callmecordelia2
- Reviewed on Thursday, July 15, 2010
- Grades Used: K-3rd
- Dates used: 2007-2010
Rod and Staff Math is fantastic. Let me preface that by saying that one of the primary websites that sells Rod and Staff Math-- Milestone Ministries (rodandstaffbooks.com) is fantastic. Really wonderful helpful people. That said, Rod and Staff Math does what every Math curriculum needs to do: teach math facts. Once your child understands a math concept, it is absolutely essential that they memorize math facts. Rod and Staff does this in a painless way. There is no way to go on to any higher-level math concept unless one has memorized basic facts. Take fractions, for example, These are usually introduced by second grade, and by third grade students are making equivalent fractions. How can the student do this without a firm grasp of basic multiplication and division facts? Without those facts, each successive math concept will bring tears and frustration. How can your child add one half plus one third if they don't realize that 2 and 3 are both factors of 6 in order to create a common denominator? Many, many math programs leave out adequate drill in math facts. Yes it's boring, but so what? Your child will thank you when all of their future math problems are ten times easier because they've memorized the facts.
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livingthedream
- Reviewed on Friday, June 11, 2010
- Grades Used: 2nd grade
- Dates used: 2010
I resisted Rod and Staff for so long based on the appearance. I'm just sorry it took me so long to come around. I am using their math for my 7 year-old daughter. We used Singapore Math before, which was good if you catch on quick and don't need a lot of review. It just didn't work for my daughter. She was always frustrated. I did flashcards, but she just wasn't mastering anything. She is LOVING R&S math! I am a bit surprised because it has so much review, I thought she would get bored, but she loves feeling competent. On some pages I only have her do every other problem or every other row. She loves the speed drills, so we make the long page of problems speed drills everyday! It's so much like Singapore math. They focus on the "whole" and "parts" of a number; so the way they present the math is really similar. R&S just offers more of a chance to master any new skills before more are presented. I thought my daughter would miss the colorful illustrations, but I was so wrong. She loves the simplicity. I would HIGHLY recommend this. I also am now I huge R&S language arts fan, too. In fact, I am doing My Father's World and using all R&S for the stuff MFW doesn't offer. I tried what they recommended, but I like R&S much better. I think it's a great, gentle combination.
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stack2025
- Reviewed on Tuesday, January 05, 2010
- Grades Used: 3,4,5,6
- Dates used: 2006-2010
I wound up switching both of my children from ABeka to Rod and Staff in the third grade level. The main reason for the switch was because my kids have ADD, and though they loved ABeka in the lower grades because of the colors, they both had trouble with ABeka after grade 2. Once they got into memorizing their times tables they couldn't keep up with ABeka's spiraling method and had to go with a mastering curriculum that didn't progress and flit to more than one thing so quickly.
We found that Rod and Staff's gentler approach without all the colors to distract the kids helped them stay on task. This put a lot less stress on me. The instructions at the beginning of each assignment, from 4th grade and up, are great and the teacher guide lessons are so helpful and laid out so well that even a math moron like me can use them. We did add our own flash cards we bought from another source and bought the blacklines that my daughter used to assist her memorizing multiplication. My son never used the blacklines. And we had to use another source to memorize multiplication (audio and copy work) because we didn't buy the charts from R&S. My kids both love the speed drills and wanted to do them each day rather than every other day. So we just used them twice.
I'd recommend R&S to any student and teacher but most especially for the child that has problems staying on task or paying attention for long periods of time.
Very little preparation needed moms.
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JH
- Reviewed on Monday, August 17, 2009
- Grades Used: K-3
- Dates used: 2006-2009
Like many other reviewers, I love Rod and Staff Math. I am an educational therapist, and have often seen students whose main obstacle to progressing in math is a lack of memorization of math facts. That kind of figuring takes up so much mental energy that it makes solving wiord problems or using math in real life situations very frustrating and slow going. Memorization may be "out" in some subject areas, but it's absolutely essential in math. It's the equivalent of learning to read; if you don't know the sounds letters and combinations of letters make, you can't read, and therefore you can't progress. Same with Math. Rod and Staff really drills those math facts. And yes, it can be repetitive and boring. However, not only do the students learn their facts, but they get a sense of success when they can quickly do a whole page of math facts. Word problems, money, time, shapes, fractions, and other math problems are gently introduced once the facts up to 18 or so are firmly grounded. Many other curricula either have no clear method for memorizing the facts, or else they assume extra drill is being done with flash cards, so there is an extra burden on the parent to provide that extra drill, and flashcards are even more boring than doing drills in the book! Although R&S does offer big, high-quality flash cards, the lessons contain enough drill for most children. Beginning in 3rd grade, the child starts copying the problems out of the book rather than filling in blanks in a workbook. This is an important transition, but it can be difficult if a child's motor skills aren't ready because it takes extra time and effort. I think the teacher's manuals for all grades are well worth it for the inexpensve price. They offer excellent teaching tips and extra activities, such as activities to do at the chalkboard, learning games, etc. Usually these require no extra materials, and they help make math more interesting than just doing one page after another in the book. I like the word problems, which are usually based on real-life situations relating to farm, family, business, etc., giving a good feel for hoqw math is used in real life. Even Christian principles are included in the math problems. Leave it to Rod and Staff to inculcate family and Christian values even in their math texts!
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