Would you use Math u See with a 5th grader that has never used it before?

[mommyoffive]

What are your thoughts on that?

[Mr. G]

Yes.

[HomeAgain]

MUS doesn't require you to use their previous levels.  We jumped in with Gamma and had no issues.  It moves differently than other curriculum, but much is woven in as they go along so I don't feel like anything is really missing in the Alpha-Zeta years.

[Lori D.]

5th grade is when we stumbled onto MUS for our struggled math student. That was the year he finally turned the corner in math -- I think it was a combination of his brain finally "clicking" and the math portion starting to mature, with MUS being a good fit for his learning style (needs concrete, visual, hands-on)

 

DS was behind in math, so we started with where HE was in the math topics, and didn't worry about trying to match his grade and the MUS level.

 

5th grade

spine = MUS Gamma (all) & Delta (half)

supplement = Hands-On Equations; other manipulative-based items

 

6th grade

spine = MUS Delta (other half) & Epsilon (all)

supplement = excerpts from Singapore 4A, 4B; Keys to Fractions

 

7th grade

spine = MUS Zeta

supplement = excerpts from Singapore 5A, 5B; Keys to Decimals & Percents

 

8th grade

spine = MUS Pre-Algebra

supplement = excerpts from Singapore 6A, 6B -- if it had been available, I probably also would have tried excerpts from Jousting Armadillos or other Pre-Algebra supplement, as I do think MUS Pre-Algebra is pretty light

 

Edited August 25, 2016 by Lori D.

[mommyoffive]

The kid in question is not struggling in math.  I have always wanted to try MUS and never have.  I was just wondering if it was to late to do it with this kid.

[OneStepAtATime]

What about MUS appeals to you?  MUS is a great program but usually if a student is strong in math to begin with it may break things down too much.  It might be boring.  If the child is strong in math and has no struggles, I'm not sure I would jump into this program for 5th grade.  However, if you were supplementing with something for the more conceptual side and the way MUS presents things appeals to you, yes I agree I don't see why you couldn't have your 5th grader just jump in.

[hedwigtheowl]

I started this year with MUS in 4th grade and I love it after common core in public school.

 

I don't think it's boring - the repetition is not so very much and it brings confidence. It is also super-easy to use and we do everything on a four-day schedule. 

[sweetpea3829]

It depends on what your purpose is for it.  Which level would you be planning on starting with?  As the levels (prior to pre-al) are topical, I would think it would be difficult to jump in with a 5th grader.  They've seen addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, fractions, etc.  

 

Now if you were going to start with pre-al, then sure.  But one caution...many folks feel as though MUS higher levels are too light.  Some folks don't.  But if you find it to be too light, you may want to use it as an introduction and then follow-up with something a bit more stout.  

 

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of MUS.  I've used the first three levels with my dyscalculic daughter, and she made great progress with it.  Midway through Gamma, she began to flounder, as his explanation of multiple digit multiplication is a bit...different.  I've heard Delta is one of the weaker levels, too.  

 

This year, I'm switching her to Math Mammoth and going back a few grades to shore up her conceptual math abilities.  MUS taught her HOW...now I want her to learn WHY.  

[vaquitita]

I switched my son last year mid way thru fourth grade. He was not struggling with math (well, maybe a bit with long division. but that had more to do with my not teaching it well. LOL). He did all of gamma and began delta. He already knew how to multiply, but I found gamma to really help him memorize those facts and cement the multi digit multiplication formula. I was not good at adding in facts drill to singapore. I did wonder if it would bore him, but it doesn't. He prefers to just get it done and move on. He doesn't enjoy the MUS pages in particular, but because he can just get it down he now is back to enjoying math outside of school. Playing with numbers on his own. He doesn't need all the MUS pages, Which is nice because it allows us to only do it four days a week and do Beast Academy on Fridays.

 

I got extra blocks and we built a bunch of the multi digit problems, which it doesn't do much of in the videos due to lack of space (they get big! lol). We did it for fun, but it ended up being helpful in really teaching why and what we were doing on paper. Sure MUS gets them knowing how to do stuff, but I think if you don't skimp on building stuff with the blocks then you also get the why. The why may not always be spelled out like in singapore, but it's obvious when you build problems with the blocks why it works a certain way.

 

eta: if you're jumping in later, then your kid will have done some of the stuff since MUS is topical. So the beginning half of each book will be easy for him. You can go through those lessons quite quickly, spending just a day or two even on a lesson (instead of a week or more), and then slow down when you get to the harder material. Gamma and Delta start out covering the topic on a 2nd/3rd grade level, but by the end of the book it's at a 6th grade level. So it might not be cost effective for you. He probably would need two books each year (possibly gamma and delta this year and epsilon and zeta next year), making it twice as expensive. 

Edited August 25, 2016 by vaquitita