journey00 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 (edited) Yes, I really hate teaching it to my 7yr old son. He is a visual learner and he watches the video & does the work but I feel like it is moving soooooo slow. He is getting bored with the textbook because he already knows how to add single digits. Since he does know how to add one digits I have been ok with not doing every problem. We are on lesson #5 but I feel like if he doesn't do every lesson we will "miss" some critical step that will help him with the next lesson. Ugh!!! I'm soooooo frustrated!!!! I hate it so much I dread doing it! I feel like I am in school learning & this is NOT my learning style. I want to hit my head against the wall!! How important is it for the teacher to like the curriculum?? How long can a teacher teach with a curriculum she hates? Someone give me some advice...pleeeeease! Edited November 29, 2011 by journey00 added more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 (edited) I hesitated to answer your post because I don't want to persuade you in any particular direction, so I will just tell you this: Yes, I think liking the material is extremely important! Finding what works is not just about finding what works for the child but also what works for the teacher. If a particular curriculum is driving you crazy, your child will sense it. Your general attitude and how happy or unhappy you are will become apparent, even without you realizing it and even to your spouse. This happened to me with an all in one unit study. I find I like to teak a lot and it just did not fit my style of teaching to have every subject planned out for me. As soon as I dropped it, I noticed my dc were A LOT happier and had a better attitude towards learning and I don't think I was even outwardly complaining. I found I had less stress and more energy in general, and for getting through the homeschooling day. The old saying rings true. "If momma ain't happy..." I feel for you! For the record, I am a MUS dropout.:tongue_smilie: Edited November 29, 2011 by MyLittleBears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journey00 Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 I hesitated to answer your post because I don't want to persuade you in any particular direction, so I will just tell you this: Yes, I think liking the material is extremely important! If a particular curriculum is driving you crazy, your child will sense it. Your general attitude and how happy or unhappy you are will become apparent, even without you realizing it. This happened to me with a unit-type study. I find I like to teak a lot and it just did not fit my style of teaching to have every subject planned out for me. As soon as I dropped it, I noticed my dc were A LOT happier and had a better attitude towards learning and I don't think I was even outwardly complaining.The old saying rings true. "If momma ain't happy..." Sometimes though, a little creativity is all that is needed to shake things up a bit. Perhaps you could drop the DVD lesson and just teach from the book, or watch the lesson on your own without your son present. Maybe you could have him teach you the lesson after you both watch the video. MUS tends to build on previously taught material so I would not just drop something but you could give him the end of lesson tests just to see if he has in fact mastered the material. I feel for you! Wish I could be of more help. For the record, I am a MUS dropout.:tongue_smilie: Some good ideas here, thanks. Nice to know there are MUS dropouts and I'm not crazy for not liking it. I don't complain about it, I don't make any faces or say anything but inside I feel very tense. I bet he feels my tension somehow. Thanks for the speedy response, I feel better & a little more grounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKidAcademy Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 If he knows the material, move on. You are frustrating him and yourself. If you are afraid of missing something, have him do 3-5 problems from a section to prove mastery. If he can do them, go to the next lesson. He doesn't need to watch Mr. D if he knows the skill. (I do like MUS for the younger grades. Try moving at a quicker pace and see if you like it better. We didn't do every workbook page for every lesson. If my son knew the material, we moved on. We covered Alpha, Beta, and Gamma in 8mos - well worth the review as it brought my son up to speed on missing skills.) By allowing him to wallow in boredom, you risk squashing his love of learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I would just have him do one lesson per day (watch lesson or not and only 1 worksheet or even half a worksheet) until he gets to something new. (If you son is a big math lover, he could do two lessons.) Since you are on lesson 5 and if this last much longer, you may want to rethink placement. I don't think he will miss anything if you skip ahead. I am a visual learner like my son, so I like MUS, but it is very important that you like it too. With MUS there isn't much teaching to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I cannot stand MUS. I absolutely appreciate it for a very specific type of child with certain needs or struggles with math. I have to say I would really suggest thinking about maybe another option. You could certainly use the manipulatives, as they are very good. I think MUS has holes all over the place. There is no money, clock, geometry, nothing. If you like the way it teaches arithmetic you can stick with it, but I would highly recommend looking at MM's topical series and