I, too, find that my daughter gets rusty very quickly. We jumped out of multiplication and division only a short while ago to do the geometry near the end of Level E. Then, near the end of the book, it introduces long division.

Her speed at multiplication and division as she works her way through it, and even subtraction, are painfully slow all over again.

This makes me nervous, as in a few weeks we'll begin A Geometric Approach, and I wonder, what on earth is going to happen to her basic skills as we delve around in there? I'm hoping they stay reinforced by calculations within geometry, but will also be using Life of Fred, the Zillio Math Mountain, and Hand-On-Equations before we get to Video Text. I can't let her just do the geometry, she needs to keep getting experience and ease with her basic skills. Until they come super-easily, they need constant refreshment, with games, games, games, and application.

Does that mean that Right Start is the wrong program? No, not at all. Does it mean that they suffer after a break? It definitely does. It's no coincidence that most of the fall at schools is spent on review. Especially in math, which, as has often been said in the Right Start world, is like a foreign language. Constant exposure is the only key to fluency.

You can take a break. But it almost always means taking a step back, especially when they weren't "fluent" to begin with. Don't be scared. Play lots of games, and move slowly forward in the lessons until it's coming more easily again. They'll get there.

I'm not scared about the fall. I'll just be sure to reinforce her thinking and calculating with more "games." Life of Fred is a game to her, so that's one of them.