Math struggles….RS vs switch?

Welcome back, Ladyofthehouse! I have wondered about you and how your history program is going. I understand about the moving since we did that a little over a year ago. (I still have a few unpacked boxes in the closet.) I am glad to see you back, and so sad that you are struggling with math. I’ve been there, too.

I am currently using RS math and am happy with the results. I encourage you to continue with it, getting a good system down for it. I say this because I have been through too many math books and have finally found my ds7 learning the math facts. I do agree that you have to use what works for your family. But maybe try using it differently with your time before you completely ditch it. I recommend that you keep the math games and an AL abacus, even if you switch lessons to another program.

We have been through Schoolzone workbooks for K, Saxon Math 1, Hooked on Math addition/subtraction, Math U See Alpha, and now RightStart Math level B. My ds7 is finally learning the math facts with the use of the AL Abacus and the RS games. We were liking MUS, but I found that my ds7 understood the AL Abacus better than he understood the MUS blocks. We were supplementing MUS with the RS games. I could teach him using the MUS blocks and ds7 did not understand to narrate. I would teach him the same concept using the AL Abacus and he could do that problem okay (narration). So I decided to switch to the RS lessons since he understands them better than MUS.

I like that RS includes more than just math facts and clock, which is all that MUS had. They are learning shapes and parallel/perpendicular, money, etc. and I like how gently they are taught. We do still have the MUS blocks and Songs CD. I prefer using the blocks to teach place value with our decimal street posterboard. But I use the RS place value cards with that. We listen to the Songs CD in the van once a week for skip counting. We will go back to MUS once we get through all of the RS lesson levels.

I think it depends on the child if they should switch or not. My dd5 has been tagging along with her older brother this whole time and she know a lot of math – very advanced for her age. I think she could use any math program and excel with it. But my ds7 struggles with math and I have to find what he understands and use that. I have to plan more time to teach him and play more math games with him. I have to go over the lesson again sometimes until he understands it. I don’t move on until he understands. So we might spend a few days on one lesson and the games. But I am glad to know that he is understanding it and finally learning his math facts!

I pray you make the right decision based on your child’s needs. But I do want to encourage you to keep going with RS a bit longer, but changing your schedule a little. I have to read the lesson the night before after the kids are in bed. It is quiet then and I can read right through fairly quickly and get any manipulatives out that I might need. Then I feel confident to teach it the next morning.

Sometimes we play the games later in the afternoon. Both kids play with me and I help my younger. They have so much fun that many times they ask to play another one. We do the lesson for 15-20 minutes and then play a math game for 15 minutes at a later time. If the lesson was shorter, we go ahead and play a math game then.

My suggestion for you is to read the math lesson the night before when it is quiet(or early in the AM if you are a morning person) and get out the manipulatives to be used. Have the 12 year old play the math games with them each afternoon as part of her tutoring. You can give her the kit and have her read the directions on how to play the game. She won’t have to read this every day since they will play the same games over and over (mixing them up) for months as review and part of learning the math facts.

I haven’t found that I’ve had to cut out very much cards, etc. There are matching cards, dot cards, squares and triangles. I looked ahead in the appendix and copied them on colored cardstock all at once and cut them out and put in sandwich bags so they are ready to go when we need them. There were only a few of these and they are used for multiple lessons. A little teacher prep all at once goes a long way for you each week.

What are you thinking of switching to? Are you thinking of using the KUMON books only? You could still play the RS math games with other programs. What sold me on the RS was the AL abacus; not just any abacus. I love how it works in groups of fives and tens, just like the fingers and toes that G-d gave us. But it did take a while for my ds7 to stop counting the beads and *know* that 5 blue and 4 yellow is 9 total. Once they understand that, it is much easier. We played those matching games for months to learn this. Whereas MUS works at learning by addend (+1, +2, +9, +8, doubles, etc.) RS works more by sum (=10, =5, then +1, +2, etc.) because of the base 10 system we have. My ds7 is very visual and can picture the AL abacus in his mind.

Sorry to go on and on so much. I do hope you find what works for your dc and you are not a bad mommy for switching to find what works. Look how many math programs we’ve gone through before finding the right one for us. 🙂 PM me if you have any more questions. I am happy to help.

I also think it might be worth trying to push through RS – take things slowly and don’t worry about the Level you wish you were at.  Playing games is key (which I suspect we don’t do enough of).

Level B can take more than a year…  Level C is considered the level that takes the longest, with a year and a half being common, and 2 years happening for some students…. but they also say that it really sets a strong foundation.

btw – we do math for 30 minutes a day with my 8 and 6yo (who are at the same level).   I set a timer.  We generally get through the lesson in that time – if not we continue it the next day…. if we finish the lesson before the 30 minutes are over, we play a math game for the rest of the time.   My kids always want to do math first…..