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Philothea
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| Posted: June 10 2009 at 3:39pm | IP Logged
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Well, I sucked up the high price and went ahead with RightStart for my 5yo son. It arrived today, and man, that is a HUGE box!
My son went wild over all the manipulatives. He's been occupying himself with the Geoboards for the last half hour. I put everything else away until I can present it to him properly and teach him how to use it, but the Geoboards are fun, so I let him keep those out.
Flipping through the manual, I'm impressed at how clearly everything is presented ... I know RS has a reputation as teacher-intensive but I thought everything was very clearly laid out and they do make it easy for the teacher (i.e. ME). The songs are cute and catchy and should help with memorization.
Anyway, we'll see how we like it once we get into it, but my initial impression is that this was a good pick for us.
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 10 2009 at 4:01pm | IP Logged
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 We went with RightStart B, too. I think we have similar family structures? It's a perfect fit for us.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Philothea
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| Posted: June 10 2009 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
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Yes, Jenn, I think we do -- I have a 6/04 son and an 11/07 son. :)
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 11 2009 at 11:33am | IP Logged
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I switched to RS this past year after a year of Miquon. It has worked MUCH better for both my younger kids, including the one who was doing OK (I thought) with Miquon! Turns out he knew how to do a lot of it but didn't understand the concepts very clearly and also hadn't learned to think in groups of numbers and was still counting on his fingers.
There is an e-list for using Rightstart if you have any questions. One thing that comes up repeatedly is when a child just isn't "getting" a concept (dd was like this for place value - a very important concept) - don't be afraid to just put the book aside for awhile and play the games! If you don't have the separate Games book and cards (it's not required until level C, but recommended at any time) it has a lot more games than the curriculum does, and they really do help! Most people tend to get going on the lessons and ignore the games but make sure you play some every week at least.
Karen T in Md
p.s. Dd7.5 is just finishing up level B, and ds9 is in level C near the end.
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Amanda
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| Posted: June 12 2009 at 1:44pm | IP Logged
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Hey,
Wondering why you decided to start with B--had your son had previous math experience, or is he a "mathy" kid? I was going to get A for my dd, who'll be 6 in Oct. My firstborn was always into math, but she doesn't seem to be.
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mom to ds '97, dd '03, ds '07, and dd 1/11
St. Margaret Clitherow Homeschool
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Philothea
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| Posted: June 12 2009 at 3:39pm | IP Logged
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My son is a mathy kind of guy. He can already add sums up to 10 and count to 100, can match numbers with quantities and all that. He also enjoys it, which is key. I did the "placement" quiz on the Rightstart site and it suggested he be placed in B, so I did.
I feel like maybe we're missing out on some of the cool stuff that A has to offer, but most of it is repeated (albeit faster) in B anyway. The bottom line for me was that he knew so much of the material in A already that I couldn't justify buying it when I suspected he'd be moving up to B way before the year was out. I'll just go slow and easy with B, I think he'll do fine.
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Betsy
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| Posted: June 12 2009 at 3:47pm | IP Logged
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I skipped A for both of my kids (one Mathy, one NOT) and started them in level B when they started first grade (we had NO prior math experience). I have no regrets. In fact, when I called the people at Right Start the very helpful customer support lady had done the same with her children.
I think using level A is a personal decision, but it is not required.
Betsy
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 13 2009 at 9:48am | IP Logged
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I haven't used A but am on a rightstart yahoo list and most people there have said that B covers everything that was in A, just a little faster. Either is fine to start with, depending more on the child's maturity level and ability to do slightly longer lessons, than on material (I think). I think more people use A at kindergarten level.
karen T in Md
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Our RightStart B arrived -- thoughts
