Khara, Oklahoma
Thank you Right Start! This morning my 4th grade daughter said, "I understand math now! Before, I just thought that a number was a number. I didn't see that the number stood for something. I didn't think of dots or an abacus or anything. I didn't really know anything about math except that I was getting good grades." This is the truth. She received good grades through 2nd grade, but had no idea how the numbers worked together. This caught up with her. By 3rd grade, the problems were getting too complicated for her. She was overwhelmed with no support of understanding to fall back on. Right Start Mathematics has made all the difference. We had to go back to the beginning and basically start from scratch to form a secure foundation, but now that she understands, we are flying through.Erin Hill
We saw Right Start Math at the ND Homeschool convention just a week ago. My daughter spent at least 2 hours at the booth playing with the manipulatives. She is 6.5 and was having trouble with basic math concepts. We attended the vendor seminar with Valerie and my daughter grasped the concepts immediately. We ordered Level B. It came today. Both kids are in the living room playing with the manipulatives. They LOVE it! We're so excited to get started!Jana Owens
My daughter is 7 and this is our 2nd year to use RightStart Math. She is in 2nd grade and is adding and subtracting 4 digits numbers with trading like it is nothing. She also can do her multiplications. The most amazing thing is that when she is somewhere and has to spend her money she is quick to tell them how much change she needs back. I have seen a lot of teenagers and adults who cannot do this. THANK YOU!!! Ready to see what next year's Level D has for us.Candace Webb
I love this program! This is THE BEST math program available. I have looked at many other programs and even used one before I learned of RightStart. I have a BSEE and an MBA and my husband has a BSEE. My 7yo daughter was saying, "I hate math," and crying every day with another program. It broke my heart. I come in contact with adults all the time that say they aren't good at math and didn't do well in math in school. I could not let this happen to my daughter with two engineers for parents. A friend in another state introduced me to RightStart the second month of my daughter's 2nd grade year. I searched the web about it and bought it the same day I learned about it. Over night my daughter went from, "I hate math," to "I love math." She still says that as a 5th grader in level E. In fact, I was searching out what we do next and she said, "I love RightStart, don't take away my RightStart." I had to explain to her that after the Geometric Approach there is no RightStart, but we will certainly be moving to VideoText. Her 6yo brother loves RightStart too. He started in Level A, where she started in Level B. I am so glad I got to start him in A, as it was so much fun for him at 4 and 5 years of age. I love the fact that math is fun to my kids. It is the one subject that builds on itself year after year and it's just another language, the language of numbers. My kids don't see numbers as scary at all and they enjoy every piece of every lesson. I always loved math, but I would have loved it even more had it been presented this way. I wish I could teach every adult I come across this method so they would all know that they too can do math and understand it, but the way they were taught was just not the best method. Hands down, this is the best method. I can't imagine using anything else!DJ Porter – Mom to happy little mathematicians
My 2 boys are learning math SO well (and so am I – even after having taught elementary math for 6 years in the public schools too!), and both say that math is their favorite subject. It’s 3 dimensional, visual, intriguing, fun, and it works! I highly recommend it to all my home schooling friends.Mary Zelinski, WI
I have been/am home schooling my seven children using a eclectic approach that was only strengthened by the finding of your program. My last four have been blessed by Right Start Math. Wanted to share that my husband is an engineer with Harley-Davidson and a degree from the UW system and that at least three more are/will study engineering. They are also all Suzuki violinists. I've felt a connection with you since reading your materials and of your background and have wanted to thank you for the program.What finally spurred me to do so was a comment by my high school senior. His six year old brother was dividing fractions in conversation when the 18 year-old said, "How come I didn't use that math program? I got the Wrong Start."
Thank you for sharing such a unique and logical program.
Elizabeth Bogh, WA
I'm a homeschooling parent to a 6 year old 1st grader. We started Level A last year for Kindergarten a couple of months before she turned 5 and started Level B this past September. We're currently somewhere around lesson 80 and I am simply amazed at my daughter's math skills. She wows everyone by adding any two 2-digit numbers you give her in her head...numbers like 89+94 or 73+68. It's AMAZING! She's 6! I can't believe she can add numbers like that in her head. My husband said tonight that he was completely shocked at how well she's doing with math. I told him RightStart works! When we started Level A last year she didn't even know what "addition" was and wasn't able to add any numbers together...now look at her.Thanks so much for such a great product. I recommend it to all the homeschooling parents that I know. We've switched around with various curriculum for every other subject but I doubt we'll ever switch to a different math curriculum. We're so very pleased with it and I just wanted to let you know.
Oh, by the way, before we started Kindergarten I was pretty set on Singapore Math, but then saw you guys at the homeschool convention in Puyallup, WA and someone at your booth sold me on RightStart and I bought it right then and there. So glad I stopped by your booth!
