Hello Annie,

I had replied to your other forum but incase you did not get it I will reply here.

I think your idea about having her see the younger one do it and having her do some of the games with you is a great idea.

The only advice I have is to continually keep an eye on her to see if she is able to use the math concepts she learns in the program in real life situations. To often I find that the parents thought the child was doing well because they always did well on the worksheets and passed the tests, but that is not enough since most children are pattern seekers anyway, doing homework and tests mostly becomes about the pattern of the tests. So is what you want to look for now that she passes the tests, does she easily apply it in real life? Can she be the banker in Monopoly with no help? Can she add multiple digits in her head. Can subtract multiple digits without paper? When she is at the store can she figure out the individual price on a product that is for sell as 5 for $10, or 3 for $2.

Things like this you want to be aware of. If she is applying her math skills and enjoys MUS then I would only suggest that she does the math games with you.

As far as your son is concerned I know the very type. That is my oldest to a tee. He never enjoyed the ride he enjoyed figuring out what was making the ride move.
This will be a perfect program for him.

I am giving you my tips of teaching this program, because I made the mistake with my son thinking because he was an engineer type that I could do math endlessly because he always understood what we were doing so I kept going, wondering "why is he crying, he knows all of this?"
Well he is crying because he was too young for math to take an hour each day.

So here are my tips.


1) Keep your time limited in each session, I recommend 30min per child per day. I stop once we hit that time. I find it is usually their limit of concentration after that time they don’t hear what you say, and you are only adding frustration. I also find that because I keep to that time limit that I can be consistent, and they are not fearful to do math, because they know that there is an end to the lesson in 30min. Those who leave math an open time limit, may create a fear of math in their children.

2) Be consistent. Don’t do math every now and then. Do it regularly. I personally have found that if I do school 15 days out of each of the 12 months it works for our family. It totals 180 school days and yet keeps us consistent in our schooling. We don’t get burnt out of school, because we always have at least one week off each month; and we don’t get out of the habit of school, because we are always poised to start again, it is a part of our whole lives. School is not consigned to some months and not others, it is part of life.

3) Play the games, I mean PLAY THE GAMES! :) I cannot over emphasize the importance of the games. Even on days when you are not told to play the games fit it into your school day.

Most kids who learn math only understand the theory of math, but can not apply it in real life. I liken it to learning how to drive. You get a booklet from the state and you memorize it then you take a test. Let’s say you get 100% on the test did it make you a good driver? No, it just means you memorized the “theory” of driving. In order to become a good driver, you have to get in the car and “apply” the theory. Only with practice of driving do you start to internalize the driving rules and become a better driver. The same is true with math. The books and worksheets provide the “theory” of math, while our Math Card Games provides the “application” of math. As they use both they understand math as a whole. This will help them in the long run in higher mathematics and everyday math. So make sure she can do both and she will do just fine in the higher math.

Also, the games help store the information into the correct places in the brain for better retrieval. Whereas rote memorization stores the information in the short-term part of the brain--where the information has no context of other information (like a telephone number, we dial in the numbers but they don’t mean anything mathematically). The math learned in the games gets stored in the strategy/logic part of the brain because there was context and meaning to the numbers-they have to perform certain calculations to win the game. Plus, it is done in a friendly environment where the time spent will be remembered as good time learning math, thus will be more likely to produce good feeling towards math—even if it is not their favorite subject, it will not be their hated subject.

I hope that this is helpful, but if ever you have more please email me at carissa@alabacus.com and will do my best to answer them. Or you can call 888-272-3291 and our excellent customer service ladies will be happy to assist you.


Thank you for giving your child a RightStart in Math,

Carissa
RightStart™ Mathematics by Activities for Learning, Inc.

For program questions: 888.272.3291
To place an order: 888.RS.5.MATH (888.775.6284)
www.RightStartMath.com

Our Mission: To help children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics


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.

For program questions: 888.272.3291
To place an order: 888.RS.5.MATH (888.775.6284)
www.RightStartMath.com

Our Mission: To help children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics