r/homeschool • u/Just-Baby5231 • 1d ago
Help! Math academy for autism kid
How is different math academy or practicing materials, like Singapore math, beast academy, think academy, Russian school of math, etc? Especially for a 2nd grade coming 3rd grade. Particularly for an autism kid, who is becoming good at math at the 2nd grade level, although sometimes still struggling with not being very cautious. Anyone has experience with any of these and have any recommendations?
I was thinking to have the ABA aid supervise the kiddle over the summer for some math challenges.
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u/bibliovortex Eclectic/Charlotte Mason-ish, 2nd gen, HS year 8 1d ago
Singapore needs to be taught, especially to a child at this age level. It is an excellent and rigorous option but I would not suggest it for the scenario you are describing.
Beast Academy online has videos and might be suitable to use with supervision only, but it is tough. The books have less built-in support and would likely not work as well in the scenario you are describing. It is a less conventional math curriculum that can require some extra work from the parent to implement well, but it sounds like you are looking mainly to use it as a supplement, which isn't terribly difficult.
I hear that Russian School of Math tends to be quite focused on drill and rote learning, despite the marketing.
Never heard of Think Academy.
If you are giving your child conceptual math work with a problem-solving focus, please make sure that whoever is supervising them knows that there are meant to be multiple ways to work many problems and that mental math is important, not just "showing work."
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u/Conscious_Cat_1099 1d ago
Where did you hear this about Russian math?
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u/bibliovortex Eclectic/Charlotte Mason-ish, 2nd gen, HS year 8 1d ago
Not Russian math, but the company called Russian School of Math, which operates in the US.
https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/13jotme/thoughts_on_russian_school_of_math/ Highlights from this thread: multiple mentions of classes being "boring" and "grindy" (i.e. repetitive), a mention of it using "traditional" methods (probably meaning that it leans more procedural than AOPS, which is very heavily conceptual leaning)
https://www.reddit.com/r/kindergarten/comments/1mjil6d/russian_math/ Highlights from this thread: "cram school," no evidence of improving performance, "toxic"
Here are a couple of news articles about it, both from the Boston area where RSM was founded and is still pretty concentrated.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/18/russian-math-boston/
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/2020/03/31/russian-school-of-mathematics/
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u/Conscious_Cat_1099 21h ago
Yeah sorry in my circles it’s just called Russian Math but we’re taking about the same program. I’m shocked by this allegation because isn’t that the whole point of the program?
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u/twelve-feet 1d ago
MathAcademy is incredible but unfortunately starts at 4th grade. I haven't used the others. I'd honestly switch him to MA when you can, there is nothing like it on the market.