Beautiful Math: An Interview with RightStart Math

Feb 8, 2024

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About the Guests

Kathleen Cotter Clayton is the daughter of Dr. Joan A. Cotter, author and developer of the RightStart™ Mathematics program. Kathleen is involved with curriculum development and has written or co-authored 17 manuals. She travels, teaches online middle-school classes, and speaks across the US and Canada, sharing the mission to help children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics. Kathleen has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and has two Masters Degrees from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. In her spare time, Kathleen designs and creates mathematical quilts and loves to travel all around the world.
Teresa Foltin is the School Liaison with RightStart Math. She has a Bachelor's in English Literature and a Master’s in Student Affairs in Higher Education. Previously the Director of Student Activities at an American university in Germany, she is now a homeschooling mom of five. Teresa travels across the US talking to parents and teachers, calming, encouraging, and exciting them about math education. She is interested in adoption, travel, horses, gardening, and reading. The Foltin family lives in Colorado on a small homestead with a menagerie of critters.

Contact RightStart Math:
Mention that you heard about them from The Classical Education Podcast.
Sign up for help & more info: https://rightstartclassroom.com/
Website: https://rightstartmath.com/

Show Notes
Uplifting describes this conversation about Mathematics with guests, Cathleen Cotter Clayton, and Theresa Fulton of RightStart Math. When games are involved, everyone wants to participate. When a math program is written and approved by an electrical engineer and a physicist, as an excellent and intuitive way to teach math, why not share it! Forget the tears, and fears about fractions. Find out the stories behind it’s success and the how and why this math program fits within the Classical Tradition of education for grades Kindergarten through eighth grade.

Some Ideas Discussed:

Success in Homeschool and School Programs
A fearless experience with fractions
History of Right Start Math and the Research behind it
Adrienne’s homeschool story “Enjoying Math!”
How RightStart Math fits into the Classical model and similarities with the medieval time period (Treviso Arithmetic)
The importance of place value
Geometry and the Quadrivium
Right Start Math Tutoring
Right Start Support and Presentations for Schools

Books & Ideas Mentioned

Casting Out Nines ( RightStart calls in "check numbers". This is a video explanation)
Treviso Arithmetic Information
Treviso Arithmetic PDF (Explains place value and casting out nines and other interesting ways of teaching math the medieval way)
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
The Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas
Coming soon to be published: a new book by Dr. Cotter

After the recording, Adrienne found an interesting public domain book on Gutenburg called A Scrap-Book of Elementary Mathematics. It has interesting and old tricks for teaching arithmetic that seems to align nicely with this way of teaching math.

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Upcoming Workshop Links:

Society for Classical Learning Winter Workshops, 2024 (scroll to read more about Adrienne's Narration Intensive)
Snapshot Series Courses by Beautiful Teaching Master Teachers
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Credits:

Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel

Logo Art: Anastasiya CF

Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic