HI! I have a new 6 year old and have been inconsistent with RS. I find preparing the manipulatives and games to labor intensive. His lessons require my full attention (which is difficult with 2 small children also underfoot who also really want to play with the manipulatives.) I don't want to abandon RS for the basic worksheet approach, but I also want to be realistic....

Do you have any advice? Is there a clear way of abbreviating some of the early years if the child is picking up quickly... We are partially through level A. I am starting to skip the games if he gets the concept but since this math is so different than what I am used to, I am unsure if I am giving him a good foundation. I noticed the App with some "simple" lessons using the Al abacus, how do you recommend bringing these lessons in. I sure like their portability!

Thanks for your help!!
Paige

Hi, Paige. My name is Rachel and I am happy to help you today.

I have 4 kids and 2 part-time jobs, so I know all about the value of every minute!!! I don't have time to do lots of preparation. That is why I LOVE RightStart Math. I don't do any preparation prior to teaching the lesson. I basically open the manual to the day's lesson and ask my child to pull the manipulatives from our storage bin while I do a quick glance over the day's lesson. As soon as my child comes back, I start reading through the lesson being sure to look at the pictures to get a better idea of how the manipulatives are supposed to look.

Seriously, other than that - I do nothing else to prepare! ;-)

You may want to not worry about not having everything set and ready to go give 'winging it' a try. ;-) I think it is very good for your son/daughter to see that you are learning right alongside him/her. In addition, if you have any questions while teaching the lesson, you can always call RightStart's help desk. They are great about answer questions!

I hope that helps! If you have any further questions, you might want to email RightStart Math directly at info@rightstartmath.com.

Have a great spring!
Rachel