Right Start Math Games Used as Supplement?

I don’t, but the RS math games would be a good supplement to any math program…  (we use RS)

They are organized into broad sections 

Number Sense

Addition

Clocks

Multiplication

Money

Subtraction

Division

Fractions

And within a section, the games go from basic skills to more advanced… so you could in theory play the games in order to slowly work on a skill.   

The later versions include a DVD showing some of the games being played – although I think they are all available on Youtube if you get a used copy of the book without the DVD.

Hey Alicia

No, I have never tried MUS.

I did use the MEP free (UK based) program for a while with my 2 oldest… The oldest did Year 1 and 1/2 way through Year 2… and the next did Reception (Kindergarten) and most of Year 1 (or maybe even all of year 1?)

I switched because I was having problems helping him with adding/subtracting where you “cross 10’s” (Ie, when there was trading/borrowing…) and didn’t know how to proceed.

I chose RS because it was very highly recommended on Milestones Academy, and on here.  At the time I was thinking of switching, there was a mom on here that was professionally involved with math (I forget what exactly) and also tutored math.  She ended up doing a number of posts on why she personally felt that RS was her math program preference.    I looked at the samples on the website, and was pleased to see the way that math is done – and that it actually works well with the way that I do math.  The ways to use the abacus (the main manipulative) is just ingeneous.   The main problem is the expense… but I was fortunate to have Book Samaritan supply me with what was needed.

RS is time consuming in that you teach each lesson with them, each day.  There isn’t a lot of preperation – there is occasionally a bit for Level A and B (and that is greatly reduced if you buy the appendixes, where they did all the copying for you).    Sometimes I just use a timer.  (I go in and out of doing that…) – So I set the timer for the amount of time I want to do math with them – say 20 minutes.  If the timer goes off before we are done (and there is more than say 5 minutes of work left) we just stop and start there the next day.  Or if we are done the lesson and there is more than a few minutes left on the timer, we play a quick math game.     Right now I’m doing Level B with my 5yo, and Level C with my 7 and 9yo’s – they are at the same point.  I have occasionally had to do math seperately with all 3…. and it is doable.

Is your 3rd just starting in A or B?  I think I’d do their new 2nd Edition if I was just starting.  The 1st Edition (which I’m using) has a few places where there are “walls” that some people hit – where it seems you need to sit on a lesson for a while (playing games etc) because the student just isn’t getting it…. and then after a while they get it and are going along just fine.  I suspect that the 2nd edition will have done what they can to get rid of those spots.  (We are in one right now, and it is very frustrating.)  I understand the lessons use the manipulatives a lot more.  It also looks like there will be an additional level… it will be Levels A-F and then Geometry (nicknamed Level G) whereas right now it is Levels A-E, G.   Some of the current levels tend to take a year and a half for most families – so the new level should break things up a bit more and cause less stress for the people that want to do a book a year.  (I am one of those people…. I know that I need to teach the child, not the curriculum…. but I still wish to do a level a year… lol.)

One thing to be aware of is MUS is a mastery based program – but RS would be called a Spiral program.  So far I’ve done kids in Level A, Level B, and 1/2 way through level C.   There is a LOT of review at the start of a level.  (which you can zoom through quickly if not really needed…)