Should I start with Level A or Level B RightStart Math?

 

Below are a few answers from the RightStart Yahoo group on which level of RightStart Math to begin with.  As you can see there are quite a few different reasons why starting with one level over another may work best for you.  Hopefully these answers from RightStart users will help you to sort out what will work best for your family.

 

Truly,

 

Britta McColl

Morning Star Learning

 

Discount on all RightStart Math Kits at:  www.morningstarlearning.com

 

Two Options! 

 

 

 

You didn’t say what math your 5 year old has already studied.  I started my older son in Level B when he was 4 years old, but he had already completed most of the Abeka K5 math book and I was specifically looking for a program that would challenge him. That said, since RightStart is so different from conventional programs like Abeka, it took him about 2 years to master Level B.  I was comfortable with a slow pace because I knew he was really learning the material and we weren’t wasting time.  That said, when my second son 4.5 years old was interested in “doing math” this past fall, I started him in Level A and he’s working though it fairly quickly.

 

You might consider Level A if:

1.    You are new to homeschooling.

2.   Your child hasn’t had much if any formal math studies.

3.   You have younger children coming along that can re-use the book.

4.   You or your child are anxious about math.

5.   You are schooling several children and don’t want to “fiddle” with the

              lessons too much.

6.   Money isn’t too big an issue. (The manipulative set is very similar

            between the two levels, so it’s just the Level A book extra.)

 

You might consider Level B if:

1.    Your child is breezing through other math books.

2.   You don’t mind if you don’t complete a lesson every day and are

            comfortable with waiting for concepts to “click” if necessary.

3.   Money is very tight and you’d rather stretch one book over possibly two

             years than buy two books.

4.   You’re comfortable with elementary math.

 

Did I forget anything? Either level can be a good fit, but it depends upon your child’s circumstances. As for the Games book, it isn’t required until Level C.  There are extra games in the Games book for topics in Level A and B, but unless your child is struggling with the material as presented in the Level A and Level B lesson books, you won’t need the extra Games for practice. The nice thing about activities/games instead of piles of worksheets is that you can repeat and vary the activities as much as you need to.

 

Lisa S. in FL, moderator of RightStart Math Yahoo group

 

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Why WE started with Level B:

 

I'm one of the ones who started a young child (4 3/4 at the time) in Level

B.  I needed Level B for my older child at the same time, so this was more cost-effective for us.  It probably will take us a good two years or more to do Level B, and but I have no regrets with this after starting over a year ago.  To do this, you have to be prepared to pace it to the child, not take the program lesson-by-lesson.  It helps if you're an experienced homeschooler or teacher and have taught math to young children before.  We spent a good six months on the first 30 or so lessons.

 

Level B was actually the first level of RightStart.  Then Level A was developed from Level B to pace and divide things into smaller "chunks" for younger children.  It worked for us, but I agree that the pacing of Level A is better if you want something to use as is.

 

GVA

 

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 Level A vs. B RightStart Math with 5 year old

 

Well I'll be the third to jump in the "A is definitely worthwhile" chorus line!  Like the others, we went into B and went back to A.  Mind you my dd had been asking advanced questions about place value, addition, blah blah when we went into B.  She hit that "wall" though around lesson 40-50, where the material in B really does get quite challenging and requires that they be developmentally ready to proceed into it.  In my personal opinion it has nothing to do with whether we are teaching it right, etc.; we're just expecting them to do mental work and visualizations that they need to be

READY and mature enough to do.

 

We don't know your dc, but you do.  My suggestion is that you look at the table of contents for A and B and compare them, thinking where you think your dc will thrive.  Some 5 year olds go into B and never look back, others do better with the expanded pace and methodology in A.  Indeed, the content of A is repeated in B.

 

 I really think the extra time spent on concepts in A is very helpful though.  If you are comfortable tweaking, slowing down and speeding up B as needed, yes you can slow it down and make it work.  For us, doing A gave us a lesson every day in that "slow it down" phase, making MY life easier.  And my daughter really enjoyed it!

 

BTW, don't gauge level A by the beginning of the book.  It is much more challenging toward the end.

 

The games book contains over three hundred games, whereas levels A and B contain instructions for just the games necessary for those levels.  By level C you need to purchase the games book, and that will give you lots of variations for concepts you've already covered as well.

 

Elizabeth in Ohio