A home for their hearts Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I'm still on my quest for the perfect math program :confused: I was looking at RS math and was thinking if I could bring the price down some by making some, and then using things from around the house. I know we would have to buy a couple things but I wasn't sure about the rest. Also, why do they use a calculator at this age? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 First, just to reassure you, calculator is used only sparingly, to reinforce concepts, not to substitute for practice. You definitely need the abacus, because theirs is different than others. I would think the second thing you'd want to get would be the cards. Also, you might check http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com to buy them used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Stacy, I don't know if you know this, but you have a few more options... For instance, you could continue your R&S math but buy Activities for the ALAbacus (the original form of the RS materials) to use as a supplement. That might free up your budget enough to be able to afford more of the manipulatives. Of those, I would suggest you get: abacus (well actually 2 would be nice, since you have several dc), base 10 picture cards place value cards fractions puzzle (wood, magnet, whatever you want, the wood puzzle being the best if you have the money) and at least the basic deck of cards (it comes with instructions for several games). That would be option 1, a very good way to supplement your current, very practical approach with the conceptual teaching of RS. Option 2 would be to buy just one level. Did you have a particular level in mind? Did you post about math before and say you were trying to keep your 9 and 8 yo's together? This seems very unwise to me, in the sense that your 9 yo (3rd or 4th gr?) is doing *2nd* gr work in R&S. And if you change programs again, you're putting him behind further. Obviously I don't know the full situation. Does this dc have special needs or issues that indicate to you RS would be a great choice? I'd just be very judicious about seeking the perfect and failing to implement the practical in the process. Better an imperfect program that gets DONE than a perfect program that sits on the shelf. RS is teacher-driven, meaning *you* will need to drive it or it doesn't get done. That doesn't change in the upper levels, though it does have some independent work time. All I have is a baby and a 9 yo, and I'd have issues getting that done. Nuts, I have issues every day getting that done! So I'm just saying to be very realistic about your needs, understand the time commitment RS requires, and make sure the NEED is there for that. If you're looking at one of the upper levels, you'll use very few manipulatives. So what level(s) were you thinking of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I am using Level A, the abacus and my own items from home for the other manipulatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 The particular ones I listed (base 10 picture cards, place value cards) are SO inexpensive ($2.50 and $4) and so well made, it makes more sense to me to buy, if you at all can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
materursa Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 buy Activities for the ALAbacus (the original form of the RS materials) to use as a supplement. I looked on their site, but I couldn't seem to find this. Where do I look? Thanks! Amanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A home for their hearts Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Stacy, I don't know if you know this, but you have a few more options... For instance, you could continue your R&S math but buy Activities for the ALAbacus (the original form of the RS materials) to use as a supplement. That might free up your budget enough to be able to afford more of the manipulatives. Of those, I would suggest you get: abacus (well actually 2 would be nice, since you have several dc), base 10 picture cards place value cards fractions puzzle (wood, magnet, whatever you want, the wood puzzle being the best if you have the money) and at least the basic deck of cards (it comes with instructions for several games). That would be option 1, a very good way to supplement your current, very practical approach with the conceptual teaching of RS. Option 2 would be to buy just one level. Did you have a particular level in mind? Did you post about math before and say you were trying to keep your 9 and 8 yo's together? This seems very unwise to me, in the sense that your 9 yo (3rd or 4th gr?) is doing *2nd* gr work in R&S. And if you change programs again, you're putting him behind further. Obviously I don't know the full situation. Does this dc have special needs or issues that indicate to you RS would be a great choice? I'd just be very judicious about seeking the perfect and failing to implement the practical in the process. Better an imperfect program that gets DONE than a perfect program that sits on the shelf. RS is teacher-driven, meaning *you* will need to drive it or it doesn't get done. That doesn't change in the upper levels, though it does have some independent work time. All I have is a baby and a 9 yo, and I'd have issues getting that done. Nuts, I have issues every day getting that done! So I'm just saying to be very realistic about your needs, understand the time commitment RS requires, and make sure the NEED is there for that. If you're looking