You have been so helpful in the past with suggestions for the students I tutor. I work part-time tutoring at a school in addition to home-schooling my sons.

This year, I have a pair of students who are in 3rd grade. They are both finger-counters -- very slow, very inaccurate, and have no other strategies. One of them, during our 2nd session, did not know how to figure out 100-99! Neither of them does much other than count up and down by ones. This poor little gal was ready to start counting backwards from 100 to 1! Don't worry -- I stopped her and pulled out my abacus.

I was considering patching together lessons from books A and B in an attempt to just start over with them. I see just the two of them for a total of 90 minutes per week. But, I wonder if you think the Transition lessons would be appropriate instead. They aren't ready for Book C by any means, and I see that the Transition lessons are to be used prior to starting C or D. Would the Transition program be appropriate for 3rd graders who are so far behind? I would be free to move at whatever pace they needed.

If you don't suggest the Transition book, what would you suggest? I own levels A, B, C, D, E. and the Math Games book. (I use your materials with all the students I tutor and have sent many parents your way for materials!)

Thanks so much!
Lizzy

Dear Lizzy,
Thank you so much for this great endorsement of our curriculum. We really appreciate such loyal customers. You are the reason we are in business to hep children "understand, apply and enjoy mathematics." Thanks.

As far as your question, yes, use the transition lessons. That is exactly what they were developed for, to help those who don't understand the basics. As you go along you may uncover root areas they never understood and you can add games to help strengthen those areas too for further reinforcement.

Please keep in touch and let us know how they are progressing. We had one tutor use the transition lessons with a high school student and he saw three years improvement in just 18 months of tutoring once a week. So you should be able to make some rapid progress once the gaps are filled in properly.
Nancy

Well, I started with the transition lessons yesterday. (I don't have the book yet, but looked at the Table of Contents and took a guess at what the 1st lesson would include...I combined some of the early Book B lessons.) Both students enjoyed the lesson, and I was amazed at how much they needed it. I had been a bit reluctant to do such very basic work with 3rd graders, but I'm glad I did.

I started the lesson by 'flashing' the 'higher' dot cards (the cards w/ 7, 8, 9, or 10 dots) and they laughed and said of course they couldn't tell me those quantities. Well, by the end of the lesson they could! With no counting! It was a great beginning, especially for the one student whose skills are particularly low. I'll see them again tomorrow, and I think we're all looking forward to it.

I will keep you up to date. I've used your products a LOT, but have never started completely over with a student and am very interested to see how it will go.

Thanks for your recommendation. This forum is a valuable service, and your products are fantastic!
lizzy

Thanks, Lizzy, for sharing your great success story and for your high praise. We at RightStart believe that satisfied customers is our strongest endorsement Thanks for keeping us informed as you go along.
Nancy