Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Beast Academy for 6 year old?

My ds6 is a conceptually "mathy" kid who is chomping at the bit for more math challenge in K. We are trudging our way through XtraMath so he can memorize his facts....but I don't think this even feels like math to him. He has not had any formal instruction on two -digit addition, multiplication, or even the "places" (one,tens, hundreds) but he can logic his way through a lot of these problems instinctively.

Would the Beast Academy books be too advanced for him? I'm hoping to get him passionate again since the boring "Kindy" math and math facts memorization.

Here's the pre-test. http://www.beastacademy.com/store/products/3A/assessments/Pre.pdf

My 8 yo is doing BA and I would say that the hardest thing about it is sticking with the harder problems. The hard ones are hard -- even for me. Not the math, per se, but it is more like they are logic puzzles. My son sometimes gets fidgety and gives up. From what I understand, part of the BA approach is asking kids to sit and struggle with tough problems. It is less about finding the right answer.

Dreambox.com might be worth exploring. We have used it for years and I find it quite conceptual. It is pretty good at finding a kid's level and continuing to present material that is right at their learning edge. Both my kids find that there is a bit too much repetition needed, but on balance I have been happy with it.

Thank you!

...and NOPE, I can see we need more work before he's ready!

Just checked out Dreambox...it looks pretty interesting and definitely not too pricey. Thanks for the suggestion

My ds5 is required to do xtramath for school and hates it. Per a suggestion here, he also has been using Timez Attack- more video game like for add/ subtract, multiply, and divide. He definitely likes more puzzle type stuff, but the game makes the "boring" math bearable.

where did you see the pricing info? I keep looking all over that site and can't find it!

nevermind ... just finally found the pricing!

Yeah...they hid it well. Was about $13/month if others are interested. Off yo check out Times Attack.

I think the biggest problem with xtramath is typing skills for young ones. Our 10 key doesn't work on the site, and ds gets so stressed about typing in the numbers. For fun, we did what the first grade at our school does called the "mad math minute" where students have one minute to figure a set of addition/subtraction/multiplication facts. DS aced addition math facts 1-4 with pencil and paper.

Maybe the good old days of flashcards and worksheets aren't so bad.

A few very random notes:

xtramath works really well on iPad if that's a possibility for anyone. I use it with a student I teach/tutor and he wildly prefers it to using the computer (we don't have a 10-key pad).

Also, the Homeschool Buyers Co-Op has a Dreambox offer up right now; I think it's one of their more common offers. I've never done anything through them, so I don't know much more, but here's the linky (warning: loud video starts playing automatically): https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/dreambox-learning/?c=1

I know that when you sign up for the co-op, you have to affirm that you're a homeschooler. Not sure if their definition of homeschooler includes "part-time homeschooling" or "afterschooling," or if it really matters, but... yeah.