Right Start Math {Curriculum Review}

As I began to write my review of Right Start Math curriculum, now over 150 lessons into teaching my 6 and 4 year olds, it began to read like a Rags to Riches story! I’m a librarian with an undergraduate degree in English. Math is not my thing. I made it through college Calc I but definitely by virtue of a kind professor’s remedial instruction during office hours! When I turned my attention to choosing a math curriculum for our homeschool, I did what I do best… I researched. I spoke to math teacher friends and read about math education theory; I read scads of reviews of various curricula. I settled on Right Start Math and lo and behold…

Math has become my favorite subject to teach!

Perhaps it’s become a favorite because I’m learning so much myself and conquering some of my fear of the subject! My own mental math skills have already improved and I’ve had so many “ah-ha” moments where I’ve come to understand the foundations of mathematical thinking. I promised a review of our “new” math curriculum in my post about our PreK year. Rather, I’m sharing our experience almost two years later at the completion of Level A, my son’s Kindergarten year. I’m also 50 lessons in with my second born, who is 4.5 and truly loves numbers! (At a family picnic this month he cornered anyone who would listen and shared how he could count to 100. #partyanimal)

In this post, I will share MY experience implementing the curriculum. As I said, I’m not a trained or certified math teacher so I won’t evaluate it for theory. You might be interested in reading these links for more of that background.

I must add, I signed up to be an affiliate after purchasing my own materials and using them for almost two years, then coming to find I loved the program. If you choose to purchase through my links, I receive a small commission.

Being the Teacher:

Right Start is easy to each! I personally do not prep AT ALL before lesson time. I love that each lesson is spread over two pages (and only two pages!). It’s easy on the eyes and the brain.

The structure remains the same with basic materials that need to be gathered, a warm up/review, new teaching content (with a sidebar of teacher notes if applicable), and closing/review. For me, it has been 100% “open and go.” I’ve heard that some prefer to understand the methodology before jumping in to a lesson. I could see spending a few minutes per week reading through the lessons to be mentally prepared since it may be different than the way you were taught math yourself. The lessons are scripted (and include all answers!). I like having that structure for myself, and I do think you could off-road more than I feel comfortable doing.

Here’s a sample lesson, from just about smack dab in the middle of level A, Introducing multiplication (the same one that’s pictured above from the teacher’s manual, lesson 59). After a warm up/review which included singing a few songs, the teacher introduces the concept of multiplication using the abacus by entering 6 beads three times (on three rows). Then, the child uses the previously taught strategy of “take and give” to determine that 18 beads have been entered (essentially trading where the beads are to organize them into a row of 10 and a row of 8). The teacher writes the equation (equations have been previously taught). Then, the math balance is used to reinforce the equation, placing three weights on the 6 peg, and balancing it on the other side with one weight on the 10 peg and one on the 8. The child then builds number using place value cards to reinforce one 10 and 8 ones make 18. The same procedure is followed with several more examples before inviting the child to create their own equations, with an option to record them in the math journal (we skipped that). Two concluding question wrap up and help assess understanding. The end! This is a very typical lesson.

Being the Student:

1. 1. My kids enjoy how hands-on it is! We’re using so many fun manipulatives in every lesson that keep them engaged. When I unboxed the kit, I was so excited to see how it would all be used. I am STILL pretty in awe of the math balance and the AL abacus (grouped in 5s and 10s to encourage quantity recognition and visualization… we haven’t even gotten to the flip side for trading and more advanced skills).

      

   2. Worksheets are few and far between. My boys don’t like to write. They’re lefties (send help!) and writing is difficult. Numbers are trickier still. It’s such a relief that this curriculum doesn’t require very much writing at all. I’ve skipped some of the parts of early lessons that teach writing numbers until they’re developmentally ready. There’s also no reading required. In Level A there were 46 worksheets over 132 lessons. These typically required lines or tally marks to be drawn, lines to represent time on a clock, numbers to complete equations, or pieces to be cut out and manipulated such as fractal outlines and shapes to fold to show symmetry (I did the cutting for most); see photos below for a few examples. You certainly could use this curriculum as your handwriting instruction for number formation (it’s taught systematically and follows a song you can download for free on their website).
   3. The games! The Math Card Games book is enormous and offers so many ways to practice concepts in the lessons. (They are scheduled into lessons, and some days are the bulk of that day’s “lesson.”)  For our recent road trip, I grabbed the book along with a couple of decks of cards and we were easily able to practice our math skills with Grandma and Grandpa. I’ve used the games as supplements in my tutoring sessions and it paired beautifully with public school curriculum topics. (That math balance was super impressive, too!)

Hurdles:

1. The biggest hurdle I had when first purchasing was the price of the manipulative kit. With some perspective now, I can say it was worth every penny to support the way the curriculum is designed. I’m also NOW thrilled that I would never have to purchase any additional “things” besides teacher manual/student activity book for subsequent levels (about $90 per year)! IF I ended up using the kit for the six years it spans, you could think of it as $35 per year, which is $210 total if you’d like me to do that math for you 😉 I bought the big kit at the start so we don’t have to worry about budgeting anything beyond that $90 manual/workbook cost each year. You can piecemeal and their customer service team is very helpful in assisting you in going that route (I considered it and they were able to tell me a breakdown of what manipulatives I needed for X amount of lessons).
2. It is teacher intensive. This doesn’t bother me as a mom of two, and particularly for these early years when we’re laying the foundation. If I had a larger tribe to educate, I could see this being difficult to sustain over many years. However, one thing I’ve noticed this year is that my two kids are able to (and enjoy) playing the games together, often with the littler guy on Mom’s team. Our lessons range from about 15 minutes for the early part of Level A to maybe 40 on a long day (I’ll cut lessons in half if I see brain fatigue setting in!). We almost always complete both boys’ lessons within an hour.

Things to Note

• There’s a placement test here.
• There’s a 60 day money back guarantee.
• Some research links are here but even better are the articles on the Teaching Support page, including the program developer’s story- from a Montessori teacher to the creator of RightStart. 
• I found these two articles so interesting, written by a mathematics professor at Stanford; I felt even more convinced of the methodology of Right Start after reading these articles that aren’t related to RSM! I read them based on a math professor’s sharing of the articles, and then said, “Wow! That’s exactly what RSM teaches!” Number Sense: The Most Important Mathematical Concept in 21st Century K-12 Education and All the Mathematical Methods I Learned in my University Math Degree Became Obsolete in My Lifetime.

I sincerely hope this post has been helpful to you if you’re considering Right Start Math, whether for homeschool curriculum, supplementing, or tutoring. We truly love it! As I mentioned, I am an affiliate because I’m a believer in the product; if you purchase through my links, I will receive a small commission. I would love to connect with you, in the comments below, on my Facebook page or Instagram account.