X-Post: Rightstart Q's

[Amber in AUS]

This was my first post -

 

We have been doing a bit of this and a bit of that as far as math goes and i have been a little bit of a cirric junkie buying and checking out loads of different things but not finding anything i love just yet.

 

I have decided however that i need an open and go type program where i don't have to plan in advance. I don't mind having to work with the child just can't plan, i really suck at planning on all fronts. It doesn't help that little kids LOVE math one week and don't care much for it the following which throws any plan out the window.

 

So I am thinking RightStart might be what i am looking for only i am really unsure where to place DD. She doesn't have math facts down, what 4yo does, but she knows how to work them out. Similarly she knows how to work subtraction. She can handle multi digit addition and we have been working on regrouping which is coming along nicely. Where would she place into RS? Their quiz says B, does that sound right?

 

I am petrified that if i don't find something to go to that we will miss something important which will cause future problems. Otherwise i think i would continue to do it my own way.

 

I don't want to back track her so far that she is bored silly but at the same time i do want a really solid base which i am not really giving with my wishy washy approach.

 

This was my follow up post -

 

Thanks OhElizabeth.

 

She is definately NOT the workbook kind of kid. I have not ordered anything yet, still mulling it over.

 

I think I really need something planned for me so it is a no brainer. I am busy enough! I am always thinking OK, what next and it is driving me a little nuts. I think she is needing some consolodation with what she already knows but not drill, she is anti drill, def a spiral kind of kid. Once she understands the concept she doesn't want to practice, practice until she has it mastered, she wants to learn something new. To get some drill I am constantly changing up the way we are doing it, the manipulatives we are using etc, it's exhausting.

 

I want to make sure i am not missing things, or not teaching it with the best approach.

 

I do think my DS will be a more methodical kid, so i think RS would be great for him when he gets that far.

 

Would it be far to strange/difficult to perhaps to RS B & C together? Am i going mad, lol.

 

I will cross post to Accelerated Board, thanks.

 

Any suggestions???

[Misty]

I think RS would work for you as far as an "open and go" program, but occassionally you will have to make a copy of something from the appendix and cut out some shapes or something like that to prepare for a lesson. You could get the worksheet CD to cut this time in half. RS has been an open and go program for us about 98% of the time and we have used it for 3 years. And it definitely won't be overkill in the practice/drill department. RS is good at mixing it up here with games, etc. Oh, that's the one thing that I found a little time-consuming with RS is reading the instructions on the games and trying to quickly learn how to play it before my child got bored and ran off, lol. But that's only when a new game is being introduced. Once you learn it, you know it and it's not time-consuming after that to play the games.

 

I would definitely start with level B if your daughter is picking up the concepts easily. Level A is just an easier level B and can be skipped. But for a 4yo, I wouldn't start past level B no matter how advanced she is. There is a lot of foundational stuff in B. And I would take it slowly because it does get challenging toward the end (learning to count back change, etc.) and even my gifted 6yo (at the time) stumbled a little there toward the end.

 

There is a RightStart yahoo group if you'd like more support http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/RightStart/

[Allearia]

I would recommend doing B and going as quickly or slowly as you need to for your daughter. I don't think I would combine it with C. Once you are ready for C you won't really need to do B, and there is review of the B stuff in C. In B there is a lot of emphasis on learning how to do the two digit addition mentally and I am so pleased with how my son learned that. I think RightStart with its emphasis on games is wonderful for younger advanced kids because it reduces the writing and gives more opportunities for the fun side of math.

 

That said, my son was more advanced on the Language side of things at that age and we didn't start RightStart until we "officially" started homeschooling at 5 1/2.

[Reya]

I'd say definitely B! You can condense as you go, especially the first 20 or so lessons.

 

The kids are adding 2-digit numbers in their heads and 4-digit numbers on paper by the end of B. So there's a lot of stuff in there for her still. :-)

[Amber in AUS]

Thankyou!

 

Sounds like there is still plenty for her to get from B without being bored. Looks like a good place to start, now to get the money together to purchase, hmmm.

[christine in al]

As for ar buying the early levels, I suggest you join the Right Start yahoo group and look for the manuals there.

 

I also added base ten blocks to my manipuliatives.. They were not part of the program when we started and the base 10 blocks sometimes made more sense to me than the abacus.

 

AND if you slow down around mid-B that's okay, there are some tricky stategies mid way and most folks slow down at least a bit.

~christine in AL