Beast Academy 1A to be published soon! UPDATE: It's Available now

[MeaganS]

I know BA is somewhat divisive but it has worked well for my girls, so we like it. I just got an email saying they were releasing 1a soon (a few months). I didn't realize they were even planning on doing a level 1. My 5yo dd will be so excited. She's in Singapore 2a but I don't think she's ready for BA 2 yet, so that will be a great addition and intro for her. 

Update 10/22: It's available to order now. Interestingly, it is a single book rather than a guide and a practice book. I'm ordering it since my youngest is at the perfect age and I plan on doing level 2 with her in a few months anyways, but I wish it was two separate books. Especially since the cost is the same as the two books.

Edited October 22, 2021 by MeaganS

[Slache]

That's awesome! Do you know what will be in it?

[MeaganS]

Just now, Slache said:

That's awesome! Do you know what will be in it?

No clue. They just had a picture of the cover and this blurb:

"The first book in our planned Beast Academy Level 1 series is currently at the printer's! In just a couple of months, these books will be ready to be delivered into the hands of a whole new generation of young math beasts."

If anyone knows I'd be really curious myself. 

[MeaganS]

2 minutes ago, Slache said:

That's awesome! Do you know what will be in it?

I'm not making things up, right? They weren't originally planning on a level one? 

[purpleowl]

6 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

I'm not making things up, right? They weren't originally planning on a level one? 

I remember the same thing, that they weren't planning to do a level 1. 

My youngest is in level 3, so I won't be getting level 1. I don't think I can justify spending the money just because I'm curious about what it'll be like, lol!

[ealp2009]

Wow! I’m excited by this.  I’ve got one more that could use this. And I bet my older kids would enjoy reading it.  

[Slache]

2 hours ago, MeaganS said:

I'm not making things up, right? They weren't originally planning on a level one? 

They even had a particular math book they wanted you to use until 2 with reasons they would not be creating a level 1. It was very annoying.

[HomeAgain]

21 minutes ago, Slache said:

They even had a particular math book they wanted you to use until 2 with reasons they would not be creating a level 1. It was very annoying.

Yep.  MEP or Singapore.  Having used Beast as a supplement, I would still prefer MEP's more thorough spiral teaching over BA. 

[kirstenhill]

In the cover photo the little monsters look so cute.  😍  I need to find a friend with younger kids and convince them to buy this so we can borrow it and read it, just for the cute illustrations.   DS9 will finish BA5 sometime later this fall.  My last kid to go through the series.  It will be an emotional moment for me! (He's my third kid to go through the series and I'm a bit attached to the characters).

[Not_a_Number]

It’s a super cute program. We have some of them. I’d hesitate to use it with kids who don’t already basically get all the concepts, though.

[Shoeless]

BA is divisive? Interesting! 

DS is way past needing level 1, but he'll be miffed if he doesn't have the complete set.  🙄

Edited September 1, 2021 by MissLemon

[MeaganS]

32 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

BA is divisive? Interesting! 

DS is way past needing level 1, but he'll be miffed if he doesn't have the complete set.  🙄

Case in point, Not_a_number's post above yours. 👆

I love it but I always hesitate to recommend it to other new homeschooling parents. With the uptick in pandemic-schooling, I had a bunch of friends ask for curriculum suggestions and I felt comfortable recommending it to only one. I feel like it is good if you have fairly math-intuitive kids and if you are good at recognizing gaps and filling them in as a parent. It's not as open and go as many others. I use it for two of my kids but would never dream of using it for my oldest, for example. So, some people love it, some hate it. I love it, with an asterisk.

[Shoeless]

37 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

Case in point, Not_a_number's post above yours. 👆

I love it but I always hesitate to recommend it to other new homeschooling parents. With the uptick in pandemic-schooling, I had a bunch of friends ask for curriculum suggestions and I felt comfortable recommending it to only one. I feel like it is good if you have fairly math-intuitive kids and if you are good at recognizing gaps and filling them in as a parent. It's not as open and go as many others. I use it for two of my kids but would never dream of using it for my oldest, for example. So, some people love it, some hate it. I love it, with an asterisk.

Ah, I understand. I agree with you and only recommend it after digging deeper regarding what the child already knows.  It was a big hit here, but we'd already completed a typical 3rd grade program and part of 4th when we started BA 3. They had not written level 1 or 2 when we started. 

[Not_a_Number]

54 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Ah, I understand. I agree with you and only recommend it after digging deeper regarding what the child already knows.  It was a big hit here, but we'd already completed a typical 3rd grade program and part of 4th when we started BA 3. They had not written level 1 or 2 when we started. 

Yeah, I think that's the best way to use it -- as a way to review concepts already fairly well internalized. And as a way to get faster at them and to get deeper understanding. I think they would have been too frustrating for DD9 as an introduction to concepts, and DD9 is an extremely mathy kid who was doing high school math in grade 3. 

[Clarita]

I'm excited about this. I would probably use it along side Singapore because I also love Singapore. I just think the puzzle aspect of BA would resonate with my son. He's in Kindergarten right now.

[Eilonwy]

On 8/31/2021 at 3:22 PM, MeaganS said:

I'm not making things up, right? They weren't originally planning on a level one? 

