MUS primer or alpha

[lorrainejmc]

I want to start ds5 on MUS this year. I have looked at the samples but I am still unsure of what level to start him on. Can some describe these two levels in a BTDT sort of way?

[oraetstudia]

I don't have the books in front of me, but I've gone through both with a few of my kids. Primer is very basic. You cover shapes, counting, writing numbers, some adding and a very little subtracting in the last lesson or two. Alpha goes back and reviews a lot of the same things more quickly, plus you get much more adding and subtracting of single digits. The new Alpha book set has some fun pages in the test book that my 6 year old loved when she did them (they weren't there when we went through it with my now 9 year old.)

 

We did Primer in K and Alpha in 1st. My non-mathy child took about 1.5 (or closer to 2 years) to get through Alpha, because she couldn't get her addition and subtraction facts down. She's since switched to TT and is doing great. My much better at math children have flown through the early books.

 

You could certainly begin with Alpha, but the basics in Primer are good.

[Kipling]

I have not done (or even seen) the primer level. However, I started my almost 5-year old (he turned 5 in Oct) on alpha last year, and he did very well with it. It spends 18 weeks on teaching place value and basic addition; then, it spends the remainder of the year teaching basic subtraction. Each week focusses on a specific set of facts, ie. add 2s, add 9s, subtract 3s, etc. In my opinion, if your child knows his numbers, I think he would do fine with alpha.

[veggiegal]

I've used both with my boys. Primer starts more basic, but also covers a broader range of topics than Alpha--it sort of gives an overview of early math, and switches from topic to topic. This worked really well for my older, who is a whole-to-parts learner. He did not like Alpha nearly as much, and I had to adapt the way we use the program--it became monotonous and we felt bogged down. I did a blog post on this topic (and more--but the first paragraph is about Primer vs Alpha) that you can find here:

 

http://educatingrisa.com/2010/03/24/math-ch-ch-ch-changes/

 

With my second child, we are still working through Primer (almost done), and will start Alpha next year. Primer has been important for him as his math skills were not as strong as my oldest, and the gentle approach--yet still covering a lot of topics--has helped him gain confidence. I actually had to stop Primer at one point as place value (lesson 9) just wasn't sinking in. We took a break, read lots of living math readers and played games like Sum Swamp, and came back to it in a couple months. I also think Alpha will go better for him having done Primer--he's more confident with a sense of "oh, I've seen this sort of thing before".

 

So I guess it depends on your kid. My younger needed the gentle intro and extra review of Primer; my older benefited and enjoyed the overview of early math it provided. For a kid with strong math skills already who is a parts-to-whole learner, Primer may be unnecessary. HTH.

[SnMomof7]

 

We did Primer in K and Alpha in 1st. My non-mathy child took about 1.5 (or closer to 2 years) to get through Alpha, because she couldn't get her addition and subtraction facts down.

 

We have been in Alpha for almost two years now too. Sometimes I feel like we will never be done :glare:. I am glad that I am not the only one. I guess my daughter is non-mathy, whenever we have had to take a break - new baby, moving etc. she has forgotten almost everything. Only...four...lessons...left....

 

Ahem.

 

That being said, I like Primer, I am going to use it with my just-turned-five year old as soon as we get a few more lessons of Alpha done and I can justify buying Beta (I'll throw in a student Primer text). Primer does NOT require mastery, and honestly - I don't know how many five-year-olds are up for the kind of mastery that Alpha requires. Depends on your child! Do they need gentle, slower, easier from recognition of numbers into gentle addition? Get Primer. If they are ready to start mastering math facts (addition and subtraction) in fairly short order you could go with Alpha.

[lorrainejmc]

Thanks, everyone. OK, he will be 5.5yrs when we start. He knows shapes, recognizes and writes some numbers, counts to 20 and constantly holds up fingers and tells me how many he has, eg: he will hold up 3 on each hand and tell me 3+3 is 6. He has done no formal maths, he has absorbed all this naturally. I held off on formal maths as I didn't want to kill his curiosity by starting too young. He didn't really settle into a school routine until after he turned 5 in Feb, compulsory, formal schooling starts the Sept after the 4th birthday here.:eek: My only concerns about going straight into Alpha is the pace but I suppose I could simply take it as slow as he needs.

[Quad Shot Academy]

He needs to know numbers from 1-20 very well before starting Alpha, IMO. We do about 3 Kumon workbooks first. I bought Primer, but boxed right back up and shipped it back when the video said everything they learned in Primer would be repeated in Alpha.

 

My son went through Alpha quickly. It took my daughter 2 years. If it takes your kids 2 years, don't say they aren't good at math, maybe they are just late bloomers because she is a year ahead now and gets about 95% every time!