Beast Academy Question

[Anonymous]

I have already emailed Beast Academy with this question, but I thought I'd ask here too -
My son is in 6th grade, always done well in math at school, as well as on standardized tests, iReady, etc. I am happy so far with his DCPS middle school, but figured it couldn't hurt to supplement/push him a bit. My question is about where to start him, and how to fill in gaps. I have read on the site that you should start a year back, or by doing the placement test, so I have him in level 5 bc it advises to start a year back since Beast tends to be ahead of grade level. However, his sibling (in 4th grade) is in the level 3 geometry lessons and the language and ways of asking questions is new/not what was taught in DCPS. I don't want to start the 6th grader all the way back in level 3, because that would probably bore him overall. Anybody started Beast Academy at this later age and had any tips? Does the curriculum spiral, and will they revisit geometry at all?
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about class or the self paced books/website?

If you subscribe to the website, you can start at 3 and skim quickly over easy material, and spend time on harder material, and go through 3, 4, 5 as fast as is comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about class or the self paced books/website?

If you subscribe to the website, you can start at 3 and skim quickly over easy material, and spend time on harder material, and go through 3, 4, 5 as fast as is comfortable.

My younger child is in level 3 and it seems like everything is locked until you complete the activities before it. Is there a way to change that feature so I can click around and visit specific lessons in earlier levels? That is what I would prefer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about class or the self paced books/website?

If you subscribe to the website, you can start at 3 and skim quickly over easy material, and spend time on harder material, and go through 3, 4, 5 as fast as is comfortable.

My younger child is in level 3 and it seems like everything is locked until you complete the activities before it. Is there a way to change that feature so I can click around and visit specific lessons in earlier levels? That is what I would prefer

Go to account -> lock scheme and make change by clicking the pen icon.

[Anonymous]

If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

I agree - 6th grade is the recommended grade for AoPS prealgebra. The only downside is that the online self-paced course is more expensive, but there are still videos and Alcumus

[Anonymous]

I staretd DC with BA online the month it came out. They had just turned 8 at the time and third grade was the lowest year. Over the next year, we did about 60% of the lessons in 3rd, 40% of 4th, and 20% of 5th. We skipped around a lot and did many of these lessons 3-4 times over the course of many months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

I agree - 6th grade is the recommended grade for AoPS prealgebra. The only downside is that the online self-paced course is more expensive, but there are still videos and Alcumus

There's plenty of overlap in 5 with the 6th grade prealgebra class. My kid took classes for both. I still have mixed feelings about it but revisiting some of these topics was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

I agree - 6th grade is the recommended grade for AoPS prealgebra. The only downside is that the online self-paced course is more expensive, but there are still videos and Alcumus

There's plenty of overlap in 5 with the 6th grade prealgebra class. My kid took classes for both. I still have mixed feelings about it but revisiting some of these topics was fine.

interesting. Thanks for the info. I will look into those classes.
For those of you who have done the pre-algebra class, is it worth going backwards to fill in any other gaps? Or if your kid is relatively advanced in math, will they be able to catch on? I think his elementary math teachers were pretty strong and he is also been doing prodigy and addition to the dcps online IReady/Zearn. So I am not that concerned. I just want to give him extra to make sure he is challenged before maybe doing algebra next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

I agree - 6th grade is the recommended grade for AoPS prealgebra. The only downside is that the online self-paced course is more expensive, but there are still videos and Alcumus

You don't have to take the class. We just got the textbook and solution book, then my son watched videos and did Alcumus. He liked the Algebra book much better than the Pre-Algebra book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

I agree - 6th grade is the recommended grade for AoPS prealgebra. The only downside is that the online self-paced course is more expensive, but there are still videos and Alcumus

There's plenty of overlap in 5 with the 6th grade prealgebra class. My kid took classes for both. I still have mixed feelings about it but revisiting some of these topics was fine.

interesting. Thanks for the info. I will look into those classes.
For those of you who have done the pre-algebra class, is it worth going backwards to fill in any other gaps? Or if your kid is relatively advanced in math, will they be able to catch on? I think his elementary math teachers were pretty strong and he is also been doing prodigy and addition to the dcps online IReady/Zearn. So I am not that concerned. I just want to give him extra to make sure he is challenged before maybe doing algebra next year.

BA Prealgebra starts with arithmetic

[Anonymous]

Start him wherever the placement test suggests.

[Anonymous]

Agree on placement test. Honestly- the challenge questions on Beast Academy are thought provoking enough that a sixth grader that likes math won’t find them too easy.

Beast Academy is more fun than the AOPS textbooks so if you are going book route, start with BA. If going with Alcumus, you might just start with prealgebra

[Anonymous]

Use the placement test. Or call one of the physical centers and do an assessment with them, then use it to pick the right BA level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your son is good in math and in 6th grade he should just start doing AOPS pre-algebra. You can buy the books and he can watch the videos for free. After Beast grade 5 the next level is AOPS pre-algebra.

I agree - 6th grade is the recommended grade for AoPS prealgebra. The only downside is that the online self-paced course is more expensive, but there are still videos and Alcumus

There's plenty of overlap in 5 with the 6th grade prealgebra class. My kid took classes for both. I still have mixed feelings about it but revisiting some of these topics was fine.

interesting. Thanks for the info. I will look into those classes.
For those of you who have done the pre-algebra class, is it worth going backwards to fill in any other gaps? Or if your kid is relatively advanced in math, will they be able to catch on? I think his elementary math teachers were pretty strong and he is also been doing prodigy and addition to the dcps online IReady/Zearn. So I am not that concerned. I just want to give him extra to make sure he is challenged before maybe doing algebra next year.

BA Prealgebra starts with arithmetic

Technically true, but it's much more dry than Beast, so some kids who are comfortable with Beast 5 content aren't ready to use the Prealgebra book.