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3ringcircus
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 11:59pm | IP Logged
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G is in the beginning of Level B. He is doing well, and seems to be retaining the info. I have a little difficulty getting him to stop counting so that he can do more visualizing & abacus work, but he seems to be getting it, esp. w/ the games. Honestly, I have no issues w/ the program itself, other than the amount of set-up I have to do.
He doesn't do so well counting 10-20, though, and usually skips 15. He's aware of numbers up to 100, but makes mistakes on those numbers, too. For a while he was doing better because he was doing dot-to-dot books, but since we started RS for the first time in Sept, I stopped the counting altogether. He has a clear understanding of the numbers, but is missing this rudimentary step. I didn't teach him for K, and didn't push it since the teacher didn't, figuring that we'd work on it straight away at home. I would like to wait until RS moves us past 10, and "tens", but I'm not sure how much longer I want to wait. Pretty soon he's going to encounter somebody that's horrified that he can't count properly, and if it's one of his friends, he'll be pretty upset. He has already had anxiety over not writing his name easily on the cub scout sign-in sheet. Some of this stuff that is second-nature to a school kid is not a priority to a HS kid--until it catches them up in a social setting.
Suggestions? What did you do if you started at around the same age and the pacing was just totally different from what age-mates knew?
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: Oct 30 2012 at 3:14pm | IP Logged
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We have certainly been there! It doesn't bother me because I know my kids know a lot more than their public school friends in other subjects and I also know my kids have a more rounded education. My dh is not so relax about it! Here's a  and I have no other advice except for not to worry about it. They will be equal (if not ahead) by junior high or high school.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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Aagot
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| Posted: Oct 30 2012 at 3:20pm | IP Logged
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How far away is the lesson where theymake the transition from the math way to the conventual way of counting? If it isn't too far, I would just wait. But if it seems too far way, you could teach the two ways at the same time. Enter 16 and say this is one ten six we also call it sixteen.
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Betsy
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| Posted: Oct 30 2012 at 4:01pm | IP Logged
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I am going through level B for the third time right now. RS is really fundamentally sound, but she takes her time laying the foundation, which is very counterintuitive to the way math is taught in school. In the end kids really *understand* how to manipulate numbers not just regurgitate facts.
In almost everything that I have done with home schooling I have needed to fight the comparison to other kids. I choose not to teach my kids to read until there were 7. It was hard when moms would tell me how there dd's were reading books in first grade. But, after 3 or 4th grade our kids were the same or in many cases my kids had better comprehension.
RS math is a little bit that way. As a former Mechanical Engineer who struggled through arithmetic find the approach brilliant. But, when I went through it the first time there were places where I didn't alway see where she was going with things and then *POW* it all came together, brilliantly.
Now, with that being said there is no perfect program and no one program for everyone. However, I recommend just relaxing and trusting RS.
Oh, and lastly, Level B is the one that I drag my feet on the most to do my kids because of all of the manipulatives. I got a great deal on a shelf like this. I put everything into little plastic bags and then split them up into the drawers. It has made me embrace the manulipities!!!! Oh, and they do decrease significantly after this year B. 
Keep asking questions if you have more.....
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When handcrafting my work, I always pray that it will raise your heart to all that is true, modest, just, holy, lovely and good fame!
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Oct 30 2012 at 4:02pm | IP Logged
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I wouldn't stop him from counting either way, Christine. I think the switch is made between lesson 40 and 50. (We are right there now). Counting is huge for my ds right now. He counts everything and switches between the two methods.
During lessons make sure that if he answers "fourteen" you say "Right! We can also call that one-ten four". The reverse is also a great way once you begin to introduce the regular way of counting. So once regular counting is being encouraged, if he answers "one-ten one". You would say, "That's right! We also call that eleven". No pressure is needed here. You are just helping him to make the connections. 
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~Shannon
Mom of dd 12, ds 9, & dd 5
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Oct 30 2012 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
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Betsy wrote:
Oh, and lastly, Level B is the one that I drag my feet on the most to do my kids because of all of the manipulatives. I got a great deal on a shelf like this. I put everything into little plastic bags and then split them up into the drawers. It has made me embrace the manulipities!!!! Oh, and they do decrease significantly after this year B. |
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Yes I agree having those manipulatives at hand makes it flow much easier. I have all of the ones needed for the semester on a small tray on the shelf. I just grab what I need during the lesson and go. No prep here. 
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~Shannon
Mom of dd 12, ds 9, & dd 5
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3ringcircus
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| Posted: Oct 30 2012 at 11:55pm | IP Logged
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I've been going through the ziploc sandwich baggies hand-over-fist, LOL! Luckily I have a couple of drawers available in our built-in. One holds the ziplocs for the work I'm using that week, and the other holds everything else.
I do feel like this is going to be worth the investment (in time, more than anything), so I'm not too concerned. DH is also really supportive. He's the mathematical one in our house, and he loves the approach.
