SEGway Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 How frustrating would it be for a student to work with Math U See and have Cuisenaire Rods as the manipulatives instead of integer blocks? Background: I'm trying to find strategies to help my SIL remediate my nephew. I'm looking at Math U See. (He has almost completely stalled out with MM.) We both have C-Rods, I'm not sure she'll be excited about springing for MUS blocks, too. So, I'm wondering if c-rods can be substituted. Bad idea? I'm planning to purchase a used copy of Gamma DVD/student text from someone on the boards. A trial run, I guess, to see how it goes. Will attempting to use C-Rods make it so irritating to the student that he won't want to try later if the program itself is a good fit, and we decided to go ahead and spring for the specific block set it calls for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 We do MUS with C-rods, and it works well for my kids. But, we started with the MUS blocks and made the switch to c-rods much later. The kids are fluent with both types of blocks and switch back and forth easily. I think it would be confusing to start MUS with c-rods right from the get go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 For Gamma I'd make paper blocks. Cardstock. It would be very confusing and difficult (especially multiplying 2-digit numbers) if everything looked different than what is on the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEGway Posted October 24, 2016 Author Share Posted October 24, 2016 For Gamma I'd make paper blocks. Cardstock. It would be very confusing and difficult (especially multiplying 2-digit numbers) if everything looked different than what is on the video. Thanks for your response. That's exactly the kind of thing I was wondering. Would using cardstock (2d?) be weird, too? If I'm prewatching the videos, will it be something I can figure out how to make something workable for him? They list the number of each size manipulatives.... hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Cardstock models should be fine, you'll just want to get the color for each number right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Thanks for your response. That's exactly the kind of thing I was wondering. Would using cardstock (2d?) be weird, too? If I'm prewatching the videos, will it be something I can figure out how to make something workable for him? They list the number of each size manipulatives.... hmmm. I keep flat cardstock ones for travel schooling. I made up a model in Excel to be half-inch squares of the various colors and then cut them out. They are just fine. The only kink I have found has been subtraction (not taught in Gamma), because the blocks are flipped to see the empty underside. Not a big deal at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEGway Posted October 24, 2016 Author Share Posted October 24, 2016 I keep flat cardstock ones for travel schooling. I made up a model in Excel to be half-inch squares of the various colors and then cut them out. They are just fine. The only kink I have found has been subtraction (not taught in Gamma), because the blocks are flipped to see the empty underside. Not a big deal at all. That sounds like an ideal solution to me for a trial run. I can do that. :) Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEGway Posted October 24, 2016 Author Share Posted October 24, 2016 Now I'm wondering about legos? (Also a bad idea?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastalfam Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 I like what another person said to make "blocks" out of paper strips that will match the colors of MUS blocks. I think if you are supplementing with MUS, then using c-rods might be frustrating. Another option is the MUS manipulatives app, and yet another idea is getting blocks from e-bay. I think Legos would not work with MUS because I don't think they come in all the numbers up to ten... or, maybe they do. Can't remember. Now I'm going to go count legos. I think with MUS part of the reason it works for my struggling math student is the color coded blocks. Messing with that might mean you won't get the same effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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