4Real Forums: MUS versus Cuisenaire Rods

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Living and Loving Numbers
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Topic: MUS versus Cuisenaire Rods

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Cindy Mac
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Posted: March 13 2007 at 10:26am \| IP Logged

Do they teach the same thing?

If so, would it be redundant to use both? Which one is "better"?

Any advice would be great. I'm so confused

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vmalott
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Posted: March 13 2007 at 2:27pm \| IP Logged

OK, I'm pondering the same thing. When we first started homeschooling 6 years ago, I was interested in the Miquon/Cuisenaire rod route for my daughter who was entering 2nd grade and very math phobic. We didn't like the Miquon books...too....er...open-ended? I'm not sure how to describe it. Anyway, I didn't really 'get' the whole idea of using the Cuisenaire rods.

That said, I just received and watched the Math-U-See demo DVD today and I am really intrigued. What is appealing about the manipulatives is that they are segmented. So, you can count the number of units in a given bar and not need to rely on your color memory like w/Cuisenaire rods.

The other thing I like is that the manipulatives are also similar to the Base 10 Blocks available through ETA/Cuisienaire. So, you not only have rods from 1-10, but you also have a 100 flat that will help teach place value as well as assist students with grasping the concept of multi-digit multiplication.

I also like the idea that there are teaching videos for the parent-teacher to watch to help get those concepts across. We've been struggling around here with the concept of multi-digit multiplication, to the point that I have dropped it for the last 2 months or so. ::sigh:: I watched Demme's demonstration on how to use the manipulatives to illustrate the concept in such an incredibly simple, visual way and was floored. I had my son watch it, and his impression was, "Gee, that's easy!"

So, I'm at the point where I think this would be a very valuable program to invest in. And we've tried just about everything under the sun. Miquon, MCP, Saxon, and 'living' math books. This might just be the answer for us.

Hope this helps,
Valerie

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Valerie
Mom to Julia ('94), John ('96), Lizzy ('98), Connor ('01), Drew ('02), Cate ('04), Aidan ('08) and three saints in heaven
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vmalott
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Posted: March 13 2007 at 2:29pm \| IP Logged

PS: I forgot to mentioned the Demo DVD is free! You can request it at the MUS website

Valerie

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Valerie
Mom to Julia ('94), John ('96), Lizzy ('98), Connor ('01), Drew ('02), Cate ('04), Aidan ('08) and three saints in heaven
Seven Times the Fun

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