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Post a message or simply read what others have written and answered. Rachel, a RightStart™ Math user and one of our customer care people, will be monitoring this forum. She will respond to your questions as needed.

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Parental involvement in upper levels

We started Rightstart with my oldest when he was 5 on Level A, and fell in love with the curriculum. I now have my third child on Level A, and my oldest is now on Level D (middle son almost done with B). I love love love this curriculum, but am curious to know if parental involvement continues to be heavy as we go up from Level D. I currently spend about half an hour to 45 min per kid, depending on their understanding and if it is a lesson with several games. That takes up quite a bit of our morning, and I do find that I don't do as many games for extra reinforcement for my 2nd son (who takes a bit longer to grasp new concepts) because our other subjects haven't even begun and our morning is half over. I do have my oldest take care of playing many of the games with my son in Level A, but am curious to know what to expect as we go on. I do not want to change curriculums because this has been brilliant so far for all 3 of my boys, who learn differently, but I am curious to know if my involvement will continue to be heavy as we go on. Thanks!

Re: Parental involvement in upper levels

Hi, Stephanie.

I am sorry for the delay in responding. A couple of days I wrote a response, but I guess it didn't publish for some reason. Hmmmm...

I completely understand where you are coming from! I have four kids, two with learning struggles, and used/am using RightStart Math for all of them. In addition, I have two part time jobs - and somewhere in all of this I need to clean the house!!! ;-)

While it is not a stroll in the park, it can be done. I have done a few things that might be helpful to you - some of which you are currently doing.

First of all, have your kids play the math card games together. You mentioned that you have your older son play with your younger one. That is perfect. You may also want to have him and your younger child play your middle child's games as well. It doesn't matter if your youngest cannot do the calculations. When I did this with my kids, I would have the 'game owner' (the student for whom the game was being played) answer all the equations. For example, if my kids were playing the game Addition War for my middle child in Level B, then that child was to answer all the card equations that everyone played. That gave him more practice on the math facts. In addition, the older kids wouldn't overpower him with the quick answer first and the younger child could play along without a hitch.

Next, while I don't recommend this frequently, but if your older son is an independent learner, you can opt to have him work through some of the lessons by himself. When my oldest was in Level E, I was very sick - to the point that most days we didn't do much school. In an attempt to not fall extremely behind in math, I would tell him to work through a RightStart Math lesson on his own and share with me what he learned. I was able to do this with him because he was very independent, interested in learning and would not be tempted to 'cheat' through the lesson. I was not able to do this with my other kids. So, you will need to determine if this is the right plan for your child. In addition, you will need to keep a close watch on him as you will want to be sure he is learning what he needs and not simply reading through a lesson. Don't do this overly frequently - but you can opt for this option on occasion.

A side note: Level G (Geometric Approach) is designed to be completed by the student. The lessons are written directly to them and they are to work independently on the worksheets. Of course, you may have to give them some assistance - or you can refer them to us or another resource, as many parents do to help their child become more independent in their learning and study habits.

Another thing that I did was to schedule only 3 or 4 lessons to be completed each week and then used the 'off' days to simply play games. I also had the kids work through the summer months to finish the work in the Level. This did a number of things for me. First, I didn't have to teach 3 math lessons every single day. I would teach two math lessons and play math card games with the other child. It also required me to teach math over the summer. At first, I really hated this idea, but once I got going, I found that my kids retained a lot more information and starting up in the fall was SO MUCH EASIER!!!!

Finally, do you have anyone else that can help you teach or play math card games with your kids? Every once in a while, my mom would come over and teach a lesson or two. Perhaps your husband, or a grandparent? Perhaps you can find someone else in your area who uses RightStart Math and you can team teach? Sometimes, just having someone else to come in and help is a real encouragement and can give you energy to keep plugging along.

One more thought....even though it is difficult sometimes and really pushes the schedule to the brink, your kids are young for such a short period of time! Providing them with a strong math foundation will pay off in the end. When my kids got into middle school/high school, they had such a solid math foundation, that they didn't need my help (for the most part)! They had become excellent independent learners. I know it seems like this will go on forever - but as a mom with three kids who have graduated from RightStart Math and only one left working in Level C - I can say it goes fast! In fact, I miss those days of sitting on the floor playing math card games with my four kids.... :-(

Hang in there.

If you need any further assistance or want some more ideas, please do not hesitate to repost here or email RightStart Math directly at info@rightstartmath.com.

Rachel