G's issue is in the actual counting. He says, "11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19. 20, and then goes from there w/ a fair amount of skipping. I cringe when I hear him say it wrong as he spontaneously counts thing because he seems to be reinforcing it incorrectly. Should I have him work on this completely separately from the RS lessons (more dot-dot pages), or should I just look it up and try to approach it in a way that will mesh well w/ what we'll be doing when it comes up? Would it be a big deal if I just went ahead, found the lesson on the 'teens, and introduced it briefly? I don't think he'll have a big deal differentiating between "one-ten-one", and "eleven". He's breezing through "3-ten" being the same as "thirty".
And thanks so much for the replies. It's really nice to have some enthusiasts here. It's actually the reason why I ended up w/ RS in the first place, and as long as I can juggle the "circus", I think we'll continue with it for all of them.
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Oct 31 2012 at 6:55am | IP Logged
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3ringcircus wrote:
| G's issue is in the actual counting. He says, "11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19. 20, and then goes from there w/ a fair amount of skipping. |
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Is it just the teens he has problems with? I really think this is pretty common for kids. The teens can be tricky since they are put together differently than the rest of our numbers. If you think he has 11 and 12 down well, I think you are doing just fine.
On the other hand, if he is having issues with ordering from 20 on up I would focus on counting the Rightstart way to cement that number 1-9 go in that order regardless of what "10" you are in. The rest will follow.
3ringcircus wrote:
Should I have him work on this completely separately from the RS lessons (more dot-dot pages), or should I just look it up and try to approach it in a way that will mesh well w/ what we'll be doing when it comes up?
Would it be a big deal if I just went ahead, found the lesson on the 'teens, and introduced it briefly? I don't think he'll have a big deal differentiating between "one-ten-one", and "eleven". He's breezing through "3-ten" being the same as "thirty". |
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If you want extra practice on counting I am a huge fan of dot to dots! Just keep it fun! Also bring that abacus out during the day. My kids enjoy counting on it, making stairs, etc. I wouldn't go ahead in the book since the lesson really is just introducing the names to the student. It sounds to me like he kinda knows the names, but just skips around a bit.
The reason I brought up 1-ten-one as eleven is because 11-19 are different than the rest of our numbers. Since he would say 3-ten-one, it would make sense to build it that way. 3 tens and a one. Eleven has no such building blocks, so saying 1-ten-one gives the child the building blocks he needs to be able to conceptually understand the number. 11 and 12 are particularly difficult, but 13-19 can be a problem as well.
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~Shannon
Mom of dd 12, ds 9, & dd 5
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JennGM
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| Posted: Oct 31 2012 at 7:43am | IP Logged
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I love RS and starting the journey again with our second son.
I won't be able to address specifics in RS, but I would just keep on and not worry about the counting. Does he only miss 15 when he's counting out loud, not looking at anything? It's too abstract, and it's just habit. The beauty of RS is that it is concrete. He will meet and see and feel "15" and "five-ten" and understand it. He will understand that if he doesn't have that number, it doesn't add up to 5 or 10s. The counting comes later, and I do believe 15 will show up. What's more important is to not emphasize the counting. It's more about grouping in 5s and 10s.
And I totally agree with Shannon about the dot-to-dot. I've been emphasizing that lately with my two. My youngest skips 16 when he counts out loud, but not when he sees it.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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MNMommy
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 6:38am | IP Logged
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When you say he can't count the teens, do you mean that he can't count them using the RS math way or the "regular" way? If he is struggling with the RS math way, then I definitely wouldn't move onto the regular way with him. If he is struggling with the regular way, I would continue to use the RS math way and just wait for it all to click.
I think the important thing is that he understands what the teens stand for. Once he clearly understands one-ten one, one-ten two, one-ten three, etc then I doubt he would have much trouble converting over to the regular counting method, when he's ready.
We are loyal RS users with my oldest in Level E, and I teach all my kids to count using the RightStart math way. I don't convert them over until RightStart B or when they are ready (if earlier). My 6yo doesn't understand what a 15 is yet, but he does understand what a one-ten five is. My 4yo is working on understanding one-ten five. I never use the "regular" way of counting when I count with or around her. My olders roll their eyes at me about it, but I think it's a good refresher for them too.
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Jennifer
Tired mom to - 10yo dd, 7yo ds, 6yo ds, 4yo dd, 2yo ds
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MNMommy
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 6:40am | IP Logged
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Wanted to add - the set-up does get to be a pain. I helped myself by putting all the manips into a bin that I keep nearby when doing lessons. They are all within arm's reach.
The best thing I did, though, was to go through all the lessons in A and B before the year and gather/cut/copy all the materials needed for the entire level. I put the materials into baggies labeled with each lesson in my manip bin. This way I don't have to do any prep before sitting down to teach.
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Jennifer
Tired mom to - 10yo dd, 7yo ds, 6yo ds, 4yo dd, 2yo ds
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Right Start Question
