RightStart Math Users Opine, Please

[MonkeynoseMomma]

Is anybody else using RightStart Math? And if so what is your opinion/ experience with it?
 

[ariel]

Hi...I just ordered Level A for my 2 yr old. last week so we'll see how it goes.   I heard about it from this forum.  I would do a search on right start and you might find previous threads where we talked about this.  There are several points that appealed to me from what I learned from others. 
1. Its very manipulative oriented and my daughter would love that. 
2. The lessons are short.  The parent looks at the lesson plan and explains to the child.  You can do a lesson a day. 
3. They use a special type of abacus...I was not too found of that at first, but later I realized that it does make transitioning to a japanese style abacus easier. 
4. Lastly, the books can be found used on ebay or amazon.  I love that...I don't like buying new stuff cuz if I don't like it then I can't sell it cuz of lack of popularity of the program.  

[kizudo]

My son is 3 and we really like it.  I think that when you buy curriculum you need to consider BOTH you and your child - if you, yourself, don't connect with the materials you won't do the lessons - and it's obvious what will happen if your CHILD doesn't connect with them!  I found that the teacher handbooks are very easy to apply and there are tonnes of manipulatives to help you along.  I've mixed in many of my Jones Geniuses materials and am quite happy with what we've got going on.

As for buying sets, check out some local homeschooling associations - many of them will have a "used materials" page on their websites.  I stumbled across my FULL set of Level B at a homeschooler's garage sale.

[linzy]

We used it for a period, but my son had a very hard time with the instant viusal recognition of numbers up to 5. This is a very fundamental skill in the curriculum and I did not feel we were able to progress until her "got it". After a while we gave up on the lessons because of that. Also there is this part where you tap and the child is supposed to know how many taps you did without counting and my son just wan't doing it. My son also counld count to 100 and found the fact that you called twenty-one "two ten one" very confusing. On the other hand the games are great and I do recommend their game book and card set. We are curently using Jones genius and doing well.

[MonkeynoseMomma]

Thanks for the replies

[aangeles]

We have been using Right Start Math for the last two months and we really like it. Ella had finished the JG Matrix Math program but I did not think she was quite ready for Matrix Three. She had also finished the Earlybird K workbooks from Singapore Math but, towards the end of the workbooks, she was getting bored with them because there was too much repetition and the pace was too slow for her. I do a lot of Montessori activities with her and she really enjoys using manipulatives so I was looking into Montessori Math but the materials were just too expensive. In the end, I decided to try out Right Start Math because the program is Montessori-based but expands/improves on it. The program is also very comprehensive and I don't need to buy or make anything else apart from what's included in the set. So far, she is doing very well with it and is making steady progress. So, while there is no perfect math program out there, I think we have found the best program that fits her learning style and I'm very happy with it. 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Aangles- What's your take on using the RS abacus versus jumping into a traditional japanese/chinese abacus? I have a Pacchi being delivered anyday now and we have been flashing abacus slides but now I am second guessing myself.

[momtobaby]

Could somebody please suggest some good math progr to start with a 1 yr old?

[Mum]

Hi MonkeynoseMomma,

You can read about our fun with RightStart Math in this thread.

http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-math/recommendations-for-good-abacus-program/

Mum.

[aangeles]

Aangles- What's your take on using the RS abacus versus jumping into a traditional japanese/chinese abacus? I have a Pacchi being delivered anyday now and we have been flashing abacus slides but now I am second guessing myself.

TmT, I am not planning on introducing the soroban until Ella has completely understood and mastered the concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. The original purpose of the Japanese/Chinese abacus was not for teaching math. It was used only as a manual calculator similar to the way we use electronic calculators these days. My purpose for teaching it to Ella would be for her to learn Anzan (rapid mental math) since we missed the window for her to learn it the Doman way.    But I want to make sure she fully understands the concepts first before teaching her the shorthand method of arriving at the answers.

On the other hand, the RS abacus is designed to introduce and teach math concepts, including the four arithmetic operations, strategies for mastering the math facts, place value, money, etc. Also, many other mathematical topics such as fractions, geometry, statistics, algebra, cannot be taught on any abacus which is why RS has many other manipulatives included in the program in addition to the abacus.

Lastly, this is a quote from the RS website: "The last chapter in the Activities for the AL Abacus book has instructions for morphing the AL abacus into a Japanese (or Chinese) abacus. and learning to add on it." I haven't actually read ahead to the last chapter yet to see how they do it, but I am happy that there is a provision for transitioning to the Japanese abacus when we reach that stage.

By the way, we also have a Pacchi and Ella loves playing with it. I am keeping it for future use (hopefully, in a year or two). 

Hope this helps! 

[FloridaMom]

Hi, everyone! I have a 3-year old and we didn't do any math programs I was just teaching her here and there so she recognizes numbers to 100, but has difficulties when counting with 29-30, 39-40, 49-50... She can skip count and count objects to 29 ( she loses interest after that ). I want to buy a math program but can't decide between Rightstart and JG.
Would really appreciate any advice. Thank you.

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