When I started homeschooling my son, I did not have any experience whatsoever homeschooling. I started checking videos on YouTube about curriculums and came across some videos about a curriculum and how this math was advanced and how homeschoolers in the US were drawn to it as it is one of the highest rated countries in Math.
Soon after watching those videos I went to that curriculum’s website and initially it took me a long time to decide which program to go with as they had (have) different editions, US edition, Standard edition, and also a 2022 edition (which is the one I ended up purchasing). On top of that they also have home education edition and school edition on the instructor’s guide. (I bought both). In addition to the four instructor’s guide I bought (for only one year, as I bought the homeschool edition as well as the classroom edition and the student workbooks, I also bought yet another curriculum as well as another workbook. I ended up spending on our math curriculum over two-hundred dollars, not including manipulatives just for a one year program.
Unfortunately, it did not work for us. First I was trying to use both the homeschool and the classroom instructor’s edition as each guide had variations in how they presented the problems to the child. At least for me, understanding the scope and sequence was not as clear. But what did feel strange was that doing math with my son did not feel exciting and I could see that in my child. I was also bored out of my mind.
Then, I came across a YouTube video about RightStart and I don’t know how, but I just knew I had to get that program. Even though I had spent a lot of money on the other curriculum, and we were on a budget, I understood that finding the right curriculum for my child (children now) was a top priority. Unfortunately because I had spent so much money on the first one, I was trying to still use it and in the process I delayed my son from just doing RightStart Math from the beginning and RightStart Math only. But as my son played the games, used the Al Abacus, and did the activities, my number sense started to make sense. Not only was my son learning with RSM, I was learning too. This was amazing and I said to myself “If I would have been taught math this way when I was a kid, I would have been a genius.” I stopped using the other program and just focused on RM. I started my son on level A (which is the level K with a lot of 1st grade and some 2nd grade). I had my son take the State Exam here in Florida and he scored above average on first grade USING RIGHTSTART MATH LEVEL A. My son’s favorite subject is math. Level A always felt easy for him but it’s easy because the child sees the math. He sees the numbers on the Abacus which has two simple colors to show the 5s. The place value cards are another hit. My son can read high numbers because he sees the 1s, the 10s, the 100s and he also sees the 1000s and it’s just genius that he doesn’t even have to write it because it’s already there. I think this is genius because not having to write these high numbers (for little kids) allows the child to focus his attention and energy on understanding the number. The writing process is not a natural process. It takes a lot of mental energy and effort (and of course every child is different, hence it varies), but focusing on understanding math at a deep level with the manipulatives and without having to do so much writing is genius. It is so genius that I wish I could have found or known about this program when my child was younger because this program (due to the way it is designed) can be done by very young kids (since they don’t have to do much writing when those fine finger-motor skills are not yet developed). RightStart is the math program I wish I had. My love for mathematics had long been gone and I even thought I was not good at math. I will never say that again. My love for math came back with this program and that is very important because I enjoy doing math with my kids. I already bought RightStart Levels B, C and D and I was going to skip B, but I’m deciding that I will not skip it, we may just go on this level faster (we’ll see), but the truth is that I want my children to learn math and not just check a box that something was done, and this skills build upon one another. I am so grateful for this program. Thank you for RightStart Math for creating a program that is a blessing to children, parents and the world. What a legacy — Thank you. Thank you again.
