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Right Start games
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We have been doing Math U See so far and am pretty happy w/that.
We are just having an issue w/my 8 year old memorising math facts.
I am thinking to impliment w/math games and possibly songs.
Anyone using Right Start, is it worth it to get all the cards and the game package or are there things I can do without, making myself (which is what I have been doing w/flash cards)?
I feel it is pointless to keep going forward until he gets those down, it is probably a question of time but I would like to do something in the mean time..
thanks
Steph
We have been using these games. In fact, we switched from MUS to RS because my ds7 who struggles a bit with math seemed to understand the AL Abacus better than the MUS blocks, but we still use the MUS blocks to show place value, along with the RS place value cards.
I can tell that my ds is finally learning the math facts, but I know that is a difficult task for most children, as there have been numerous posts on this forum on this topic. What works for one child may not work for another. It takes lots of meaningful repetition. The author is against the use of flashcards because there is nothing meaningful to it. She says that the only ones who like flashcards are the students who already know the facts (thus getting them right). She also says that games to math are like books to reading, or something to that effect.
So far, we mostly use the addition cards (green), but have also used the multiplication cards (blue) as well (as explained below) and we have the math games book that came with the set. There are many more games in the book to play. I know there are also games on subtraction, multiplication, division and time. But so far, we have been working on addition until that is mastered. The cards are nice and laminated. You could make your own, but I don’t think they would be as nice or last as long. You could use a regular deck of cards, but I think the shapes of hearts, diamonds, clubs, etc. would be distracting.
Really, I think you are paying for the book which explains how to play many math games based on topic. So you can throw in the right game with the lesson from MUS. There are also even/odd games in there that fits nicely with +2, if that is the MUS lesson you are on. We don’t play those games as much now that ds knows them.
The games that have been most helpful to him so far are:
1.”Go to the Dump” which is played similar to Go Fish – asking the other player for the “match” to make a sum of 10. So if I have a 6 in my hand, I would say, “petitemom, do you have a 4?” If you do, you give it to me and I lay down my matching pair and ask you for a 2 (to go with my 8). If you don’t have it, I draw a card and my turn is over. This is on the dvd that comes with the math games book, and I’ve seen it on You Tube before I made the decision to buy the set.
2. doubles matching. This goes along with the MUS doubles lesson. You use two of the same cards of addition cards and one of the multiplication card for the sum and lay them down to play a matching game. If you turn over 2 green cards that are 8 and 8, you would be looking for the 16 on the blue card to make a match.
In conclusion, I do recommend the full set of RS math games, if you have the money. But I also think it would be helpful to play any kind of game which uses numbers and strategy, like games with dice, numbered cards, and dominoes. Shut the Box is another game we like for addition/subtraction.
The corners game with RS is really good once they get to that point – and you need their special cards to do it. If you can swing it, I’d get the game book and the cards….
thank you both. I think I’ll give it a try. I can’t help but think that if he was in public school he would probably have to move along not knowing his multiplications and basicaly waste his time for a couple of years or so.
Playing games sounds much better to me!!
Another vote for the Right Start kit here! We are also using the RightStart game kit along with Math Mammoth. Even though the full kit with all the cards is kind of pricy (I think I paid $50 on Rainbow Resource), it has games in there to cover just about every elementary math concept possible, so we will continue to use it for years and years to come – 6 years worth of elementary math for 3 kids in our family. You could probably find similar free game ideas by hunting around online, but the time savings was worth the $50 to me, especially when you divide that $50 over the number of years we will use the kit. My dd6 really enjoys the games, and she also seems to do well using the abacus as our main manipulative when doing worksheet type math.
FWIW,
Jen
Do any of the RS games address/practice skip counting by 2’s and 5’s? We’re using MUS and love it, but count by seems to be a problem area for our ds.
Thanks,
Melissa
Melissa, from skimming through my games book, I see that they practice adding 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 by doing their own scoring with the corners game. I also see a “corners three” game and a “corners four” game where players practice the facts that are multiples of 3, and 4.
As for skip counting by 2’s, I see that as the same thing as +2 and counting by evens, counting by odds. There are several games on that.
Also, this book covers money and fractions and the kit has cards to go with those; we just haven’t gotten there yet.
We have made more cards than what the kit comes with for early math skills. The appendix has these cards and I photocopied them on card stock. The cards are not used as long as the kit cards would be used, so by the time the card stock is worn out, you’d be finished with those games. There are dot cards there to help in identifying odd or even and skip counting by 2 to 10.
The other appendix cards are for number identification without having to count. There are three sets which you pick 2 sets to play matching game. They use fingers, tally sticks, and AL Abacus beads on those cards. The child should be able to identify the number without counting up to 5 and then know that 5 and 1 is 6…5 and 4 is 9, etc. without counting to 9.
Also, the jr. abacus that comes in the kit is really small. Since we are using the lesson books as well, I have a standard abacus for each of my kids. We use the jr. abacus if we are traveling and want to bring along a math game. My dd5 has used the jr. abacus to “teach” her baby dolls math.
We are former MUS users now using RS Level B. MUS had its good points, but quickly lost its appeal for my 6yr old. It lost its appeal because we were doing the same things over and over. I was trying to avoid using a program that focused alot of attention on memorizing, yet I found myself buying flashcards. Yuck!!! When we are finished with all the Levels of RightStart Math we will probably go back to MUS for Higher Math. Like I said, it does have good points. As for Right Start Math, we love it and I highly recommend it!!! All the “memorization work” is done through games and songs. You can’t really call it math Drills. It’s to much fun!!! At first I wasn’t sure how the math facts would be learned without any drilling. Each day we follow the lesson given. If I don’t feel that my dd understands we will work on that lesson again or play that game again!!! Without having “drilled” at all this year she pretty much knows her addition and subtraction facts. She uses them on a daily basis. We just don’t call them “facts”!!! For instance, we had friends over for pizza. There were 5 people and only three slices of pizza left. My dd chimed in and let us know that if we divide each piece in half and each had a piece there would still be one piece left. She used Division, Subtraction and Fractions, all of which we haven’t really taught yet.
We are half way through RS Math Level B and we are working on Place Value to 1,000, carrying, and we use counting by 2’s, 5’s and tens on a daily basis in our lessons, not just drilling them!!!
Glad I chose to try Right Start Math based on the SCMason Recommendation!!!! Thank You!!!!
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