RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 93 Angles of Incidence and Reflection

Okay, this was a really cool lesson. It’s sort of like that thing you did back in school when your teacher shone a strobe light on an air hockey table and you shot the puck around the table and watched the patterns it made -- remember that?

You pretend to shoot a pool ball, draw the angle of reflection when it hits the side of the table, find where it will next hit, find the next reflection, draw the trajectory, etc. etc. until the ball finally goes in the pocket. At the bottom of the page of the math book is an Internet link that I can’t get to work; I think this is the link they meant to put there.

Lesson 94 Lines of Symmetry

Kid1 feels there is a mistake in the answer sheet. She is filling in a chart that asks for the maximum number of lines of symmetry for a rhombus; she feels the answer should be 4, just as it was for the square, since, “well, Mommy, a square is a type of rhombus, you know, and they’re asking for the maximum.” I can’t find this on the errata lists, but the errata lists aren’t in lesson number order (which is really, really annoying, let me tell you).

I look at her worksheet later, and discover that she’s written “I’m right” in flourescent pink ink next to her answer.

The lesson introduces the sign for infinity. This holds no mystery for Kid1, possibly due to our School House Rock DVDs, in which Figure 8 is one of my absolute favorite songs.

Lesson 95 Rotation Symmetry

Another misprint: this time the text reads, “in the center figure above...” when there is no center figure. However, this one I can find in the errata. Of course, I don’t find it until the next day, mostly because that’s when I finally got around to looking for it. Kid1 is able to complete the assignment having never seen it.

Lesson 96 Symmetry Connections

This lesson consolidates the previous lessons on symmetry. The student looks for line symmetry, point symmetry, and rotational symmetry in several shapes and figures, also noting degrees of rotation. A fairly quick lesson, given that there’s not much drawing.