Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Why is Kumon bad? the worksheets? But those have their place, no?

Also, what's amazing about BA? My understanding is that it's very gamified but maybe my impression is wrong? I don't want my kid to go through life needing everything to be games in order to be able to learn anything.

What is everything else and have you tried it?

Regarding Kumon, it's probably bad in a dangerous way for most kids. It forces them to do drills by rote and doesn't stop until their interest is completely killed. I mean it's not really any better than Kuta software worksheets (yes Kuta is a company that generates math worksheets and yes, FCPS has paid them so that teachers can print worksheets filled with math questions generated by the computer, and.. yes of course this is a terrible way to teach math to children, those paying attention to their children's math homework have likely stumbled upon Kuta worksheets if they've been paying attention). Kumon may have its place but you need to be hyper aware of when it's too much for kids because once their interest is killed, they're never engaged again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BA is not at all gameified. The “narrators” / point of view characters in the textbook and some of the online content are cartoon monsters (the Beasts) but it’s a solid, complete math curriculum. We got both the books and the online access and used both.

Good to know, thank you. I was just under that impression with some of the cartoons. We'll try it out. Do you use it to accelerate or as a complement to school? I'm assuming same content is taught but perhaps in a better way?

If you're curious about BA, there are two FB BA groups with thousands of people.. pretty much any question about the curriculum has been asked and answered in detail here. The first is the largest group but the second is great too.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/425463107653116/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/121220141919460/

Beast Academy is amazing. My 4th grader started it over the summer and it's challenging her even at the lower levels.

Anonymous wrote:BA is not at all gameified. The “narrators” / point of view characters in the textbook and some of the online content are cartoon monsters (the Beasts) but it’s a solid, complete math curriculum. We got both the books and the online access and used both.

Good to know, thank you. I was just under that impression with some of the cartoons. We'll try it out. Do you use it to accelerate or as a complement to school? I'm assuming same content is taught but perhaps in a better way?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Why is Kumon bad? the worksheets? But those have their place, no?

Also, what's amazing about BA? My understanding is that it's very gamified but maybe my impression is wrong? I don't want my kid to go through life needing everything to be games in order to be able to learn anything.

What is everything else and have you tried it?

Here's an excerpt from the first 2nd grade BA book: https://beastacademy.com/u/pdfs/2A/samples/2A_Practice_72-75.pdf
Your impression is very wrong, unless you consider the sample to be "very gamified." Most people would think it just looks like math, but done in a way to ensure that kids understand what they're doing rather than just following rote processes.

Thanks, that's helpful. When you recommend BA are you mainly recommending the books, online classes, in person, or something else? I'm totally new to it so I'm not sure what to do but my kid seems to do fine with books and asynchronous online content.

BA is not at all gameified. The “narrators” / point of view characters in the textbook and some of the online content are cartoon monsters (the Beasts) but it’s a solid, complete math curriculum. We got both the books and the online access and used both.

We supplement with Singapore math and it's nice that it basically follows the public school curriculum. I'll have my kids do more problems in a unit if they need the practice and fewer when the find a unit to be easy.

We found that Beast Academy was good for providing enrichment for things they had already had introduced, but didn't teach basics in a robust enough way. Now they learn the basics from Singapore math and stretch themselves with Beast.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Why is Kumon bad? the worksheets? But those have their place, no?

Also, what's amazing about BA? My understanding is that it's very gamified but maybe my impression is wrong? I don't want my kid to go through life needing everything to be games in order to be able to learn anything.

What is everything else and have you tried it?

Here's an excerpt from the first 2nd grade BA book: https://beastacademy.com/u/pdfs/2A/samples/2A_Practice_72-75.pdf
Your impression is very wrong, unless you consider the sample to be "very gamified." Most people would think it just looks like math, but done in a way to ensure that kids understand what they're doing rather than just following rote processes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Why is Kumon bad? the worksheets? But those have their place, no?

Also, what's amazing about BA? My understanding is that it's very gamified but maybe my impression is wrong? I don't want my kid to go through life needing everything to be games in order to be able to learn anything.

What is everything else and have you tried it?

Sure Kumon and IXL have their place as does BA. A well-rounded math kid will probably be exposed to some of everything (but mostly BA).

Anonymous wrote:My math kid liked IXL.

Tell me more. What did they like? More importantly, what did *you* like?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Why is Kumon bad? the worksheets? But those have their place, no?

Also, what's amazing about BA? My understanding is that it's very gamified but maybe my impression is wrong? I don't want my kid to go through life needing everything to be games in order to be able to learn anything.

What is everything else and have you tried it?

My math kid liked IXL.

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Beast Academy is very good for rigor and deep, critical thinking. It's best for bright kids who don't need a lot of reinforcement.

My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.