Beast versus kumon for under motivated 1st grader

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is an "under motivated" FIRST grader??

I’m confused too. Since when is a first grader expected to “memorize math facts?” This is totally unnecessary and you are going to make her hate math.

I’m saying this as a parent of two middle schooler who are several grades advanced in math. There is a time and place for supplemental teaching- it isn’t beast academy or kumon and it isn’t first grade. Play with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid is on grade level? Then why would you need to do anything at all?

+1

And I sure as hell wouldn't be doing any after school activities with an ADHD first grader that involved sitting still, beyond family dinner.

Your kid will get much more out of an hour each evening running around at the park. He'll sleep better, he'll learn better at school, and he'll be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is an "under motivated" FIRST grader??

They are "Quiet Quitters", you know people who do their job but don't go above and beyond filling out Math worksheets after school.

[Anonymous]

OP dont listen to the people goving you grief over haelping your kid go a little beyond grade level in math. ADHD does not doom people to be weak or just average at math, it doesn't mean you cant hold your kid to higher standards. My younger brother with ADHD is a math professor at a highly ranked university. Our parents always did extra math with us at home, in many forms, including writing a few challenge problems on paper.

[Anonymous]

I would try Zearn, because there's very little reading involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is an "under motivated" FIRST grader??

They are "Quiet Quitters", you know people who do their job but don't go above and beyond filling out Math worksheets after school.

[Anonymous]

At this age, with a child who is where they should be, I'd focus on games. Teach math without it obviously being math.

I have an ADHD kid and Beast Academy was still math work, despite the fun avatars and comics. Whereas my kindergartener, who does not appear to have learning challenges, begs for BA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this age, with a child who is where they should be, I'd focus on games. Teach math without it obviously being math.

I have an ADHD kid and Beast Academy was still math work, despite the fun avatars and comics. Whereas my kindergartener, who does not appear to have learning challenges, begs for BA.

How many pages of BA does s/he do a day? Are you aiming to get through all 4 books in an academic year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this age, with a child who is where they should be, I'd focus on games. Teach math without it obviously being math.

I have an ADHD kid and Beast Academy was still math work, despite the fun avatars and comics. Whereas my kindergartener, who does not appear to have learning challenges, begs for BA.

How many pages of BA does s/he do a day? Are you aiming to get through all 4 books in an academic year?

Different poster- Geting through all 4 books a school year is a typical goal for homeschoolers who are using this as their main or only math curriculum. If you are using it to supplement regular school, you might not necessarily use every book in the series each year depending on how much your kid also learns at school. Some might do 2-3 books during the school year and 1-2 books over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Agree with those saying play math games with her. Also, make up funny/silly word problems for her to solve. Make it fun. The kid is in first grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beast Academy is not for math facts / fluency. It's for getting into deeper and more sophisticated math thinking. I would treat Beast Academy as enrichment rather than remediation. Kumon is for drilling math facts and improving fluency. But it's boring as hell. Honestly you don't need to pay for a program to get better at math facts. Any app / game that drills math facts will do the job in a more appealing way to kids than Kumon. Your school should also have "blended learning" apps like Zearn or the like to do that type of thing.

Many people find that Kumon is enrichment and not boring. Sorry it did not work well for you all.