Math U See

[Carin' For Seven]

I am thinking about switching over to MUS next year. Any pro's / con's???

[Scarlett]

I am thinking about switching over to MUS next year. Any pro's / con's???

 

 

Just had a blonde moment that I have to share. I JUST NOW made the connection between mathusee and MUS. :lol:

 

Sorry I dont know anything about MUS. Except my friend who just pulled her 5th grader out of ps has ordered some of their material. She hasn't received it yet, but she is very excited that she might be able to help him. I like the overall concept of it. It is much the way I've taught my own ds8.

[Harriet Vane]

Pros:

 

Great instructional video takes the pressure off me

Mastery-based learning rather than spiral

Excellent support services through website

Excellent use of manipulatives

 

Cons:

 

I have occasionally wanted more drill--however, I can always get more drill from their website.

SWB found that the program is not as rigorous in high school--for me that means it will be a good fit for dd all the way through, but ds may need to switch in the hs years to something more challenging. SWB did, however, say it is still a strong program, just not necessarily the best fit for a math-oriented kid.

[hsmom]

have you requested their sample dvd? that really explains a lot about it.

[Jackie in NE]

Karen,

 

I've used MUS for quite a while, and am happy with it. My oldest dd is just finishing up Zeta and is simultaneously doing Lial's BCM in order for her to be on track to take Algebra 1 next year as an 8th grader. She began MUS as a 1st grader and has never used anything else. I had some concerns, as we got closer to Algebra, as to whether or not MUS would adequately prepare her. My concerns stemmed mainly from others raising questions on these boards as to the effectiveness of MUS.

 

You may get some cons stating that MUS does not adequately prepare students for Algebra. But my experience has been just the opposite. My dd is NOT math-minded, but she is able to grasp the lessons pretty easily from the DVD lessons. If she's not sure how to do a particular new problem, I usually just do the examples in the teacher's guide on the board with her. This rarely is necessary, though.

 

I am really happy to say that dd is sailing through her pre-algebra. I feel that MUS has given her a lot of depth on the concepts needed to progress to the next level. (MUS also has advanced level math texts, but I thought it would be important for her to be taught using a different instructor/style).

 

In the early grades, the scope and sequence might be a little different than that which is taught in public school. I think this is because MUS goes more in-depth on each concept before moving on to the next. But everything IS eventually covered. If you plan to always HS your dc, of course this is not an issue.

 

Also, I did supplement the lessons on telling time, and on money, just because my students weren't "getting it" with just MUS. I just bought a couple of inexpensive workbooks.

 

But after having said all this, I think the most important reason to use MUS or a program like it, is because of the way it teaches students to look at numbers. It is based on the place value of numbers as opposed to counting. Right Start uses the same approach, and I'm sure there are others.

 

I have had limited exposure to Saxon and Abeka math, which use counting (for lack of a better word) and which have not made sense to any of my 4dc.

 

So I would encourage you to read math reviews written by math teachers. I don't have a link for you, but hopefully someone else will, or maybe you could google "primary math reviews", or something like that.

 

Most of the info. I've shared with you pertained to my oldest dd, but all 4 of my dc are doing well with MUS. I used her as an example because she has completed the entire sequence of primary math. Also, the push right now with doing BCM simultaneously, is due to family issues over the last couple of years, and NOT with the math program.

 

HTH,

[HollyDay]

I only have a few cons with MUS and they might not even be cons for you.

 

1. the scope and sequence is very, very different from the "standard" s/s. 1st grade is all about addition, 2nd - subtraction, 3rd - multiplication, 4th - division, 5th - fractions, 6th - percents and decimals. IF your state requires testing, this MIGHT be an issue for you since the tests will have questions on it that your dc will not have been taught.

 

2. you cant move forward until the current lesson is mastered. THis only became an issue for us in 5th grade - Epsilon - fractions. Dd was completely stuck somewhere around lesson 23. She couldnt go forward, didnt need to go back and couldnt grasp where she was. A gf of mine (state certified science teacher) looked at the problem and thought it was too much too soon. She said most dc didnt get to that level until a few grades ahead. We stopped MUS, picked up Sax 56 and finished the year successfully. We are using TT this year - 6th by the way.

 

3. dc might get bored . My youngest got really, really tired of subtracting in 2nd grade. She could do huge numbers - 6 or more figures subtracting but that was all there was to do that year. She liked a variety. We used BJU 3 this year and she did very well. I did use MUS several times though. I pulled out the dvds for division and fractions more than a couple times!

 

HTH~

[Sunshine State Sue]

My review is in this thread:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=939&highlight=sue+st+pete

[Storm Bay]

We use it as a second program. I switched to it from Saxon for my second who is very visual spatial. While she liked it, it wasn't enough math thinking for this child who is mathematically minded. So we added Singapore Math and do a combination. That doesn't mean you have to do two, but it helps.

 

My dd liked doing it, for the most part, until Zeta with all the decimals. I'm going to have her finish Zeta, but am not sure if we'll get any more levels. Instead, she'll continue Singapore and we may add a Russian program to help develop her mathematical thinking. I like Mr. Demme and think that his approach is just the thing for certain learning styles. Not perfect, but I don't think any program is.

 

There have been times when she just couldn't do Mr. Demme's way, but she could do the Singapore Math way or a third way that I taught her. I don't sweat those details as long as she gets the concept, can do the work and eventually really understands what's going on when she does it.