Received my wooden C-rods today and I'm disappointed!

[A home for their hearts]

I decided to go with the wooden C-rods because Rosie at Education Unboxed said that the plastic ones bubble out so they didn't line up exactly. I figured for my very logical ds we would need the wooden ones so they lined up perfectly. I bought the Mathematics Made Meaningful wooden set from RR and I'm shocked at the quality. I don't know if all wooden C-rods look this bad but the ones I got look like the paint was slapped on with not a lot of thought and a couple of them are chipped! :glare: My ds even said, I like the plastic ones better! UGH! Has anyone else had issues with their new wooden C-rods?

[Amy Jo]

No. Mine are all nice looking, no chipping. Can you return them? Perhaps you got a bad batch.

[Dinsfamily]

Mine are also very nice. I've had them for 4 years and they still look nice (no chips at all) despite my dc's best efforts. I, too, think you got a bad batch.

[liamtaylorsmom]

Love ours here, too. They look great! Maybe you got a bad batch?

[stripe]

Mine are made out of some balsa like substance that's not sturdy, but they sure aren't chipped! Are they homemade "quizzinair" or what?

[boscopup]

Email RR. They are very good about returns for stuff like that.

[redsquirrel]

Mine are nothing like that. They are wooden but very smooth, well made and have never chipped. They don't bend and haven't warped.

 

Mine have been well used, so if they were going to chip it would have happened by now. I frequently take them 'on the road' in a plastic bag, stuck in a tote with books etc. They have been plenty banged up, not to mention used as toys by my son.

 

I have the "Cuisenaire Rods, small group set: 115 wooden rods". It came in a plastic bucket. When they aren't in a plastic bag, I keep them in the bucket with a lid.

[Momof3littles]

Mine are nothing like that. They are wooden but very smooth, well made and have never chipped. They don't bend and haven't warped.

 

:iagree:

[FO4UR]

Half of my rods are 5 years old and the other half is 2-3 years old. I can't tell the difference between the old and new. They are all in great shape despite much abuse.

 

I bought wooden rods from RR both times. I bought the classroom sets that come in the little tubs, not the MMM set though. Maybe that's the difference???

[AdventureMoms]

I'd email RR about that. Ours look very nice, no chips, smooth, even paint job. They are a lightweight wood, but the quality has seemed fine so far.

[A home for their hearts]

Hmmm, maybe it's just MMM? I did email RR. Has anyone had experience with not being happy with a product from RR? What do they offer when you aren't satisfied?

[Element]

I'm not familiar with the MMM set, but I have the "Small Group, Wood Rods" set from ETA Cuisenaire and they are nice. I absolutely love RR, but in this case I would recommend going with the set directly from ETA.

 

ETA: I'm sure RR will let you exchange them, and I bet the 155/set in the tub would be fine. It seems like many here have had good luck with that.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Element

[PeterPan]

Has it been really hot in your area? Maybe they sat in a hot warehouse or truck during shipping and it caused the paint to bubble. It's been over 100 in a lot of places lately.

[Sahamamama]

Our C-rods are great. We've used one large set for several years, and I ordered more this year so the twins can join in on the fun with Miquon.

 

Send them back. Or call the company and let them know you're not happy. :001_smile:

[A home for their hearts]

Has it been really hot in your area? Maybe they sat in a hot warehouse or truck during shipping and it caused the paint to bubble. It's been over 100 in a lot of places lately.

There really isn't any bubbling that would have been caused from heat exposure, they just look to be very poor quality.

 

I'm not familiar with the MMM set, but I have the "Small Group, Wood Rods" set from ETA Cuisenaire and they are nice. I absolutely love RR, but in this case I would recommend going with the set directly from ETA.

 

ETA: I'm sure RR will let you exchange them, and I bet the 155/set in the tub would be fine. It seems like many here have had good luck with that.

 

The box they came in says ETA on it. I wanted the MMM because it included activity cards and an instruction booklet. Both of which seem to be easier to follow than Miquon.

[TXBeth]

I ordered the wooden 155 set from RR last year. The label even said "wooden." I let DD play with them for a few months until we started school. The second time we worked with them, I realized they are plastic so the sides are bulgy/not square. It had been months; I no longer had the receipt or even the label sticker from the tub. I just kept them, but I'm still not happy about it.

[boscopup]

Hmmm, maybe it's just MMM? I did email RR. Has anyone had experience with not being happy with a product from RR? What do they offer when you aren't satisfied?

 

I've had two mishaps that I contacted RR about, and both went great.

 

First one: They sent me a folding meter stick that could not completely unfold straight. It was a manufacturing erorr with the plastic. I e-mailed them, and they sent me a new one (didn't ask for the old one back).

 

Second one: I bought a reading light, and after less than a week of use, it stopped working. I replaced the battery, but it still didn't work. I contacted RR, and they shipped out a new one. Again, no sending it back or anything.