Melissa Furnell, AR
Seriously must say GOD BLESS YOU for posting the Fractions webinar. I had to miss part of it, and I am so thankful to see it up and available. I cannot tell you what a difference these make for me as an instructor to my boys. I was a public school teacher before homeschooling my children. However, teaching them math the RS way was so different from the way I learned and the way I had taught in the school system. I knew this was a better method/approach for my children and for me. So, to have the support of the webinars is a huge blessing! It's the best "In-service" I've ever invested my time in!Robin Woodfin, South Carolina
Right Start is ideal for young gifted children who want to learn mathematical concepts early but feel limited by their fine-motor skills. It accomplishes this by teaching through games and meaningful manipulatives thereby internalizing concepts rather than resorting to repetitive written exercises.The color-coded abacus teaches number sense much more effectively than cuisenaire rods because the colors carry meaning. The abacus also teaches the concept of the place values.
Right Start extends mathematical concepts to other areas of life to help children understand the importance of math outside the classroom. Examples include rounding gasoline prices, exposure to taxes, and applying fractions to musical notes.
The individual practices are sufficient but not overly repetitive.
GREAT product!!! Worth every penny! We loooove this program!
Daneale Williams, OH
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love your program. My daughter did not do Level A but has completed Level B and almost all of Level C. We absolutely love this curriculum. Her addition and subtraction are effortless and she does these things better than most kids older than her. In addition, while she doesn't fully have all of her multiplication table down pat yet, I am sure she will by the end of the year. She loves the games and begs to do math first every day. Math is her favorite subject!And my son is in Kindergarten this year. We started with Level A but he had some trouble in every subject as he had not yet commit to the idea of "learning" as a whole. He has now committed to learning and is flying right through his math lessons too. I do love each of the Levels so far and can't recommend this curriculum highly enough. Any child that excels in math will soar with this curriculum. Any child that struggles will gain much confidence and understanding and will struggle no more. This curriculum is so fun for my kids and they have learned so much that I would never switch.
I will say thought -one thing I would love to see is a summer curriculum - kind of a bridging the gap from one level to the next. I work part time from home and homeschool 3 kids. I find my time is fairly limited to doing a significant amount of planning. Last year, I copied all of the practice sheets in the back through out the year and then over the summer had my daughter physically write in the book and complete them. In addition, we randomly would select a game or two each week to play. But I wasn't as consistent with my schedule as I would have like because I found I didn't have near the amount of time to do much planning. If you ever come up with a program for kids to do over the summer - just to keep their memories fresh - hands down, I would buy it. I hate how much information my kids lose over the summer and would like to have them do a light summer schedule from here on out.
Sami Winners, TX
I homeschool five of my children. Each one of them is excelling in this math program. When I pulled them from public school, one had been held back and one is dyslexic. Two of them are now ahead of their "grade" levels. The manipulatives help my dyslexic child visualize the concepts. I love the way the program teaches them to think about numbers. The games enable them to grasp the concepts while enjoying the practice. The younger ones can play the same games the older ones are playing, simply by allowing them to use the abacus. I am amazed and astonished at how much they are learning and how quickly they understand the concepts. I would highly recommend this program to everyone. I bought all of the manipulatives and are finding them a great help.Jennifer Wills
I am a homeschool mom to my son, age 6, and we just started RightStart Math Level B and we love it!!! Yesterday was our first day and in his prayer at dinner time he gave thanks for mama getting his new math because it is so fun. Your program excites me not only as a homeschool mom, but as a mom with a B.S. degree in Early Childhood Education. This program just fits...it’s soo exciting! Even my almost 2 1/2 year old is interested in what we are doing. He is listening and trying to do “Yellow is the Sun” with us and today sat at the table with his tally sticks and was making his own tally marks like we were doing. Amazing.Thank you for all your hard work and research into this program! I will recommend it any chance I get.
Kim, CO
I never learned to subtract left to right until I taught my son the method from RightStart. I have to say that I love it and I think it's brilliant. What better and faster way than moving slowly one digit at a time from right to left (with the crossing out and trading, etc.)! My 10 yr old son can subtract faster than his father, who is still stuck on the old-fashioned way.Michelle Haaksma
I thank you for writing the AL Abacus program. Our daughter, who was already doing well in the math program we had last year, really likes the abacus, and now understands the math she was doing in her previous work. Our son is doing well also, and the abacus provides a ready manipulative that is so natural - flowing so easily from the finger counting. I'm glad you spend the time developing the base ten concept.I have a degree in math. I have always enjoyed math, to me it has always been so logical and natural. I really want to develop a love for math in my children, too. With your program I have already seen in my daughter the "ah-hah, I get it!", light bulb going on, repeatedly. That's what makes teaching and learning so much fun. Thank you.
