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ManmanJen
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| Posted: Jan 06 2011 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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My 6 year old is beginning to struggle with MCP A. She’s learning her facts through games and drills, but doesn’t seem be getting a good grasp of the actual concepts. Many things that my 3 and 4 year olds are already beginning to understand, without any formal math, she’s doesn’t seem to be getting. She did alright with MCP K, and enjoyed the worksheets, but I had to spend a lot of time making manipulatives and other games to teach the material to her.
Right now I’m considering either switching to RightStart with her, or just continuing through the year without the workbook and using games and other manipulatives to cover the topics that are in the MCP book.
My question about RightStart is how much prep time does it take? I’m OK with the time required to do the lessons with her, but don’t have a lot of time to prepare the lessons. This is why I’m hesistant to go on my own without a curriculum. My other hesitation with going on my own this year, is I still would have to figure out what to do next year.
Another concern with RightStart is the cost. I think it would be alright if the program works for us, but I don’t want to spend the money just to end up with a program I still have to do a lot of tweaking and prep work for. Most of the negative reviews I’ve seen refer to the parent intensive lessons, but has anyone stopped the program for other reasons? What are the other cons?
Jennifer
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Betsy
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| Posted: Jan 06 2011 at 1:05pm | IP Logged
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I only have a second...but here's my answer in a nut shell.
I only had prep work for level B (didn't do level A) when I had to cut something out of the appendix for a few lessons...maybe 20 or so. Otherwise I would sit down and begin my lesson with barely looking over what we were going to do that day.
However, I think the complaint of "parent intensive" can be miss guided. Absolutely a parent will have to sit and do the lesson with the child. This does decrease a bit as the years progress and some work can be done on their own. However, this is NOT a program that you can give to your kids to work on independently. If that's a deal breaker, than this program is not for you.
I have used RS for level B-E with two kids. I love it. It is pricy, but I feel like it's very complete and good and worth the $. That's not to say there aren't other ones out there, but RS has worked well for us.
Defiantly call RS customer support if you have technical questions. They are awesome and very helpful.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Jan 06 2011 at 1:14pm | IP Logged
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I use Rightstart, and there is some prep. I probably spend anywhere from 5- 10 minutes a day looking at and preparing the lesson for the next day.
Sometimes you have to set up a tray or copy and cut up manipulatives, and that might take a bit longer.
I honestly don't think it takes *that* long or is hard (but I switched from full Montessori math, which was way too labor intensive for me at the time). The printouts I made for my ds I now use with my dd, so that has saved time.
I honestly think that math "readiness" is a huge factor for kids. Some are ready and grasp the concepts earlier. Some need more time. My ds was an early math learner. My dd is much different. Games and manipulatives are always a great way to teach math concepts.
Righstart manuals and worksheets can also be found used fairly easily to help off set costs.
I have been very happy with Rightstart and have not been tempted so far to bounce around to other programs. I have been using it for three years.
Having said that, I also have to say that when my kids don't grasp a concept easily, it is often because they are just not ready or need a lot of time make sense of the material. I can't rush them. I am often happily surprised when all of a sudden they "get" a concept. It's like it has to muddle around in their brains for awhile while they make sense of it.
For a long time my dd struggled with understanding the basic addition facts to ten. We played lots of the RS games and I didn't rush her, and then one night at bedtime she could not get to sleep. I was frustrated, but then she started saying, "Is 4 plus 6 ten? Is 7 plus 3 10? is 12 plus one 13?" 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JennGM
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| Posted: Jan 06 2011 at 2:01pm | IP Logged
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My prep time is similar to Betsy. I usually just open up and begin...only a few times have I had to prepare materials. Math time means being with my son almost full-time until he has to do some work on his own to reinforce. It's a perfect fit for us, and my husband is just amazed at the concepts and how he understands them instead of just memorization and drilling.
And for a wiggly, hands-on, conceptualize kind of guy, it's again a perfect fit.
I don't find the lessons too long or hard, so the "parent intensive" doesn't scare me. We do mainly Charlotte Mason approach, so that requires me for dictation and narration, but much of his work is on his own, so having the one-on-one time for math each day isn't too hard. Most lessons don't take more than 15-20 minutes.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Aagot
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| Posted: Jan 06 2011 at 9:00pm | IP Logged
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We love RightStart! I have used it from level A-E and just started the Geometric Approach. I really like the solid foundation that my kids have in math.
For what it is worth, my "math husband" loves it too.
Aagot
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MNMommy
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| Posted: Jan 07 2011 at 8:05pm | IP Logged
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We use and love RightStart. My oldest is in Level C.
For levels A & B, I go through the lessons at the beginning of the books and gather all the supplies I will need for the entire book. This includes making copies, cutting things out, gathering random manips, etc. Then once I have this done, I have no prep work. I don't look at any of the lessons before I sit down with the kids to teach. When I was a newbie in Level A, I did spend a few minutes reading through the lesson until I got into a flow with teaching the RS way.
My general plan for my dc so far has been:
Level A - Kindergarten - 15 min, 2x/week
Level B - 1st/2nd - 20 min, 4x/week
Level C - 2nd/3rd - 30 min, 5x/week
In CM fashion, I limit the lessons by time and not by how much has been accomplished. I aim for steady progress. I think laying a strong base in math is critical, and I think that teaching math at these ages should be teacher intensive. Then, again, I don't see our schedule as being too teacher intensive.
I attended a talk by Dr Cotter a year or two ago, and she said something that resonated with me. She said that the math lesson goal for a teacher in Asian countries is for the kids to have learned something new. They don't measure success by how many problems have been worked or how many pages have been covered.
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Jennifer
Tired mom to - 10yo dd, 7yo ds, 6yo ds, 4yo dd, 2yo ds
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Amanda
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| Posted: Jan 07 2011 at 10:14pm | IP Logged
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I dropped RightStart not because it was prep intensive, but because I just couldn't follow the graphic layout. I was always hunting around on the page for where we were, what was next, etc. However, I don't think many people are as handicapped as I am in that regard! I've been known to cut apart textbooks and paste parts on separate pages to make the layout clearer to me...maybe I should have been a book interior designer.
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mom to ds '97, dd '03, ds '07, and dd 1/11
St. Margaret Clitherow Homeschool
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: RightStart question
