Hello!

I have a 7 yr old daughter (will be 8 in October) whom I began HSing in kindergarten with Level A (we got about 1/4 - 1/3 of the way into it) when circumstances were such that I had to put her into the school system.

She is now finishing up the 1st grade and I will be picking up again with HSing.

Where should I start her? I was thinking starting at the beginning again, using Level B. But perhaps it would be better for her to use Level C with the transition lessons?

I'd rather it be easier at the start and build her confidence, making sure she's got everything down, rather than have her feel overwhelmed right off the bat, yet I do want her to have to stretch a bit to learn.

With her public school homework, she was taught to count on her fingers and often did it wrong. I'd make her stop, we'd pull out the tally sticks and she'd immediately get it, then finish the entire page on her own - although not the way the rest of the class did it, I'm sure.

She remembers a few things, i.e. Yellow Is the Sun..., can work with the tally sticks and thinks the Abacus is cool. One problem now with the Abacus since being in the classroom is that she tries to count the beads one by one.

Is my gut right that I should start her "2nd grade" with Level B? Finances are tight and I don't want to spend money in the wrong place.

Thanks for your input!

Blessings,
Annette

Hello Annette,

From the information you have given, I would vote for doing Level B.

It will teach her Place Value, number quantity--without counting, it will refresh her of information she had once learned. And you mentioned that she is counting, so to be reintroduced to the abacus, and more importantly how to add without counting will be a bigger help to her in the long run.

There will be things she will know, but given that she has been doing them differently in school, I think she should go ahead and be taught this from Level B, to help her understanding develop better. So you may find she is able to do most of it, but it will be in a more explained way, rather than just a rote, behaviorism way. Or you may be surprised to find she recognizes the symbols but not much else.

So again, with her age, her counting on her fingers, and her math experience from the previous year, I vote Level B.

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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