4Real Forums: math u see?

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Topic: math u see?

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Kerry
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Joined: March 28 2005
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Posted: April 12 2005 at 2:18pm \| IP Logged

Does anyone have any first-hand experience with Math u See? I would love to hear especially from those that could compare it to Saxon and/or Al beka(sp?). I have always been extremely weak in Math, and am looking for something that will be as "hands on" as possible so as to keep both our interests.

My son will be in 1st grade next year. Thanks for any feedback you can give.

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Kerry
married to DH John 8/8/98,
mommy to Daniel 8/6/99, Isaiah 7/10/01, Gianna 3/28/03, Samuel 10/11/04

amiefriedl
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Posted: April 12 2005 at 2:48pm \| IP Logged

Kerry,
I'll offer you some empathy on this end of the message board.

So far I can say that I've never been completely satisfied with any single math program. I have MUS, I've tinkered with MCP (Modern Curriculum Press) Saxon and others. I also diddle with various odd n'ends books I find at bookstores, Walmart etc. None of them seem to have all that I want or need for teaching math skills. I literally hop from one to another from week to week depending on what my son seems to need. If one program doesn't seem to be getting across an idea to my high-need son then I page through another program to find what he does need.

From a cost perspective, this is quite insane. I just happened to pick most of these up used/gently used for very little. So it isn't always going to work for us forever.

This is not to say I don't like MUS. I do. We just need more at this point. I'm such a newbie teacher!

Elizabeth mentions her affinity for manipulatives in her book. I agree. Making math touchable is supreme for my son. I'm so glad concept came my way so early on in our homeschooling adventure.

I do highly recommend a _Time & Money_ text by McGraw-Hill. It has great color and activities and moves at just the right pace for a 'perfectionist' type of child. Lots of instant success with mom close by. I combine this text with a hand's-on moveable clock and he has learned this aspect of 'math' at a very satisfying pace for us both. HTH!

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Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.

lilac hill
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Posted: April 12 2005 at 4:15pm \| IP Logged

The first 2 years of homeschoooling with my then 4th and 7th grade daughters we used Saxon and Horizons. The girls came home from public with some math difficulties. After searching around we discovered dd#2 is a visual learner (took me awhile to figure this out, even though she solved all problems with a sketch) and switched to MUS. She started with Advanced and I retaught some MUS ways of doing thing to her.
DD#3 used Singapore for a bit then we switched her over to MUS. She was in 3rd grade and we did the FOundations book in one year instead of 2-3 years . This was in the old program. DD#3 is not necessarily a visual learner but I liked the program. I like the manipulatives. In many ways the program simplifies things by reducing the number of steps in each problem.For example you do not find the lowest common denominator when adding fractions at first. It comes eventually and very naturally. DD#2 really appreciated that simplification.
Not sure how far we will go in the program but we have the option of going through Alg 2 and Trig so I feel less worried about the future.
OUr routine is fairly easy. We watch the video together then she does a few problems, explaining her steps to me then she works on her own. We do 20 minutes of math a day. After a few pages devoted to the topic we are learning, there are a few pages of review. There are word problems on most pages, chapter tests and review tests.
I did not begin with a 1st grader so I do not know how the program looks to a younger child.
I use other tools for fact memorization too.
There is a yahoo group for MUS users which helps when you have trouble, too.
Viv

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Viv
Wife to Rick (7/83), Mom to dd#1(6/87), dd#2(1/90), and dd#3(6/94) in central PA.

Wendi DeGrandpr
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Joined: March 02 2005
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Posted: April 13 2005 at 6:22am \| IP Logged

We have used Saxon all along ... until this year. My younger dd is doing well with it. She just gets it the way they teach it so we will stick with it ... for now. My older dd "hit a wall" with Saxon and I have realized she too is a more visual learner. We struggled daily with Saxon, reviewing, repeating, usually ending with her in tears of frustration. I am evaluating MUS and I think we will eventually go there. I was able to pinpoint her problem areas with the MUS placement tests which are online. Based on what we discovered we went to the "Key To" books and she is really enjoying it. I am not sure if we will continue with Key To for algebra - she likes it and that says a lot at this point. We have two children who are coming into our family through adoption. They are 3 and 5 and at this point speak little to no english. Based on what I have learned about MUS I think we will use that when they are ready to proceed with math as it is very visual and I believe tactile.
I used to be a Saxon die-hard thinking math is math and they just have to learn it. While I still believe they need to learn it I am much more in tune with how learning styles can determine which program will work for each child. For some reason I did fine with this concept in every subject except math - guess I am a little slow.

God Bless,
Wendi

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cathhomeschool
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Posted: April 17 2005 at 7:28am \| IP Logged

MUS is the only math curriculum we have used. (When my older two were small, I used general math and Time & Money workbooks.) We have enjoyed the hands-on approach. Math is one of my strengths. I never needed manipulatives and don't have trouble teaching. However, my children are benefiting largely from the manipulatives and from Steve's "different" angle on things. I don't consider the curriculum to be perfect, but it has worked wonderfully with my boys. I highly recommend it.

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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)

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