Using Rapid Recall w/ Your Curriculum

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Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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  • January 2, 2013 at 5:08 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    For those of you using Rapid Recall, are you using it alongside your current math program or are you using it until you get caught up to your current math program?

    For example, dd 71/2 started RR about 4 weeks ago. She was in MUS Alpha, lesson 26, but we stopped the MUS lesson plan until she got caught up with Alpha. Doing this means I will have to do all of RR’s Addition then all of RR’s Subtraction before she can even finish Alpha. This could take another 2 terms, meaning she would be almost 8 1/2 before we pick Alpha back up and finish it. Am I making sense?

    Also, I feel like ds almost 9 would benefit from RR as well, as I have noticed his facts are getting a bit sloppy and want to stop a bad habit before it starts. He is on lesson 17 in MUS Gamma. Should I stop him where he’s at and do all of RR’s Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication,  then pick back up in Gamma or use them side-by-side? 

    I don’t want to make our math lessons even longer than they already are, and I don’t want to be redundant either.

    Just wondering what others are doing…

    Blessings,

    Lindsey

    January 2, 2013 at 7:50 pm
    missceegee
    Participant

    Lindsey, I used it alone for dd11 for addition and subtraction a few years back because that was holding her up; she knew the concept, but not the facts. For ds8, we just did the RR along side our other curriculum. DS8 is about to start MUS Gamma and already did RR multiplication. He’s just practicing facts (+-/) until it’s time for RR division. 

    IMO, I would have your kids do their MUS and RR. RR can be 100% self directed. All I do is check the speed drill sheet. All sessions of RR together take only 10 minutes. My kids just do their sessions throughout the day, it’s easy enough to fit 2 minutes here or there 5 times a day. FYI, put the audio on their ipods. 

    HTH,

    Christie

    January 2, 2013 at 11:10 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    So Christie, should I proceed with dd’s Alpha lessons even though she’s on subtraction and having difficulty? We have not done any subtraction in RR yet. All of her facts needed work, so I just want to make sure I’m understanding here. As for ds, I’m wondering about starting him in RR multiplication, and maybe going back and doing addition and subtraction later. I know the RR lessons are so short, which I love, but I don’t want to input too much information at once, ya know?

    January 3, 2013 at 1:34 am
    missceegee
    Participant

    Lindsey, maybe you could try what I did with Hope. We stopped everything except RR. She did RR addition and subtraction at the same time. It was only 20 minutes per day and we were done in a 2-3 months. It was worth it. Then she did multiplication and division at the same time. She was 9, I think. She just did a 2 minute session between other subjects and activities. We made sure each session was ten minutes apart from the other. If your daughter is stuck like my dd was, this may do the trick for her.

    HTH,

    Christie

    January 3, 2013 at 1:36 am
    missceegee
    Participant

    For your son, you could do multiplication now and add/sub later. It would work fine.

    January 3, 2013 at 1:50 am
    LindseyD
    Participant

    That makes sense, Christie. I will try that with dd. I just felt like she needed more strength in her addition and subtraction facts before we moved on in Alpha. As for ds, he’s having more difficulty memorizing the multiplication facts. He keeps skip counting by 3 or 5 or 9 to solve his problems rather than just memorizing 9×5=45. I may stop his MUS lessons temporarily and start RR multiplication until I feel comfortable with moving on in MUS. Thank you so much for all your wisdom, as always.

    Lindsey

    January 3, 2013 at 9:00 pm
    simple home
    Member

    Question for you RR ladies. Since RR has helped your kids know their facts, why do MUS Alpha? It seems to me that Alpha mainly teaches the facts of addition and subtraction. I know Alpha does have some story problems, solving the unknown, and shape recognition, but aren’t most lessons just learning the facts?

    Just curious why you do both programs for the younger. I know why you would use the upper levels of MUS with all the extra content needed for the student to master, but not sure of the need for the beginner level.

    Thanks for any input!

    January 3, 2013 at 9:30 pm
    missceegee
    Participant

    Simple Home makes a good point. We came over to MUS from other curricula and I had my dd11 and ds8 go through all of the tests only with a rare review of something if needed (alpha & beta). I did this mainly to intro. them to the way MUS did things. I’ve never gone through an entire Alpha or Beta with MUS. It may simply be redundant. Or, if there are other random things to cover, just pick and choose. 

    Great thinking, simple home.

    January 3, 2013 at 11:33 pm
    simple home
    Member

    Thanks for your reply Christie. I’m wondering if one could just simply do RR for beginners and add in those little extras here and there to solidly cover the very early levels. To me this seems less time consuming and gets the foundation laid for MUS’s later levels.

    So glad to bounce math ideas here, thanks again.

    January 4, 2013 at 2:04 pm
    mrsmccardell
    Participant

    Uh, what is RR?  I tried to google it and didn’t really come up with something obvious (aside from youtube videos and math sites).  Is it a book, website, etc?  I want to slowly introduce math over the next few months.  I can’t decide what makes sense: MUS, Life of Fred, RR?  Any input?  Thanks.

