3rd grade Math Help. R&S

[Heathersaysyeah]

I've been doing Saxon math for 2 years now. Math 1 for my K son, and Math 1 and 2 for my daughter in 1st and then 2nd grade.
The reason why I use it is because it tells me exactly what to say. I'm not good at teaching math. I really need the hand holding.

I'm thinking of switching both to Rod and Staff.
I would do the second half of math 1 as scheduled for 1st grade, and math 3 for my daughter.
Is it as easy to teach like Saxon?
Having done the spiral approach, I think the mastery would be a good change for us.
And i think I'm seeing that lessons are short? I could really use that...I have a growing 6 month old and a rambunctious toddler.

Does anyone have experience going from Saxon to R&S?

[enbateau]

Yes! We went directly from Saxon 2 (having done Horizon, ShillerMath, Spectrum, and some BJU and Math-U-See) to R&S 1. I could not believe how behind the spiral approach left my eldest. The grouping that Saxon did with math facts never led to mastery. She always had to count up or count back for problems. We bought the workbook only portion of R&S Arithmetic 1 to compress over the summer and then moved into Arithmetic 2 for the next year. As she mastered all facts (quickly and down cold: 60 mixed add/sub facts in 1 minute), we moved in to multiplication. At the end of R&S Arithmetic 2, they get into the 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s. We're working on her memorizing those. Arithmetic 3 will be straight memorization of multiplication and division facts with some fractions, money, word problems, etc.

R&S is pretty much scripted as well, but there is an expectation of some teacher-led learning time at the board or on paper or verbally quizzing. There are some fun manipulatives that aren't fully necessary (bees and blossoms), although we made them and enjoyed them. Arithmetic 3 is a good transition IF your eldest has absolute mastery of the 2-18 fact families in addition AND subtraction. If not, I would get the workbooks from Arithmetic 2 and do 2 lessons per day, progressing as mastering facts (no counting or fingers). FWIW, most of the pros here will recommend 1 hr of math a day. Sometimes it was only 30 min, but the best foundation provided ample practice.

[KF2000]

Heather,
I think Enbateau has answered your questions well, so I will simply add confirmation that I trust you will be pleased with R&S. Sometimes relying on a total script can actually hold us back from working in the moment with our children to truly develop their understanding. You might not feel comfortable teaching math yet, but part of that might be that you have relied on the text to teach - you have simply been reciting (perhaps). I have always found that the more I HAVE to do, the more I LEARN to do. And R&S is really good at giving you the structure of what you need to cover, so you know what you’ve got to do, while also helping build that ability to actually teach, too. We went around the block with math programs in years past, before finding MP, and R&S has definitely been an excellent choice for all of us - including me!

AMDG,
Sarah

[buckeyelaw]

I use both R&S and Saxon for my enthusiastic math learner and I think you will find R&S to give you plenty of guidance in teaching. I have used both up through grade 3 now. R&S has been so much better than Saxon in making sure the basics are mastered and in many respects I have preferred how R&S teaches things. We have used Saxon to give my son a little more variety to work on since he enjoys math so much, but we are starting to use more math games (we have been using the RightStart math games set) to supplement R&S.

[Heathersaysyeah]

Thank you!! I think doing book 2 makes the most sense.
My rising 3rd grade daughter doesn't know her facts 100%, maybe 75%? It's adds so much frustration!
My rising 1st grade son enjoys math so more sticks with him.

Good to hear it gives direction. I do agree I need to get more confident teaching math. I'm a little better. Just a little though. This will be our 4th year homeschooling, and our 5th math program!