 

So I'll bet they'll probably just send you a new box of rods.

[FairProspects]

Just for the record, I have not had any problems with the plastic ones bulging at all.

[PeterPan]

Just for the record, I have not had any problems with the plastic ones bulging at all.

 

Did you try laying them out to show 7X3 to see if that worked? I like my plastic set too, have been using them happily with the alphabet book, but when I went to do the actual math with them, turns out they aren't milled accurately. I ordered a set of the wood from ETA. We'll see if they're any more accurate. I guess you can't expect 'em to be MUS manips? Whatever, I thought that's what they were supposed to do, to let you see relationships, and you can't, not with the plastic set (Learning Resources) that I have. The sides just veer out *ever so slightly* and the gaps add up, making the quantities not match up.

[FairProspects]

Did you try laying them out to show 7X3 to see if that worked? I like my plastic set too, have been using them happily with the alphabet book, but when I went to do the actual math with them, turns out they aren't milled accurately.

 

Yeah, we actually do this multiple times daily for both kids, in both arrangements - the block/area way and as horizontal line. Heck, we use c-rods with Beast Academy regularly. Not a single problem and we have 2 sets. One is the 155 tub, and one is the MMM plastic set. We've used both interchangeably with not one issue. We are c-rod heavy around here.

[PeterPan]

Yeah, we actually do this multiple times daily for both kids, in both arrangements - the block/area way and as horizontal line. Heck, we use c-rods with Beast Academy regularly. Not a single problem and we have 2 sets. One is the 155 tub, and one is the MMM plastic set. We've used both interchangeably with not one issue. We are c-rod heavy around here.

 

Which just goes to show I exist in an orb of magnetic anomalies... :lol:

 

BTW, what are the MMM cards like? Are you the one who told me to get the MFW preschool activity cards? We love 'em. So easy to pick up and get done and have just the right amount. Are the MMM cards as good? The sample they had on the ETA website was crummy, just vague, looked like it was out of a book.

[FairProspects]

Which just goes to show I exist in an orb of magnetic anomalies... :lol:

 

BTW, what are the MMM cards like? Are you the one who told me to get the MFW preschool activity cards? We love 'em. So easy to pick up and get done and have just the right amount. Are the MMM cards as good? The sample they had on the ETA website was crummy, just vague, looked like it was out of a book.

 

Hm, I don't think that was me with the MFW preschool cards, but I'm glad you like them. :)

 

The MMM cards are great if you cannot figure out Miquon on your own. It is scripted and tells you which activities to do in which order. We went through A-C, I think, and then I just got how to use c-rods and we moved on. The real benefit of the MMM set IMO is the organization tray. So helpful!

 

If you already understand and love Miquon, then you don't need MMM, but for those of us who thought it looked like an alien language at first, it is incredibly helpful to understand how to use c-rods to show relationships between numbers.

[Spy Car]

Just for the record, I have not had any problems with the plastic ones bulging at all.

 

Me neither.

 

Mine are "Learning Resources" brand. They are quite regular.

 

I prefer the density of the synthetic C Rods over the wood ones. The wood ones always seem "lightweight." Were the wood C Rods milled from hardwood I'm sure I'd make a different choice (if I could afford them) but the softwood C Rods would be a second choice behind the synthetic ones.

 

Bill

[boscopup]

Because of this thread, I laid mine out the way Rosie does to see if mine had this problem. When I put 5 3-rods next to each other with a 5-rod across the top, it was exactly even. When I bumped up to 10 3-rods with a 10 rod across the top, they did stick out ever so slightly, but it was really miniscule. I think it'd be overlooked easily enough here, seeing as how I've never even had to arrange them in that manner as of yet. :tongue_smilie:

 

For doing regular multiplication - seeing that 3 3-rods end-to-end = 1 9-rod, it's exact. No problem there. I don't think the "bubbling" will be significant enough here to cause us problems if I ever need to show them going the other way as in Rosie's video.

[A home for their hearts]

I emailed RR haven't heard back from them yet. I wonder if I should call? I'm really on the fence now about the plastic vs. wooden rods! Hmm I wonder if they would let me exchange them for plastic.

[MeaganS]

I ordered the wooden 155 set from RR last year. The label even said "wooden." I let DD play with them for a few months until we started school. The second time we worked with them, I realized they are plastic so the sides are bulgy/not square. It had been months; I no longer had the receipt or even the label sticker from the tub. I just kept them, but I'm still not happy about it.

 

I did the exact same thing except in reverse and I got them direct from ETA. I ordered plastic and received wooden ones (even said plastic on the container). They are more lightweight than I would like, but they work fine and look good.

[TXBeth]

I did the exact same thing except in reverse and I got them direct from ETA. I ordered plastic and received wooden ones (even said plastic on the container). They are more lightweight than I would like, but they work fine and look good.

