Hi,
I bought RS this fall and have been plugging away with it. I have a 10yob and 8yog. They did 1.5 years in a German public school system before I pulled them out. My son loved math and did very well with it there. My daughter counted on her fingers and never really understood what was going on. He was in 3rd grade and she in 2nd when I took them out. I guess I didn't understand how RS was supposed to work so I put them both into the transition book thinking that's where they needed to be. My son did OK, was really bored a lot of the time but there were some concepts he learned new so we kept at it till we finished, just last week. My daughter did OK at first but soon I realized she needed to go back to somewhere else. I wasn't sure where. I tried book A but that was too easy. I tried book B but not at the beginning, maybe 20 lessons in. Some of it is old stuff from working with the transition book first but some of it is new and she still wants to count on her fingers. The big problem is *I* still count on my fingers! How do I unlearn that?? Anyway, she and I will continue with book B but now what do I do with my son? I read some old posts here and it sounds like the books don't match the grades so even though he would be in 5th grade (in the American system, 4th in the German) I don't necessarily jump to book D or E. So where do we go? Is book C going to be challenging enough or if we went to D would we miss a lot of things he doesn't know from C?

Also, is there a DVD that demonstrates someone using this program? I use a spelling program that has a demo DVD and it has made all the difference to me.
How often are we supposed to play games? How do I choose which games to play?

Thanks,
Darla

Darla,

Thank you for your message. I did get a chance to consult with Dr. Joan Cotter regarding your inquiries. My response will reflect the answers that she supplied me with.

We do not have a DVD presentation for you to watch but we do have several PowerPoint presentations on website that explain the reasoning behind RightStart. You can access them here: http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=279. We also have some of our games demonstrated on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhum). I hope this helps with some of the understanding and philosophy of RightStart.

Dr. Cotter says: "The purpose of the Transition Lessons is to provide a quick overview and explanation of the manuals that a child is skipping. In this go as fast, or slow, as needed. Your son would proceed much quicker than your daughter."

When was the last time you took our Starting Level Questionnaire? I would advise taking it with your children nearby so they feel like part of the plan. It can be accessed here: http://www.alabacus.com/questions/. I feel that using this tool will help guide you to what necessary steps are needed. Level A and Level B are both considered beginning levels, therefore a child who is ready for Level B can begin there and work through the program easily. In addition, doing the Transition Lessons help take your child up to the appropriate level as designated in the Transition Lessons Table of Contents.

Dr. Cotter also emphasizes: "Encourage your children to use the abacus anytime they think they need to count. The only way to get a mental image of the abacus is through extensively using the manipulative. Incidentally, many parents have told us that they have finally learned their math because of teaching their children."

As far as when to play the games, the only rule to follow there is to play the games that are designated in the lesson. We will recommend a particular game to be played, because it reflects what was taught in that day's lesson. However the Math Card Games Book has over 300 games, therefore you will not use all 300 games in just the curriculum. You can skim through there and try some of the games with your children from concepts they are familiar with and see how much they enjoy it. I would also advise to play the games at times other than just school time. This is such a wonderful resource of math application and brain exercise!

I hope this helps, please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions, we are more than happy to help in any way possible.

Make it a great day,

Cassie
Activities for Learning-RightStart™ Mathematics
Cassie@ALabacus.com
www.ALabacus.com

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




Joan