maybe plug in some useful math to your lessons. You can purchase the clock, money, or basic geometry separately and continue using MUS for the basic math. Maybe it would be more interesting using another source along with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Another MUS dropout here. I tried it my first year of homeschooling. It does NOT fit my style of teaching at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journey00 Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Thank you for all the replies. I'm gonna try some of the suggestions of him doing a few problems and if he proves mastery we will move on. I guess I was really getting bogged down with doing every problem on every page & frustrating both of us. I also thought he HAD to watch the video every single time. It is interesting that some don't even use the manipulatives. Thank you and God bless.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I'd just do as PPs stated and move forward as his speed. If he knows the material, there is absolutely no reason to do every problem or even every page. If my son didn't struggle with math, we certainly wouldn't! Also, I'm not sure why a PP thinks there is no money, clock, or geometry in MUS. MUS does not follow a standard public school sequence of introducing concepts, but these are most definitely covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellalarella Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I didn't enjoy teaching MUS in the beginning, either. I prefer to read rather than go to the trouble of getting out a DVD and watching, etc. I also found that I struggled with MUS because I had learned math in a very algorithm, non-manipulative, non-pictorial way, child of the 80's that I am. :) Then I read a book called "Teaching and Knowing Mathematics" by Liping Ma and my heart opened to making the effort to know and understand math better. I know this isn't the case for everyone (Those who dislike MUS have their own reasons!) and I am truly speaking for only myself, but my dislike of MUS was really rooted in the fact that I didn't possess a deep understanding of math. We have continued to use MUS because I realized 1) I needed to spend the time to learn the math and 2) the farther we advanced in the program the more I liked the how/why. Just this morning my dd10 was commenting to the family about how much she liked MUS. I find this very interesting because when we started it last school year, she HATED it. In fact, she tried another math program and came back to MUS. There isn't a perfect curriculum out there for us. What I've found is that I have to make a commitment as a teacher to understand whatever I'm teaching and be vigilant to assess whether my children are learning. I think the "best" curriculums are the ones that help me be a better teacher of my children. If video driven instruction drives a person nuts and they don't care for the MUS teacher manual, I recommend Math Mammoth. The teaching is imbedded in the student worksheets. Just read, teach, and go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I cannot stand MUS. I absolutely appreciate it for a very specific type of child with certain needs or struggles with math. I have to say I would really suggest thinking about maybe another option. You could certainly use the manipulatives, as they are very good. I think MUS has holes all over the place. There is no money, clock, geometry, nothing. If you like the way it teaches arithmetic you can stick with it, but I would highly recommend looking at MM's topical series and maybe plug in some useful math to your lessons. You can purchase the clock, money, or basic geometry separately and continue using MUS for the basic math. Maybe it would be more interesting using another source along with it? This is incorrect as these subjects are in the MUS series. We are in Delta right now and there is a ton of geometry! Clock, money, and geometry are taught throughout the whole series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison in KY Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Move on if he is bored. You can skip to the 3 review pages and have him do a couple problems of those. If he knows it then skip. The only thing you have to watch out for is if a new skill is taught. But there's such a routine to MUS that it's easy to figure out if he is ready for it or not. Don't feel bad about skipping pages;) Alison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 This is incorrect as these subjects are in the MUS series. We are in Delta right now and there is a ton of geometry! Clock, money, and geometry are taught throughout the whole series. Oh sorry I didn't specify I meant the first two. Op has a 7 year old doing single digit so i'm guessing she is in Alpha, then would have to go through Beta before getting to delta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellalarella Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Alpha has time telling. I just did it with my first grade son. Alpha also has shapes and patterns. Beta has perimeter and time telling--I just did it with my second grade daughter. Perhaps the PP was referring to an older version of MUS. It's sometimes gets hairy when we may not be clear about versions. I thought MM was really packed and too dense in design for the 1st grade work and I was complaining about it on the forum--and then posters were aghast because their recently updated version had plenty of white space. :001_smile: Curriculums change :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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