I got that impression too, that level 2 was the beginning.  My kids are all older than this now, but I’m really curious how they will do level 1.

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

On 8/31/2021 at 1:22 PM, MeaganS said:

I'm not making things up, right? They weren't originally planning on a level one? 

They weren’t originally planning on anything below 3A (the original “first book”) but there was quite a bit of pressure to produce earlier levels.

The release order was: 

3A-3D (March 2012 - Feb 2013)

4A-4D (Aug 2014 - March 2015)

5A-5D (Nov 2015 - Jan 2017) 

Customers pleaded for earlier levels, so  Level 2 was rolled out from Sept 2017 - Jan 2019. Now, apparently, there’s a Level 1.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax

[Eilonwy]

21 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Yeah, I think that's the best way to use it -- as a way to review concepts already fairly well internalized. And as a way to get faster at them and to get deeper understanding. I think they would have been too frustrating for DD9 as an introduction to concepts, and DD9 is an extremely mathy kid who was doing high school math in grade 3. 

We have used it as the introduction for quite a number of concepts, and for some of them it’s worked well, but in others we hit big roadblocks. My kids all like puzzles, though, I believe more than yours do.  I have been (over the past 6 months) supplementing/preparing with more basic concepts earlier, which has been very helpful.  Unfortunately, though, I can only work on one thing at a time, so if I put a push on French as planned, I know extra math will fall off the table…I wish I could do all the things!

[Not_a_Number]

2 minutes ago, Eilonwy said:

We have used it as the introduction for quite a number of concepts, and for some of them it’s worked well, but in others we hit big roadblocks. My kids all like puzzles, though, I believe more than yours do.  I have been (over the past 6 months) supplementing/preparing with more basic concepts earlier, which has been very helpful.  Unfortunately, though, I can only work on one thing at a time, so if I put a push on French as planned, I know extra math will fall off the table…I wish I could do all the things!

I do think my kids are remarkably not into puzzles for some reason. Or maybe they just think of all math as a puzzle? 

[Eilonwy]

1 minute ago, Not_a_Number said:

I do think my kids are remarkably not into puzzles for some reason. Or maybe they just think of all math as a puzzle? 

Maybe, but mine like jigsaw puzzles, sudoku puzzles, crossword puzzles, riddles…so the pattern is clear!

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Eilonwy said:

Maybe, but mine like jigsaw puzzles, sudoku puzzles, crossword puzzles, riddles…so the pattern is clear!

My kids are kind of meh on jigsaw puzzles, it's true. And are impatient with other puzzles, too. I think they take after DH in this way. 

[Eilonwy]

Just now, Not_a_Number said:

My kids are kind of meh on jigsaw puzzles, it's true. And are impatient with other puzzles, too. I think they take after DH in this way. 

Mine all got an introduction to jigsaw puzzles with their grandmother, who gave them jigsaws for their birthdays several years in a row and then did them together when she came to visit. 
 

It sounds like your girls probably do see different things in math than primarily puzzles. But it’s not like people have to be puzzle-motivated. 

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, Eilonwy said:

Mine all got an introduction to jigsaw puzzles with their grandmother, who gave them jigsaws for their birthdays several years in a row and then did them together when she came to visit. 
 

It sounds like your girls probably do see different things in math than primarily puzzles. But it’s not like people have to be puzzle-motivated. 

I think just like math as a way of thinking about the world? I'm not sure. I was a very puzzle-y kid and they are not. When I get the jigsaw puzzles out, I'm the main one doing them 😛 . 

[Eilonwy]

1 minute ago, Not_a_Number said:

I think just like math as a way of thinking about the world? I'm not sure. I was a very puzzle-y kid and they are not. When I get the jigsaw puzzles out, I'm the main one doing them 😛 . 

Yes, it could be they see it as something more structural than playful, if that’s what you’re getting at.  My kids are more into puzzles than I am. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, Eilonwy said:

Yes, it could be they see it as something more structural than playful, if that’s what you’re getting at.  My kids are more into puzzles than I am. 

Yes, they are both more into structure than puzzles. Interestingly, DD9 still does like math contests -- she doesn't do them on her own time, but she likes the questions and enjoys improving. 

[Eilonwy]

3 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Yes, they are both more into structure than puzzles

Hmm, interesting, this might be a useful clue as to how well BA will fit a given kid.  I’m definitely curious about how they’ll approach level 1.  It makes sense to me to have a consistent program all the way up, hopefully it’ll have lots of place value. 

[Jackie]

As another data point, my daughter thrived with BA as her curriculum, and has always disliked nearly every type of puzzle. She would ask to skip some of the more puzzle-type aspects of BA when she could demonstrate the knowledge in some other way.

I won’t buy the level 1 books, given that she’s using AOPS stuff now. Hopefully I’ll know someone she can borrow them from.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Jackie

[MeaganS]

Update Post 1

[maize]

Thanks! I will probably order this for my six year old 🙂

[Clarita]

Ordered. It'll be a supplement to our Singapore math / busy work when the kids have to kill time away from home. The math stories are better than the singapore math stories. (If you don't know what the singapore math stories/readers are don't worry you aren't missing much.) I get to borrow them through my charter school is the only reason I use them.