Hello Rachel,

You have raised excellent questions.

My guideline is if they are showing math readiness then it is time to teach them. What if they are younger than you wanted to teach them, then I suggest guiding them more and not doing math as formally.

For instance, by the time I had learned this concept my third child was 4 ½, and I thought that I would just wait until she was around 6 to introduce math concepts formally. Then one day she came up to me and said, “ I can count backwards from 10”, and I replied, “No you can’t, I haven’t even taught you to count forward to 10” and then she proceeded to count backwards.

Then she came up to me soon after announcing she could add 100+100. And she did! That is when I knew my dream of holding off teaching was shattered. So I submitted to her best interest, and started math more formally, but I knew to go slow and to use the curriculum as a guiding tool not a full blown math course. I took tiny steps in each lesson and reviewed regularly. We just did math 10 days a months for about 15 min a day. Just enough to keep her mind moving in the correct direction and not learning bad math habits. Then at age six she begged to do 15 days of math each month, like her brothers, and she has been able to work that pace, but like I said, I take my time, and we play lots of games.

The trick is we have to do what is best for each child. If we hold one back, or drag one along, for the sake of the other, or the sake of an idea, then we become no better than institutional schools.

So my though is do what is best for each one. It sounds like one is ready to start and the other one is not as ready. If having one start and the other one not start sounds like it will not work, then do the Level A a couple of days a week focusing on one lesson and doing the games for shorter periods for the younger one. In other words, do the level but slowly, as the compromise.

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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