 

LOL yeah, well...what happens when I don't get my coffee is that sometimes I type things in reverse. Mine was the other way around as well. I wanted plastic because that is what Bill recommended. I got wood. The rods do not line up properly and I cannot stack them on top of each other because the sides are slightly rounded instead of being completely square.

[boscopup]

LOL yeah, well...what happens when I don't get my coffee is that sometimes I type things in reverse. Mine was the other way around as well. I wanted plastic because that is what Bill recommended. I got wood. The rods do not line up properly and I cannot stack them on top of each other because the sides are slightly rounded instead of being completely square.

 

That sounds like you got the plastic ones. They are a very wood-looking plastic.

[PeterPan]

That sounds like you got the plastic ones. They are a very wood-looking plastic.

 

Hehe, the Learning Resource plastic c-rods indeed look so solid you think they're wood! They're the ones that, for my set, bulge and don't multiply out accurately at (8X4, etc.). So with all this discussion, I ordered a couple sets of WOOD c-rods directly from ETA/hand2mind. Ordered them Sunday, got them today (Wednesday), and they are AWESOME. They are everything the plastic (LR) should have been. They're perfectly milled, straight, multiply out, stack. I don't mind the sensory on the plastic, but I did mind that they weren't actually going to be accurate enough to teach math with or even informally discover math. These wood ones from ETA definitely are. But I ordered directly from them, figuring the stock would be fresh and not coming from a huge, hot warehouse from Rainbow.

 

I'm doubly happy to have discovered all the OTHER things ETA/hand2mind sells. What a treasure trove for people with kinesthetic learners! I found phonics dominoes and science supplies and unifix/rods for reading. Very cool.

 

So that's your little update, at least from me. Ordering wood, directly from ETA worked out great.

[A home for their hearts]

Hehe, the Learning Resource plastic c-rods indeed look so solid you think they're wood! They're the ones that, for my set, bulge and don't multiply out accurately at (8X4, etc.). So with all this discussion, I ordered a couple sets of WOOD c-rods directly from ETA/hand2mind. Ordered them Sunday, got them today (Wednesday), and they are AWESOME. They are everything the plastic (LR) should have been. They're perfectly milled, straight, multiply out, stack. I don't mind the sensory on the plastic, but I did mind that they weren't actually going to be accurate enough to teach math with or even informally discover math. These wood ones from ETA definitely are. But I ordered directly from them, figuring the stock would be fresh and not coming from a huge, hot warehouse from Rainbow.

 

I'm doubly happy to have discovered all the OTHER things ETA/hand2mind sells. What a treasure trove for people with kinesthetic learners! I found phonics dominoes and science supplies and unifix/rods for reading. Very cool.

 

So that's your little update, at least from me. Ordering wood, directly from ETA worked out great.

 

So glad to hear your C-rods are good. I called RR on Tuesday and told them about my C-rods he said he would take a note of it and get back with me. I'm still waiting for his call. I also emailed them and received an email saying they would look into it. So I'll have to wait and see what happened. I guess should have just ordered them from ETA/hand2mind.

[SorrelZG]

That sounds like you got the plastic ones. They are a very wood-looking plastic.

 

I ordered plastic thinking that was the most highly recommended and had that same experience - I seriously thought I'd been sent poor quality wood ones instead. They looked so much like wood that DH had to melt one just to convince me beyond a doubt that they were in fact plastic.:tongue_smilie: I expected plastic to look all smooth and pretty. Mine don't bulge as much as those on that video did but they look cheap with chips around some edges and not perfectly square and do regret not just ordering wood.

[PeterPan]

I ordered plastic thinking that was the most highly recommended and had that same experience - I seriously thought I'd been sent poor quality wood ones instead. They looked so much like wood that DH had to melt one just to convince me beyond a doubt that they were in fact plastic.:tongue_smilie: I expected plastic to look all smooth and pretty. Mine don't bulge as much as those on that video did but they look cheap with chips around some edges and not perfectly square and do regret not just ordering wood.

 

Just for my trivia, were those the ETA plastic or the LR plastic? My dd claims she likes the feel of the plastic better. Not that a 13 yo needs cuisenaire rods. :lol:

 

I guess I could have ordered both to be really scientific about it and compare how accurate the ETA plastic were to the ETA wood. :D

[SorrelZG]

Just for my trivia, were those the ETA plastic or the LR plastic? My dd claims she likes the feel of the plastic better. Not that a 13 yo needs cuisenaire rods. :lol:

 

I guess I could have ordered both to be really scientific about it and compare how accurate the ETA plastic were to the ETA wood. :D

 

LR ones from RR. :001_smile:

[lacell]

Is this still an issue? I am wanting to puchase plastic rods directly from ETA but will get wood if the plastic ones are still this way.