I posted this on the RS group but did not get much input. Thought I would try here.

This is what I did: Discovered RS last year when I realized my 5/6 year old was doing wksht after wksht of Singapore Earlybird Math all of which he completed easily. Big sis who is now 13 had used Singapore also but bogged down, never did quite get it, even used some Keys To... DS who is much older used Saxon all the way through did fine, never did all review problems usually just every other one. He could have excelled had he enjoyed it more I’m sure. I Didn’t want younger ds to bog down or hit a wall like big sister or be bored to death like big brother so I started looking.

I came across RS and decided to try, the Transitions Lessons with both kids still homeschooling. Dd was to busy thought it was beneath her but, ds and I loved it. So as usual I jumped in full force like a crazy woman. Got every thing for level B for him and even level D, of all things, for big sister.

To make a long story longer, sorry. Level B is going great, easy, but learning the methods and having fun, also reviewing what he has already learned with the last few pages of an old 1st grade Saxon wkbk. Looked at the Level D for big sister when when is arrived and thought she would be insulted so, never did get started; Just took out an old Saxon 8/7 of Big brothers to give it a try.

Well...... she is getting only 60% correct maybe less some day. It is mostly arithmetic malfunctions. It’s not like she can’t handle the concepts She is willing to work hard but she is gun shy when she comes to math. I was wondering if she should continue with 8/7 and just do lots of Math Games from the book or, if I should really back up at this late stage and do level D. I still have the Transitions book so I guess she should do through the level D section in there first.

If anyone has done this before please let me hear from you. It is obviously detrimental to continue like this. It kills me to see her discouraged.

Samantha
mom of 4 4-23
and they’re all different!!! eeeeek

Dear Samantha,

Thanks for posting your questions. Here's one option you could consider and actually stated in your post. And, that is to work through the Transition book, which will be very easy and seem too simple at first, yet it will also show her how math works. After working through the transition book, you could even move into Level E, or better yet, "camp out" with the games. Start with the section you want to work on most, I'm thinking multiplication, and go through that section of the game book, one game at a time. There you can have fun and still review and work through the concepts. You can do this for the other sections as well, as in division and fractions. Or, you could move into Level E. Check out the table of contents of both Level E and the Level D book you have. Remember these are levels and not grades so hopefully that will help your daughter not feel insulted. Also please know that there are many children who work through Levels D and E even when they are in 7th grade. It's not about what grade a child is in it's what math level they are at that makes the difference.

I hope this helps. Please keep asking your questions and thanks for giving your children a RightStart in math.

Sincerely, Rosine

First off, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Seems like we've been in similar circumstances.

Last yr, we started RS. Our oldest then were 14yo dd and 12 1/2 yo ds, and they did E together. They don't really enjoy math, but they did fine! Since I had them doing the level together, I also had them playing the games 4-5 days/wk. If they needed help w/ the games, I'd play w/ them till they understood it. But usually they played them on their own together.

We also used to do Saxon. W/ our oldest dd, she used it K-76, but we really got burned out. She did ok w/ it. Or oldest ds didn't like it. I knew I had to switch because the next dd couldn't have handled 54 on up. She would've been in tears too often! She just learns differently and RS seems to be able to help her (and the rest) comprehend better. We used a couple other programs between Saxon and RS, but they just didn't do what I'd hoped.

Our oldest 2 also thought the transition lessons were really easy, which I thought was better than them being discouraged before we even started E.

Our next 2 started B last fall and will finish C next week! They just had b-days, so they're now 10 yo dd and 12 yo dd. They've been able to move quicker through the levels, so they won't be so far behind forever. And I know that they're "getting it"!

Let me know if I can be of any encouragement to you!
Marti