    January 4, 2013 at 2:23 pm
    missceegee
    Participant

    RR is Rapid Recall by Little Giant Steps. It covers math facts only, but is very effective.

    January 5, 2013 at 8:36 pm
    momof3
    Participant

    I hate to butt in here since I’m just asking more questions. I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about this. My 8 year old is having trouble learning his multiplication facts so I am thinking this might be good for him. Can anyone tell me what makes this so special and helpful in learning? Why is it so much better than just flashcards? It is quite expensive and I’ve spent a fortune this year already so I just wanted to ask. I am always willing to do whatever necessary to help make things easier for them though.

    On a side note, I was also scouring the site and saw a lot of other things for younger kids. I have a 5 year old that I feel like I’m failing right now. He recognizes letters and sounds but can’t seem to put the letters together. He is also really struggling with handwriting. He has always hated coloring and I’ve never forced the issue. Now I’m thinking I’ve done him a disservice since he is having such a hard time. We aren’t really doing anything formal with him but I noticed that they have a curriculum put together for younger kids. It isn’t just math so I thought it might be useful in all areas. I don’t know. I’m always doubting myself.

    Anyway, I really didn’t mean to hijack this thread but since I was looking at something to help with facts, I thought this was a good place to ask.

    Thanks.

    January 5, 2013 at 10:36 pm
    missceegee
    Participant

    RR uses all types of learning – visual, auditory & kinesthetic. I found it a few years ago and it was a last ditch effort to help my dd, now 11, learn addition facts. We had tried MANY things with no success. We found immediate success with RR. She learned addition and subtraction at the same time effortlessly. She then learned multiplication and division the same. I use sheet protectors for the worksheets and its reusable within my family that way. RR introduces 5 facts at a time and then adds those to the review for the following week.

    Each day, child does 5-6 two minute sessions, each at least 10 minutes apart.

    Ex.

    1- flash session (either with cards or computer cd-rom; we have computer cd-rom)

    Then a different lesson or chore or … For 10+ minutes

    2- listen session with the audio cd (on computer or kids’ iPod)

    A different lesson or chore for at least 10 minutes

    3- flash session #2 (same as #1)

    10+ minutes of something else

    4- listen & write session (listen to audio and write answer on sheet as it’s said. Child has to find the right problem in the row as it’s being read. One row at a time, but random within the row)

    10+ minutes other activity

    5- speed drill. Not timed, bt they answer as fast as they can

    6- Optional review on cd-rom

    This worked for my dd very well. Ds8 also used it, though he would have been ok with anything. He is on multiplication and soon division.

    My only involvement is to check the speed drill sheet.

    Pricey, yes. Dd who knows her facts and feels confident after many failures, priceless.

    January 6, 2013 at 12:26 am
    LindseyD
    Participant

    @simplehome, I see your point. We started MUS in the very beginning, w/ Primer, when ds was 5 years old. We progressed through the books, until now he is in the middle of Gamma. Naturally, since I already had all the blocks, teacher’s manuals, and thorough knowledge of how to use MUS, that was what we started dd in when she was around 5-6. What I wasn’t expecting was that she was going to have difficulty in memorizing her facts. That was something I hadn’t experienced with ds, and it was frustrating for both dd and me. I’m so thankful Christie explained RR to me and presented it as a simple and realistic option for our math frustrations to be resolved.

    Hindsight is 20/20, so I suppose if I could go back and start all over again with dd, I’d probably begin with RR Addition to give her a solid foundation of her facts. HOWEVER, I don’t regret starting w/ MUS because she has a solid foundation with the concepts MUS uses to teach not only facts, but also skip counting, shapes, word problems, etc. Although two totally separate curricula and concepts, I feel that the two programs compliment each other very well. Where RR does not teach word problems, geometry, money, and other skills, MUS does. And where some children may not get the repetition they need to master their facts using MUS, RR swoops in and saves the day.

    That’s my perspective. I have temporarily stopped all dd’s MUS lessons until she gains mastery of all her basic addition and subtraction facts. Beginning Monday, we will be using RR Addition and Subtraction concurrently. I hope to have her back in Alpha in roughly 12 weeks. I’m going to start ds in RR Multiplication Monday as well and will probably go back and work through RR Add. and Sub. before we start division in MUS, just to be sure his facts are concrete.

    Our day with RR is very similar to Christie’s.

    History/Bible
    listen to audio session
    Copywork
    flashcard session #1
    reading w/ narration
    listen and write session
    speed drill immediately following listen and write
    map study or grammar or whatever we have that day
    flashcard session #2 w/ review of previous facts

    Basically our day is the same as it was before, but the math portion of our day is spread out between our other subjects. Ds does much of his work independently, which is a blessing, because it affords me the time I need to give this one-on-one attention to dd right now. 

    I hope that makes sense!

    Lindsey 

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