Johanna Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I mean, do all kids succeed using MUS?? I am just considering going MUS all the way and thereby erasing all my fears that they just wont "get math". My son is going into 3rd and still does not have his addition and subtraction facts mastered....he still counts on his hands. We are progressing through CLE (on 205) and he takes FOREVER on his timed drills (counts on fingers).... I am considering continuing through CLE and supplementing with MUS (starting with alpha). Though...it feels like a workload? And, I am considering starting my First grade dd on MUS alpha (start on a clean slate) as opposed to BJU. Older dd (going into 5th and finishing CLE 4th) never had a problem mastering her addition/sub facts....she just got them naturally:001_smile:..... but, the others arent following suit. So, has anyone NOT liked MUS to use for grounding addition/subtraction facts?? I feel like if we dont get this mastered....then he will struggle as math gets harder in CLE. KWIM??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 So, has anyone NOT liked MUS to use for grounding addition/subtraction facts??I feel like if we dont get this mastered....then he will struggle as math gets harder in CLE. KWIM??? DD hated MUS and learned nothing. We also tried "Addition Made Easy" with mixed results. Abeka Speed Drills books are working amazingly well. One game with abeka is to have 8 marbles for example, and take turns hiding some of them. The other person has to guess how many are hidden. This is how we warm up before doing the speed drill. If you can think of questions about MUS that could make me more specific I will be glad to add to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Memorizing "math facts" (while useful) should not be confused with "getting math" anymore than memorizing "sight words" should be confused with learning phonics. The first thing you need to do is ascertain if he understands the MUS strategy for addition and subtraction. If not, you need to remediate, and either make the MUS strategy clear, or find another strategy that works for him (other than finger-counting). But memorization (absent understanding) is an extremely limiting path. It's not much different that memorizing words by their shape. You can't by-pass the skill of leaning to "compute" vs relying on rote-memory if you want them to "get math". Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Let me preface this by telling you that I'm not a big supporter of fact drills. I also don't think they have anything to do with the understanding of math. I do realize that having quick recall of them helps a child complete later tasks more quickly. To answer your question: My dd HATED MUS. She loves to figure out math problems. The thing that got her to do her simple "facts" more quickly was moving onto more complex and bigger problems. Her speed on the little stuff picked up considerably. She can also figure out most word problems faster than I can. She will drag out a sheet of simple computation until the end of time, but will whiz through word problems and puzzle problems. Once I got past my need to see her complete computations and realized that she is terrific at math, we both started to get a lot more out of it. There is nothing wrong with the way MUS teaches addition and subtraction except that my dd hated it. I've used lots of math programs but not CLE so I have nothing to say about it. I have used BJU (parts of years 2 and 3) and my dd liked it better than MUS because it had more variety of problems and a wider variety of problem solving methods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjarnold Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 My 10yo daughter really struggled with math facts, so after years of trying various programs and drills (A Beka, Singapore, Saxon, Flashmaster, etc.), I finally decided to switch her to MUS. It worked wonderfully for her, and though she's still not a math wiz, she's finally up to or slightly ahead of her official grade level. My 11yo son (more of the math wiz type) switched to MUS a year later and is zooming along. One of the great things about MUS for me is the fact that my kids watch the DVDs with me, so I'm really not leaving out any significant portion of the program (like I so often did with A Beka since I never had time to do the entire lesson from the lesson plans). Just thought you should hear some positive feedback as you're making your decision. Tiffany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 We love MUS here, my 4 year old is only on the Primer though. Every lesson she seems to master right away, so I have no complaints. She's doing simple addition and not using her fingers. I do want to add a second curriculum though, MUS seems to simple to me, maybe that's why she understands it all so quickly, but I want to be sure she *really* understands math. So we're checking out a few more math curriculums - RightStart, Singapore, Miquon, and will probably chose one of these to compliment MUS. I think every child learns differently though, and math is no exception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southmetromom Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 We us MUS, and have for 5 years - but I used a LOT of supplementary drill to help them memorize the facts. We also deviate when the MUS approach is confusing to the children. Mostly, MUS works -- but when it doesn't, we supplement, improvise and drill. Personally, I am still looking for a "math pill" to give the dc! :lol: You'll find a program/methods that works for you. Hugs, Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 We love MUS. When my oldeset daughter (now 17) was in middle school, part of the reason I brought her home was because she was almost 2 years behind in math. We started MUS and I had her watch the videos with me and she said, "Why didn't anyone ever explain it to me like this before?" From that point on she understood and caught up to grade level. She's in PS now, and math still isn't her favorite, but she's competent. This year I started my 4/5 year old on the Primer and she's having a blast with learning the basics. The ONLY drawback for us with MUS is not having enough drills. There simply wasn't enough daily work, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Kids with motor planning problems might have trouble with MUS especially as the problems get more complex. My son did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Kids with motor planning problems might have trouble with MUS especially as the problems get more complex. My son did. What are motor planning problems? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 (edited) Kids who have motor planning problems have trouble figuring out how to move correctly to do what they want to do. They seem clumsy and awkward and they need a lot of time to figure out how to move. Edited July 5, 2009 by EKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 We used Saxon the first year at home, then switched to MUS and have never once looked back. 10 yo dd really does well with it, and so we plan to stay with MUS through the long haul. If it works, then there's no reason to change. I particularly liked this comment from my monthly MUS newsletter: "Math-U-See is organized according to the sequential order of mathematical concepts. It is a very logical approach and makes learning math easy. If you put every math curriculum side by side, you would see that they all cover things at different times. There isn't a standard for what to cover when." Debbie, MUS user group discussion. I was just reading this as well as numerous other wonderful testimonies from families that have used MUS all the way through hs years. I agree with them that Steve Demme has done a fabulous job putting the MUS program together. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Currently, with my older dd (the only one I'm currently teaching at the moment), we are using RightStart Math B to teach "math," and we're also going through MUS Alpha for "fact learning." I'm distingushing (at this point anyway) between learning math and problem solving from learning computational skills. I do think both are important, but computational skills alone do not a math education make. My *plan* (which may change dramatically) is to do a bit with Singapore and/ or MEP once she starts first grade a year from now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanna Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Memorizing "math facts" (while useful) should not be confused with "getting math" anymore than memorizing "sight words" should be confused with learning phonics. The first thing you need to do is ascertain if he understands the MUS strategy for addition and subtraction. If not, you need to remediate, and either make the MUS strategy clear, or find another strategy that works for him (other than finger-counting). But memorization (absent understanding) is an extremely limiting path. It's not much different that memorizing words by their shape. You can't by-pass the skill of leaning to "compute" vs relying on rote-memory if you want them to "get math". Bill good point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindygz Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 My 7 yo daughter is in Alpha and my 4 yo dabbles in Primer, but we have really loved the MUS approach. I think it does a great job of sticking the basics into the kids'heads. I love that the DVDs teach the material and the teacher's manuals have great reinforcement activities. You can also print off additional worksheets from the website. My daughter is doing well with her addition facts and I think a lot of that is because she has context from the manipulatives, as she is very right-brained. Just my $.02:001_smile: mindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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