Kim Williams, Fairbanks AK
My 8 year old can add and subtract 2 and 3 digit numbers in his head more quickly than his 15 year old sister, who didn't learn your strategies in grade school. I am also delighted at how quickly and naturally he has grasped multiplication, division and fractions this year -- it is truly amazing. As your presentation of the concepts is so logical and understandable, he sometimes anticipates the next lesson. My own mathematical skills have improved as I have employed your strategies also!Maryah
I LOVE RightStart Mathematics. It completey surpasses ALL of my expectations for a math program. My son is learning so much and UNDERSTANDING it! I could not be happier that I tried it. I had serious reservations about trying the program because everyone I know use other math programs and all of the things I was telling them about RightStart they claimed were in these programs. But Mrs. Ruiz's kids sold me on the program. Listening to those two boys do math at the booth convinced me that something had to be different than others, because none of my friends kids could do that! That was last year, now it is a year later and we have finished Level A and are starting Level B. We are so pleased with the program, and two of my friends are switching to RightStart! :)Kelli, Spring Hill, FL
I took my son out of public school at the end of January of this year. We finished his “school year” at home and it was awful. He hated the worksheets, and it just became something I dreaded. We just began our new school year, and yesterday I began program B. He instantly started to complain as soon as I told him we were going to do math. However, after singing the song and using his lego men for the dolls, he had nothing bad to say. Today I started his lessons and as I was moving on to history/geography, can you guess what my son said? “Mom, can we do math first?” I couldn’t believe it. He was so excited about math. I knew I had chosen the right program, but he confirmed it hands down!!!!THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Griselda Buongiorne
I am a homeschooler up in the Alaskan bush. I am teaching my Down Syndrome 11 yo son math with Right Start math. I heard about your program through another mother with a DS child who was having success using it. I will confess that I have always found math to be a difficult subject, probably because I did not have it taught to me via the right avenues.I find your program easy to understand if different from what I have ever seen before. The use of the abacus, finger counting, tally sticks etc. are a novel idea and something my son caught on to immediately. I do find I have to really prepare and read quite extensively before I present a concept to him, one cannot "fly blind" with this program, which is probably true with any method but this one has a unique perspective and I am hoping that by the end of it we will both have learned some good math tools. We started last summer since we take no breaks except for trips and week ends, and are now on lesson 18, we are going into the partitioning lessons. He is finding these a bit abstract but I think that on the whole he is grasping it. My hope is that he will be able to apply these concepts to his everyday activities in time.
Thankyou for your unique perspective and the thought and insight you have put into this method.
Christina Kennedy, Stow, MA
RightStart™ Math has been a lifesaver for my family! My son is a visual-spatial learner and this is the only program that has laid everything out for him in a manner he could easily comprehend. He is flourishing and enjoying math these days—something I thought I would never see! We plan to continue with RightStart all the way through Geometry and then we will be on to VideoText Algebra in the not-too-distant future.Collette Bianchi
Math is the one subject my family has always struggled with. Even though I understand math just fine, I have a difficult time teaching and explaining it, and we have never enjoyed this aspect of our homeschooling. However, this all changed when we began using your program this year. I feel equipped and confident in teaching math to my children (we purchased the program for my second grader, but my pre-schooler has picked up quite a bit by sitting in our our lessons!), and math time has become something that we look forward to doing. Even my 5th grade son likes to "listen in" and join some of the games. Many of the concepts I'm teaching to my 2nd grader have trickled over into his lessons & have helped him understand some things better.I am a very satisfied customer, and just want to let you know how much I appreciate your product. I have written up a review of your curriculum on my homeschooling blog, located at The Art of Being Mama. (http://artmama.blogspot.com)
Thank you again for making available such an excellent curriculum, and for making it possible for homeschooling moms like me to be successful in teaching math.
1LT Roland D. Lambe
Thank you for developing this wonderful math program. My son could not stand to do his math work last year, it was all worksheets. I thought back to what interested me in math as a child and it was not book work. When I saw your program at the Winston-Salem home school fair I know this was exactly what he needed. It worked, it went from being the most stressful thing for my wife to teach him to being his favorite subject.Aleisha
My son Andrew was doing another math program last year and absolutely hated it. This year is an entirely different story! Andrew struggles with dyslexia and therefore learning the facts is challenging, but absolutely is thriving with the abacus and the wonderful help of your support staff who help us moms out! Using the white board instead of paper during the “lesson” times also cuts down on the frustration of writing for him somehow.I am thrilled with your curriculum and look forward to using the other books.
Dawn Farris, Elmer, NJ
We bought your program at the New Jersey ENOCH convention in May 2010. I knew it was the right program for us when my son wouldn't stop playing with all the manipulatives. The saleswoman was wonderful (I can't say enough good things about her) and taught my son a fraction lesson right on the spot. My 6yo son is starting lesson 30 of level B. I am so happy with this program! I am amazed at how quickly he can grasp a concept using your approach. His math confidence is very high. He would not be so far ahead if it weren't for this program.A big THANK YOU AND GREAT JOB!!
Holly Anderson
Thank you so much for writing a fabulous math program. I pulled my second grade daughter out of public school due to a math deficiency and had to start teaching her math from the beginning at home. Luckily we happened to pick RightStart Math. Three years later, she is excelling in math and although she is just finishing up level D in sixth grade, she has consistently scored at grade level for math on all her standardized tests.I, as her mom and teacher, have filled in my own mathematical gaps and enjoy learning new techniques along the way. Our favorites: the corners game and the two-fives rule.
