I would like to hear all reviews of math-u-see. If you are not comfy posting it here, then please private message me. Thank you.
We love it. My 10yo is one who needs reinforcement from all sensory angles - auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. I think he's mostly a visual learner, but he needs the repetition and variety in a new concept. MUS has been perfect for him. He whizzed through Gamma and the first half of Delta. Long division is taking a little longer, but it's not for comprehension's sake; long division just takes a long time. LOL He *asks* to do math, and says it's his favorite subject. For my almost-6yo, I couldn't go any other way. He's VERY hands-on kinesthetic type, and is also whizzing through MUS. I have him in Primer; it took a while to get him to "do school" with any regularity, and that's what I was doing with him in Primer though I know he's very mathematically-minded. Now that he does it more regularly, he's zooming through at lightening speed. Even for my youngest, who is only 4, it's a hit. He is moseying on through at a snail's pace, but he enjoys playing with the blocks and they are certainly aiding him in learning to count to 20. Place value is above his head right about now, but that's what I love about the Primer - it's a fun intro to math and he can deal with mastery next year with Alpha. They all love to get out the "school blocks" and show each other what math they've learned this week. Math is a hit here. And, being a visual learner myself, I love that the teacher kits come with a DVD. The downside to it for me is that the teacher manual really isn't as helpful as it should be without the DVD, but as long as you watch the DVD the teacher manual is great too. (Moreso in the younger levels like Primer. I'm aggravated that our Delta DVD isn't working; fault of my kiddos for destroying it. LOL There's a half dozen lessons or so that won't play... and of course they're exactly the ones we need right now. Gr. Beside the point.) We love it! I don't forsee changing any time soon. Or... ever. YMMV
How do you think they would do with a child who is not a kinestetic learner? My 7 yr old is a self teacher, but he likes computer games and books. I have never seen him use any sort of manipulatives and blocks. He is pretty well ahead from figuring things out on his own, but I have never taught at him so I am worried about my ability to do that. My 5 yr old, on the other hand, I think MUS will be perfect for him.
We love MUS here! My 4 and 5 yo boys both completed Primer in about 3 months! They loved it so much. We'll be using Alpha this year, and the blocks are wonderful it makes everything so easy to teach.
We have been using MUS for a few years now, and the older 2 (11 + 10) are both on the Epsilon book at the moment. My DD(10) is a hands on learner, so MUS has been perfect for her, as she loves to use manipulatives. My DS (11) who doesn't need manipulatives etc/not a visual learner - still enjoys this program. He likes the way the book and lessons are set out, and the way that he can watch the DVD if needed ( he is the type who can read about the new math process and just gets it) I have also learned so much...it is a wonderful program. A big thumbs up from us.
At first we really liked MUS, but then found that it wasn't repeating some of the new work and problems enough for my kids. I did like the dvd's and the fact that the text's you could write in them if need be or reuse them and copy them. But for my kids it worked for a little while and then it just wasn't what worked for us. We like Saxon much better personally for us.
We tried Math-U-See and were not able to finish. I love the base 10 blocks although you can get those separately but the curriculum itself had a major focus on memorizing math facts. Now if that is your main focus then you will probably enjoy it but if your child likes to solve problems that he hasn't seen before and come up with answers on his own then it probably won't work for you. Day after day of just adding was dreadfully tedious for us. We never moved on to the upper levels though so I don't know what they are like. I will say the curriculum holds it's price pretty well. We were careful with it and didn't write in the book while we were deciding whether we liked it and were able to sell it for, if I remember correctly, over 80% of the price I paid at the Math-U-See website. So that may make a difference if you want to try it out first.
I should also add that with MUS if you need additional practice you can print sheets off their website, and that if your child masters a concept before all sheets for that section are completed it actually tells you to just move on. Only using what you need and skipping the rest. I love that it was so easy to customize for my boys. My oldest got some of the concepts right away so we skipped most of those pages but the Little one did every page...and still could use some repeating but Alpha will repeat most of that so we're good.
He might be visual - often visual learners enjoy computer interaction. My oldest son, 10, is basically visual. He also grasps most of the concepts very easily; when that happens,he doesn't use the books. In fact, other than a lesson or two where *I* used the blocks to demonstrate a concept, long division is the first time *he* has actually had to use them. I do have him use them when he is "teaching" his brothers a concept he just learned, mostly for demonstrating (to me) that he does fully understand the concept and not just the numerical notations. Mr. Demme uses blocks on the teacher DVD to demonstrate the new concept. That is usually enough for my 10yo. MUS says that the DVDs are for the teacher to watch, and then go back and teach the student; my kids enjoy watching them, though, and often with my oldest I don't have to go back and explain any more after he's watched the DVD with me. (Yes, WITH me. I do still watch it with him, as with the youngers. My youngers just watch their "math movie" because my older one does, and they think they're supposed to. LOL) Anyway. If it's used like it's supposed to be, MUS is a fantastic tool.
MUS was not a good fit for us. Dd enjoyed it for the first week or so because it was new, but then she started getting frustrated having to do page after page of the same type of problems. The black and white pages were less than appealing for her as well. She's drawn to the more colorful workbooks. She didn't really care for the blocks either. She enjoyed playing with them the first day we got them but didn't enjoy using them to work out the math problems. We have since switched to Horizons and now dd LOVES math and is always begging to do more.
I think this can go down in the time honored list of questions on the 'spot. Is MUS good, also Singapore vs MUS. It is quite the quandry. LOL I am asking the same thing as well. My sister is using MUS with her 6yo and she is flying through the primer and does the extra sheets just because she likes it so much. I think my boy would do good with the blocks, and the video would help me. But I also do not think he would enjoy the black and white pages. The most common negative I have heard about MUS is that it doesn't teach kids to think outside of box or to use different ways of solving the problems. Also that since it is mastery based you do pages and pages of the same type of problems (which would be the same complaint about all mastery programs). So really I don't have an answer to the OP question, but I would like one. LOL I need to buy something for 1st grade starting in the fall
I know that MUS is a good program, as far as quality goes. But when people are specific about what they do not like about a program, then it tells me if it will fit my child. My now 13 yr old actually did Singapore Math, but used Epsilon video to help with the fractions. I really think my now 14 yr old would have done well with the program. I think my 13 yr old would have too. I am very good at math and do not need help at all in explaining things, but, the way MUS is set up with teaching on Monday and then working on that skill all week is great for our family. Plus, I know it is not recommended, but if I want, I actually can let them watch the video. That is what my daughter did when she was using Epsilon to help with getting through fractions. My 7 yr old is sooo tense and anxiety ridden. He is advanced because he self learns, but I am having anxiety over teaching him. I think I need to leave things uncomplicated as possible. (he has an official diagnosis too, so this is not just my personal assessment).
we love Math-U-See. we are using Primer. my son (5) loves the blocks and he even watches the short lessons on the DVD with me. i think he likes feeling he has "completed" his page. he likes making problems for me with the blocks. it is also easy enough to make up extra problems on your own if you feel they need extra practice in a certain area. also the website has extra worksheets for the higher books. (not primer) his sister,who is 4, watches him do his math. she can't wait til she is ready to do math too!
