Hi Irmi,

I personally think a five year old should do Level A.
As it lays a solid foundation to understanding place value, especially once they hit Level B.

In certain circumstances I say they could start in Level B. If you have taught Level B before; and you can draw out a lesson over several days if not weeks.
If you can recognize when your child does not understand a concept and stay there until he does.

The best example I can give is that I had taught Level B two times, and with my third child I taught her Level B at a young age, but it took us 2 years to do it, and I had to come up with many extra lessons. It took us 6 weeks just to do place value! I could have done Level A and then gone through Level B in the same amount of time. But I felt I could handle the task so I went that route. But I hear too many other mothers who are quite happy that they did Level A then moved to Level B and either skipped the first 20 lessons, or took a summer break and reviewed the lessons and moved on.

So at some point the choice lies with the parent’s ability to know their own limitations. If you are okay with going slower in Level B, and stretching the lessons longer over days, and stopping where they are stuck and adding more games, more practice/explanations of where they are stuck, then Level B is doable. But if you need it to be scripted, you don't have time to build more explanations, you want it laid out for smooth use, then Level A is a better choice.

Please let me know if you have any more questions. You can email me directly at Carissa@alabacus.com .

Thank you for giving your child a RightStart in Math,

Carissa
RightStart™ Mathematics by Activities for Learning, Inc.

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