This was such a helpful flip through. I have often considered this for my son who loved numbers and puzzles. We are currently using math mammoth, and while I appreciate how solid it is, it definitely seems to be zapping my son’s love for math. Then again, I don’t want to cause frustration or discouragement by giving him problems that are too challenging. Hard to find that sweet spot.
I'm glad it was helpful! It was hard for me to wrap my mind around what Beast Academy was really composed of and what using it would look like before I purchased it (it always seems difficult to sort through the publisher's website to find out so what will using this actually mean in our homeschool?), so I like to create these videos to help others. And yes, it can be a hard decision--Beast Academy specifically does include the kinds of problems meant to create some level of frustration, because a student will have to think through ways to solve the problem for a bit before being able to puzzle through it. I purposely decided to include this because my son is used to racing through his math pages and I wanted something that would force him to slow down a bit because the problems aren't as easy as what he's used to. We've only used it a couple weeks so far, but it's been a nice addition!
I feel so torn! The math nerd in me loves the practice books but the structured part of me doesn't love the comic style. Do you think the practice books can be used by themselves as a supplement to another curriculum, or it wouldn't work without the guide books?
I am no fan of the comic style myself, ha, but I am finding that my son loves them...so sometimes our kids have a different opinion. I think with a math nerd teaching, you could use the practice books as a supplement because you could understand what strategies, etc, you're supposed to be teaching to attack the problems. There are short instructional notes on the practice pages, so you can work based off of those. But I do think without the guide books, it's probably missing a lot of the appeal for kids, and the guide books definitely have a more thorough explanation or examples of the concept they're teaching. So in summary, I think it would work but may not work quite as well, if that makes sense.
I just got 2A to use as a review for my kids. I’m curious to see how they like it and if it makes sense to them. I like the different approach and think it’s a neat Add on to traditional math. Help them see numbers from another angle.
Yes, it's definitely a different approach, a different way to play with numbers. We've been working through the first chapter of 2A and my son looks forward to it every day!
Yes, I used the online placement tests to decide. In a way, I could have gone down to level 1 or up to level 2, but based on the tests, I figured that since my purpose in buying this was specifically to add challenge when everything I've used so far in math has been easy...I better level up rather than leveling down or once again it's just going to be more easy math. lol. Some parts of this we might have to sit with for a while if they are a little too hard but I'm totally fine with that--the goal was to stretch him a bit and add challenge in a subject that he tends to race ahead in.
@@SevenInAll that makes sense! can't wait to see how it goes! my daughter decided to try public montessori for kindergarten but I might supplement with beast over the summer and then possibly continue into the Fall on a more casual basis.
We're only a couple weeks in so far, but I've been doing both each day - a lesson in MWC and then a page or maybe two of practice problems + any reading in Beast Academy. We've always used more than one math resource at a time so it feels pretty normal to have a few 'layers' in our math learning each day. ;)
@@SevenInAll thank you. My almost 7 year old has really started thriving in math and I feel she needs more than what we are doing. I really think she would love this as a supplement!
@@SevenInAllI started doing that this year with my 3rd grade son and it's been good. He is not a math kid, so I think this would be a good review and challenge at the same time next year.
Do you think the curriculum is complete? We us it but I’m still hesitant to ditch our other traditional curriculum. We have been doing both, but I’m wondering if it’s really necessary… thanks for showing!
I may not be the best person to answer that question because our family generally prefers to 'layer' math resources anyways, regardless of the curriculum, we tend to have more than one curriculum for math in our line-up, because we find a lot of benefit in incorporating variety when it comes to math. That said, I wouldn't lean toward using this as a sole curriculum with young learners, in particular, because in the early years, kids tend to need just plenty of practice to build speed at all the basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. With kids in the higher levels, kids who already have all the foundational math concepts down solid and who are able to compute pretty speedily, I think this could be used as a stand-alone curriculum.
Beast Academy is marketed toward more advanced math students, those who like to or who are able to puzzle through problems that aren't presented in as straightforward a way as many elementary math curriculums do. They have a strong focus on mental math and problem-solving skills. I could see the Guide books with the graphic novel and story being interesting for just about any kid who enjoys that style, but the practice books are definitely a little more on the challenging side.
I believe that Beast Academy Online is totally separate from the books - as in you can pay a separate fee for the online version of the curriculum or you can get the book version. There are a few printable PDFs that are "extras" on the website if you want more practice problems or game boards for each book. But yes, as far as I understand, the online version is for those who prefer an online math curriculum.
I would recommend looking at the sample practice problem pages on the website to assess the level of challenge. My 6 year old completed 1st grade math and I started level 2 Beast Academy, but the Practice Problems are designed to be significantly more challenging than a more typical 2nd grade math program.
We have enjoyed the beast academy we have tried. I find the cartoons are highly motivating to my son. Hardest part for me is that there are no goals for a days' work. That means we just go... until I have had enough 😅 My son using this is 6, so we do it together. For higher levels I might have a timer.
Yes, I would also prefer having a daily "lesson" or some more intuitive method of deciding how much to do other than "this feels like enough". And I'm also sitting with my son for the practice problems right now...with older students I could see it being used independently but likely not at this age.
This was such an informative flip through! Thank you SO much.
Glad it was helpful!
This was such a helpful flip through. I have often considered this for my son who loved numbers and puzzles. We are currently using math mammoth, and while I appreciate how solid it is, it definitely seems to be zapping my son’s love for math. Then again, I don’t want to cause frustration or discouragement by giving him problems that are too challenging. Hard to find that sweet spot.
