Level 5 has been really challenging, and we can only get through 2 pages a day most days.  

[madteaparty]

Yes I think you need them. Dd does beast online (even though I got the books 😒) and the text is sort of integrated with the program there