Right Start Math Curriculum Helps & Organization

After teaching Right Start Math for 6 years, I have only grown in my appreciation of this solid program. I’ve worked with Right Start as a tutor and homeschool mom, and I find the methods to be effective for a variety of learning styles. You can read my review of the curriculum, with sample lesson and links to the research and methodology behind this curriculum here. 

That said, over the years there have been some lessons and other components that have had me scratching my head. (I have a degree in English, after all!) Only recently have I learned about many of the supports that the company offers for teachers and homeschoolers. Here’s a roundup. Hope this is helpful!

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Support Resources

Phone a Friend. The company has eight seasoned homeschool moms on call on their customer service line! You can call for help on curriculum questions, game help, placement discussions, specific lesson questions, or anything RSM related. Phone number:  888-272-3291

Lesson Overview Videos. Videos are provided for every single lesson of every single level from A to F on RSM’s website! They’re broken down into about a week’s worth of lessons per video. These are YouTube videos, and in the comments section, they’ve linked any corresponding games videos or instructional blogs for the games played during those lessons.

Teaching Support Landing Page. On this page, you’ll find PDFs of corrections/errata (consider printing this when you begin a level and tucking it inside your manual), addition and subtraction strategies summarized, multiples patterns, short multiplication table print outs, Cotter Tens Fractal download, and research/methodology summaries. Scroll below the lesson overview videos.

Math Journal printable pages. In case you need extras 🙂

Song Downloads & Sheet Music for Yellow is the Sun; Thirty Days Has September; and, Writing Numbers

Abacus & Game Apps. You can take your abacus on the run digitally, or play digital versions of “Corners” or “Go to the Dump” or “Fraction War”with downloadable apps (available for ipad/iphone and android)

Webinars on a variety of topics: counting & place value, teaching middle school math, math anxiety, fractions, short division, teaching children with learning challenges, and more. One that caught my eye is How to Teach a Joyous Math that Solves Real Problems. 

Game Help. Some of those games can be tricky to learn!

  • RSM has a Vimeo channel you can subscribe to for a monthly fee (about $5). I haven’t done so myself.
  • Alternately, on the lesson overview videos (as noted above, provided for every level, every lesson), there are links to games videos and instructional blogs with additional directions & photos in the comments of each video. Every single game may not be available for free, but many are.
  • They do have a blog section of the website which you can search using the general search box on their site and put in your game number or name. If the game is explained in a blog post, it will pop up.

Facebook! There are a variety of RSM facebook pages:

  • Individual level pages. These are my favorite- it’s like having colleagues in the trenches with you.  In my case, I searched “Right Start Math Level E” and joined the group for my 4th grader. This group is a great place to ask specific lesson questions. For example, “for lesson 83, how did you teach this specific problem?” Or, “I’m unclear on these worksheet directions. Help!” These pages have RSM admins.
  • RightStart Math for Struggling Learners, also run by RSM admins
  • RightStart Mathematics Talk/Buy/Sell, not run by RSM admins. You can ask general questions, teaching concerns, transition out of/into RSM, etc.

You may also be interested in my post of RSM Teaching Tips! 

Organizing:

The manipulatives are at the heart of this curriculum, especially in the early levels. They can also be a little overwhelming to store! I was happy to purchase these organizers for the place value cards and base ten cards (save $2 if you purchase as a set). It’s the little things 🙂

We also use heavy duty sheet protectors to cover our frequently used appendix pages for durability and ease of finding them in the teaching supplies; and we also use a dry erase marker on them.

 

We have also loved our wooden fraction puzzle. Even the baby plays with it (as pictured below, with those irresistible chubby toes and fingers! ahh!). It’s nice to have more substantial pieces to manipulate than the plastic fraction pieces; it’s the same size as the plastic fraction chart, so interchangeable in all lessons.

I just saw that they now have a magnetic fraction chart as another option! I could see my kids enjoying that as well, and having an easier time keeping the pieces straight on a magnetic whiteboard (which might be a quirky struggle not everyone has?).

I’ll share more ideas as we come across them. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest homeschooling and reading fun, and check out my RSM Teaching Tips post!

I hope this helps! Happy homeschooling, friends!