at one of the upper levels, you'll use very few manipulatives. So what level(s) were you thinking of? Thanks for the reply. The reason I have my dc in the same level math wise is because in the beginning it was just easier and now they both seem to be at the same level so I don't see a reason for them to be in two separate levels. We are finishing up R&S math to, we will be done with it in a couple of weeks. They have done well at memorizing their addition and subtraction facts when they are doing their work but when I real life situation has to come up I have to prompt them to remember the triplet for it. I'm really looking for something that will teach them an understand of math, not just rote drill, which I do believe is important. I was thinking they may be able to start out in level c of RS, but they would probably have to do the transitioning work before. I'm just about to pull my hair out! I really appreciate what you said about seeking the perfect program and then failing to implement it. I do have 2 smaller dc that require a lot of my attention but I do think it is very important that I find a math program that understand math not just do it. KWIM? Any further advice or recommandations would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Stacy, RS math expects and assumes that you will not only teach the curriculum and have them do the worksheets, but that you will then PLAY THE GAMES. If you do not play the games, they don't get enough practice, meaning you have to add on drill. (flashmaster, their drill sheets, another workbook, whatever) I understand your concern that R&S might not be focused on understanding enough, but I'm not sure RS is practical in your situation. Look at it and decide for yourself. If you find a practical, grade-leveled workbook program to use (Horizons, whatever), then you could use the Activities for the ALAbacus book, which is arranged topically, to present the topics the RS way when you come to them in your spine. That's option 1. Option 2, do Transitions and go into RS. If they've done 4 digit subtraction, then they're looking at doing Transitions and going into level D, not level C, which is largely subtraction. You have a 9 yo (3rd or 4th gr?) who is doing 2nd gr work, and you're going to spend more time going backward trying to change programs? This doesn't make sense to me. I'm sorry, as I really don't mean to be so brutal. I'm not saying RS isn't great. I'm just saying I wouldn't put a rising 4th grader even further behind. I'd get him going FORWARD. Option 3. Find a program that has good conceptual teaching that is practical to implement. I really like BJU. It's a LOT like RS, honest. It has many of the same strategies and goes even farther, doing a really fabulous job teaching how to approach word problems. We're doing the BJU math 5 now (having done 3 and 4 after RS A-D), and I'm so impressed with the way they use the review of basic concepts in addition, subtr, mult, etc. to introduce pre-algebra concepts (distributive property, solving for a variable, etc.). This math 5 is FABULOUS!!! I'm telling you, as one who thought the conceptual teaching of RS was the bees knees for lower elementary, BJU does a great job. You could put your dc into it, get them on grade level, do well on standardized testing, get good results, and feel good about their understanding conceptually. And you know, there are other curricula that could get you there too (MUS, Singapore, etc.). I don't know. Maybe you're seeing some serious holes in understanding that you think RS would fix? If so, by all means do it. Do you realize you could do Transitions and then go into something else, not even going on into the regular levels of RS? Seriously, you could. Transitions is specifically meant to remediate, or fix the holes in conceptual understanding of kids who know how to do the math by rote by don't really get it. So you could buy Transitions, work through the lessons, and then just see what happens. At that point you might realize, hallelujah CLE (totally independent, at their pace) is the greatest thing since sliced bread, lol! It certainly wouldn't hurt, if you feel they have serious holes in their understanding. Or BJU could fix those holes, if you teach it. Did that totally confuse you? So Transitions is if you want to do just that and work through a sequence to repair holes. Activities for the ALAbacus is a topically-organized book that you could use to supplement another, more rote approach. Difference more clear? Take your time and decide. Be practical. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjperez1 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) I have my ds 8 and ds 6.5 doing RS B and C. It is definitely challenging to keep up the pace considering my younger two. I have stuck with it because they love the manipulatives and games. We did MUS last year which was easier to implement. However, I did see a stark difference in ds 8's ability in math. Mental math was non-existent with MUS. He understood the concepts but seemed "block dependent." In other words, he couldn't do the math without the blocks. Maybe I did something wrong, but I did follow the TM. By the way, he loved MUS also and protested when I wanted to sell the MUS blocks. It got us through the year and kept him thinking about math. I don't feel like he mastered the math facts as much as the math concepts. Edited February 6, 2009 by rjperez1 Add sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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