Hello Margaret,

I can certainly understand your concern about being "behind." You are correct when you said that you will do Level E then the Geo App and then move onto pre-algebra. We recommend Videotext.com .

If she is algebra by 9th grade she will be fine.
Heather brought up a great point that I too would like to bring up. That is that most children are behind in mathematics, so at some point if she never took algebra until college, she would be with the majority of students.

In fact, recently speaking to a dean at a college he told me that the majority of students come to college two years below grade level, and he pointed out that homeschoolers did better but not much better. I also read an article that said around 54% of college students have to take some form of remedial math before graduating. Recall most of these students already took algebra in highschool.

I could go on and write a whole paper on the math debate going on in the math world, or the “whys” children are doing so poorly in math, but I shall restrain myself and instead redirect myself back to the concern at hand.

You need to strive for nothing less than understanding, critical thinking, and true problem solving skills. With these tools she will enter into any math subject prepared to learn. But if she is being dragged around and can't explain how she came up with an answer, she will be behind regardless of the math program you choose.

Here at RightStart we teach those skills, which is why some parents struggle with this program, because we are having them and their students think outside of the box, and that can be scary. But I have been using this program going on eight years, and have one child who has done the whole program, and all I can say is my husband and I thank GOD regularly for having found this program. When your child is in higher math you will even further see the implications of this program, as we are seeing now with my older son.

So fear not give her those tools I spoke of earlier and she will be fine.

Remember though she needs to be playing the games even the ones you think are below her, she needs to get her strategy thinking skills up now so she will be ready later. And she needs to understand place too.

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