Right Start Math

We started a new math curriculum at the beginning of 2009. We will have to push through summer to complete it but I had to save up the money first and I wanted to be REALLY sure that this is what I wanted. I bought RightStart Mathematics for Caleb and I have been very, very happy with how it has turned out. There are many things that I like about this curriculum. It was developed by Dr. Joan Cotter who has a background in engineering, math education and also Montessori! Here are the reasons why I think this curriculum is top notch:

1. One of the points behind the program is to get kids to look at math like it is taught in China and Japan. To this end, RightStart uses a great deal of work with the abacus and also teaches counting in a different way (2-ten instead of twenty).

2. There has been a heavy focus on looking at quantities as groups of five or ten instead of individually to increase ease with mental math. (WOW!)

3. I have been really impressed with the emphasis on mental math but the thing that I love, love, love about RightStart is that the workbook pages have just enough problems to get the point across instead of row upon row upon row of problems. Why do we think that working 30 problems instead of 5 will do anything but make a kid hate math?

4. GAMES! There are many games included in this curriculum and even an instructional DVD to demonstrate. RightStart quote: "Games are as important to math as books are to reading."

5. Caleb is challenged to think. The workbook pages include a great deal of variety and some lessons don't have a workbook page at all. The emphasis is on the concept learned and not a product at the end (worksheet).

I will be attending a homeschool conference in a few weeks and Rightstart Math will be a presenter there. I hope to sit in on a session and maybe get more ideas on how to get the most out of this program. You can check out Right Start here.