Thursday, July 7, 2016

RightStart Math: Final Cost, Levels A-C

We've moved on from RightStart Math and I wanted to address one of the most common concerns I hear from people considering this program: cost. Yes, it looks to be a very expensive program, especially with the startup costs of that huge box of manipulatives. Here and there, when people ask online, responses cite the high resale value, but without numbers. Here are my numbers:

RightStart A
I bought the first edition of Level A, before the second edition existed. Costs include the lesson manual, two workbooks (so I could sell with a clean one), and a set of the appendix pages. I believe that the second edition becoming available in the meantime really hurt the resale value on this one!
                Cost: $78.50
                Sold on eBay for: $34.50
                Final Cost to me: $44.00

RightStart B
I bought the second edition of Level B, with an extra workbook and an extra set of Appendix pages (so I could sell a complete, clean set). I did get the extra workbook and Appendix during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale for a discount.
               Cost: $97.50
               Sold on eBay for: $65.00
               Final Cost to me: $32.50

RightStart C
I bought the second edition of Level C, with an extra workbook so I could sell a complete, clean set. All on sale during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale.
               Cost: $80.00
               Sold on eBay for: $55.00
               Final Cost to me: $25.00

Manipulatives Package
I originally bought the set for version 1 and then upgraded. For ease of numbers (and not being able to find my receipt for the original purchase) I am going to use the current price of the full Version 2 Package, which is what I had by the end and sold on eBay.
                Cost: $205.50
                Sold on eBay for: $152.50
                Final Cost to me: $53.00

Taking the total cost to me of the three levels plus the manipulatives ($154.50) and dividing it over the three years this would be expected to last, I come up with a Final Total Cost of $51.50 per year. 

Not bad. And it would have come in even cheaper for me if I had started with Version 2 of Level A (the new version had much better resale value) and if I had planned ahead and always bought during the Cyber Monday sale

Monday, July 4, 2016

Second Grade Curriculum and Resources

For kindergarten and first grade, I did massive posts about our planned curriculum and resources. I've been more hesitant this year. Our current setup is six-week sessions with five subjects at a time - Spanish, Math, Language Arts, and two of The Kid's choosing. This means that our plans are even more up in the air than usual because all of the "other stuff" is decided on bit by bit.Anyway, here is the list, with a lot more uncertainty than usual.

Language Arts
Math
Spanish
Science, History, Art, Music...
These will be unschooled unless The Kid chooses a specific topic as one of her class choices. I will decide on resources at that time. BFSU will still be my go-to for science, Art Tango will be my go-to for general art.

Extracurriculars
Who knows? The Kid wants to take gymnastics, dance, circus arts, nature classes, soccer, choir, ice skating, roller skating, art classes, science classes, tennis, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's not all going to fit, so there will be some choices to be made this fall. For the summer, she's doing a couple of weeks of gymnastics camp and a week of science camp.