I'm glad it was helpful! It was hard for me to wrap my mind around what Beast Academy was really composed of and what using it would look like before I purchased it (it always seems difficult to sort through the publisher's website to find out so what will using this actually mean in our homeschool?), so I like to create these videos to help others. And yes, it can be a hard decision--Beast Academy specifically does include the kinds of problems meant to create some level of frustration, because a student will have to think through ways to solve the problem for a bit before being able to puzzle through it. I purposely decided to include this because my son is used to racing through his math pages and I wanted something that would force him to slow down a bit because the problems aren't as easy as what he's used to. We've only used it a couple weeks so far, but it's been a nice addition!
I feel so torn! The math nerd in me loves the practice books but the structured part of me doesn't love the comic style. Do you think the practice books can be used by themselves as a supplement to another curriculum, or it wouldn't work without the guide books?
I am no fan of the comic style myself, ha, but I am finding that my son loves them...so sometimes our kids have a different opinion. I think with a math nerd teaching, you could use the practice books as a supplement because you could understand what strategies, etc, you're supposed to be teaching to attack the problems. There are short instructional notes on the practice pages, so you can work based off of those. But I do think without the guide books, it's probably missing a lot of the appeal for kids, and the guide books definitely have a more thorough explanation or examples of the concept they're teaching. So in summary, I think it would work but may not work quite as well, if that makes sense.
I just got 2A to use as a review for my kids. I’m curious to see how they like it and if it makes sense to them. I like the different approach and think it’s a neat
Add on to traditional math. Help them see numbers from another angle.
Yes, it's definitely a different approach, a different way to play with numbers. We've been working through the first chapter of 2A and my son looks forward to it every day!
how did you decide to jump straight to level 2? was that based on their online placement tests or???
Yes, I used the online placement tests to decide. In a way, I could have gone down to level 1 or up to level 2, but based on the tests, I figured that since my purpose in buying this was specifically to add challenge when everything I've used so far in math has been easy...I better level up rather than leveling down or once again it's just going to be more easy math. lol. Some parts of this we might have to sit with for a while if they are a little too hard but I'm totally fine with that--the goal was to stretch him a bit and add challenge in a subject that he tends to race ahead in.
@@SevenInAll that makes sense! can't wait to see how it goes! my daughter decided to try public montessori for kindergarten but I might supplement with beast over the summer and then possibly continue into the Fall on a more casual basis.
I was wondering if you could share how you plan combining both MWC and Beast academy? Would you do both in one day or switch it up?
We're only a couple weeks in so far, but I've been doing both each day - a lesson in MWC and then a page or maybe two of practice problems + any reading in Beast Academy. We've always used more than one math resource at a time so it feels pretty normal to have a few 'layers' in our math learning each day. ;)
@@SevenInAll thank you. My almost 7 year old has really started thriving in math and I feel she needs more than what we are doing. I really think she would love this as a supplement!
@@SevenInAllI started doing that this year with my 3rd grade son and it's been good. He is not a math kid, so I think this would be a good review and challenge at the same time next year.
Do you think the curriculum is complete? We us it but I’m still hesitant to ditch our other traditional curriculum. We have been doing both, but I’m wondering if it’s really necessary… thanks for showing!
I may not be the best person to answer that question because our family generally prefers to 'layer' math resources anyways, regardless of the curriculum, we tend to have more than one curriculum for math in our line-up, because we find a lot of benefit in incorporating variety when it comes to math.
That said, I wouldn't lean toward using this as a sole curriculum with young learners, in particular, because in the early years, kids tend to need just plenty of practice to build speed at all the basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division.
With kids in the higher levels, kids who already have all the foundational math concepts down solid and who are able to compute pretty speedily, I think this could be used as a stand-alone curriculum.
@@SevenInAll thank you! That makes so much sense!
Do you use online version of Beast Academy? or are you planning to? I’ve heard some people prefer online over paper books. Thanks
I don't, and I don't plan to at this point. I tend to be a little bit old fashioned, haha.
This looks like something my son would like! For what kind of learner would you say this is for?
Beast Academy is marketed toward more advanced math students, those who like to or who are able to puzzle through problems that aren't presented in as straightforward a way as many elementary math curriculums do. They have a strong focus on mental math and problem-solving skills. I could see the Guide books with the graphic novel and story being interesting for just about any kid who enjoys that style, but the practice books are definitely a little more on the challenging side.
This was so helpful! I’ve been considering this curriculum for next year. Curious how the online games are worked in? Necessary or no?
I believe that Beast Academy Online is totally separate from the books - as in you can pay a separate fee for the online version of the curriculum or you can get the book version. There are a few printable PDFs that are "extras" on the website if you want more practice problems or game boards for each book. But yes, as far as I understand, the online version is for those who prefer an online math curriculum.
@@SevenInAll thank you so much! I did not realize they could be separated. That’s so helpful!
My daughter is 6 and completed Kindergarten. She is good in Math. Shall I start with Beast Academy level 1 or 2?
I would recommend looking at the sample practice problem pages on the website to assess the level of challenge. My 6 year old completed 1st grade math and I started level 2 Beast Academy, but the Practice Problems are designed to be significantly more challenging than a more typical 2nd grade math program.
We have enjoyed the beast academy we have tried. I find the cartoons are highly motivating to my son. Hardest part for me is that there are no goals for a days' work. That means we just go... until I have had enough 😅
My son using this is 6, so we do it together. For higher levels I might have a timer.
Yes, I would also prefer having a daily "lesson" or some more intuitive method of deciding how much to do other than "this feels like enough". And I'm also sitting with my son for the practice problems right now...with older students I could see it being used independently but likely not at this age.
Pomodoro timer is a good technique to use
I didn’t kno beast academy goes deep into math!!! It looks fun but advanced!!!
"Fun and advanced" is a good description.