Compacting R&S math...

[Zoo Keeper]

My oldest son is going into 6th grade in a few days, and is lined up to use the 5th grade R&S math book (he did well with R&S 4th grade math last year). Back when he was in 1st, we switched around math programs, so he has been a year "behind" since then. My husband would like him to catch up to his grade level, and wants him to be on track complete all of the remaining R&S math (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th) by the end of 8th grade, all ready to jump into Algebra in 9th grade.

Any ideas on how I can smash 4 books into 3 years, without missing the important stuff? I really don't feel I have enough experience teaching R&S math to know what to cut out and what to keep...

[SaintJude7]

Around the year

If you continue to study math throughout the year, rather than taking summers off, you will skip the review lessons at the beginning of the books and be able to complete four years of work in three without missing any concepts.
Blessings,
Jude

Dd16, Ds 13, Ds 11, Ds 8, Dd 6, Ds 4, Dd 16 mos.

[Kami]

I'll have to agree with Jude. We switched to R & S when my son was going into 6th or 7th grade and he was quite a bit behind. When you go onto the next level (provided you go straight through the summer), just have him take the test for the review chapters at the beginning. If he scores an 80 or better go to the next chapter. This was the recommendation I received from a R & S curriculum adviser.

Blessings,
Kami

[Zoo Keeper]

Thank you both--your plan sounds workable, and better than what I was coming up with. Thanks for your help.

[Enigma]

There is another option. From what I have heard from many Moms, R&S 7 and 8 do not introduce many new concepts. They mostly review grades 1-6. An idea would be to finish R&S 5 and 6 as normal then switch to a true Pre-Alg for 8th then on to Alg in 9th. It would be a good idea to choose a pre alg that has a good algebra sequence for a smooth transition. We like Bob Jones with the disatnce learning option. MP uses College of the Redwoods. You may like something else.