MUS, not enough review?

[nena3927]

I'm using MUS with 3 of my dc and we really like this curriculum. It's been a great fit for the past 2 years but I've noticed my oldest ds (almost 9) who is half way through Gamma, is having a hard time when it comes to the systematic review pages. He keeps telling me that its been too long and he can't remember the concepts. He gets really upset and cries and I'm not sure what to do. He had a really hard time learning to read as well and it does take LOTS of review for him to master concepts. I'm wondering if CLE math or Teaching Textbooks might be a better fit for him? I don't want to switch publishers unless it's really necessary but I also don't want to keep continuing if he would benefit from something else. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Hilltopmom]

We had the same issue.

I used to make up my own review pages (with a few problems of each earlier thing on them) or use something like Spectrum workbooks, but eventually just switched to TT instead (not the computer part, only the texts) for lots of review in every lesson.

(We tried CLE but didn't like the layout)

[lanalouwho]

Doesn't MUS have extra practice pages you can download? Maybe you can use those as review sheets to keep concepts fresh.

 

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[desiree77]

Are you doing all the lesson pages and then the review? We do one lesson page and one review each day. So A/D, B/E, C/F. Not sure if that will help...I just retaught if something came up that had been forgotten.

[momtofive]

I read somewhere on this forum a while ago that someone was using MUS by doing review pages from the previous week alongside the new pages from the current week.  So it could possibly look like this:

 

Mon: 21D & 22A

Tue: 21E & 22B

Wed: 21F & 22C

Thur: Test 22

Fri: (none)

 

I thought that was a neat way to review past concepts, and schedule the lessons.  MUS does include a good amount of review, but perhaps your ds just needs a bit more review.  Perhaps printing out extra pages for review from their website might be just the right amount for him, possibly working on some form of review each day.  We used MUS in the past, and I wish I'd used a review page every day, as I've read that some here do.  Probably would have helped a lot.

 

Your little guy sounds a lot like my ds.  He too, struggled to learn to read and also struggled with having enough review in math curricula to really cement those concepts.  He's a 9th grader now.  We were using TT at the beginning of the year, but ran into the same problem with not having enough review *for him*.  I know with math it can vary greatly on how much review each child needs.  Some do better with a little, and then there's my guy who needs a lot of review for things to really stick.  We ended up moving him over to using Saxon.  He gets new concepts in little incremental "bites", and a lot of review cycling around for him to really master a concept by practicing it over and over.  We're using the Saxon Teacher cd's as a way to make it a bit more audio/visual, as that's what works best for him.  Again, this may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for our ds it was the right amount of review.  Best wishes! :)

Edited April 12, 2017 by momtofive

[coastalfam]

So we are in Gamma with one of my kids, and I kind of felt like there wasn't enough review for him especially when it came to the measurements and conversions, and also reviewing perimeter and area. So, what I do is on day 1 of a new lesson, we do the DVD lesson and worksheet A only. On day 2 we do worksheet B, and some of past review sheets we didn't get to (I just go down and circle about 5 problems that address areas that we need more review). On day 3 we either do worksheet C + some of past worksheets we didn't do, OR if he seems to be understanding the lesson concept really well, we go straight on to worksheet D that has review built in, and that leaves time for other math activities I might want him to work on. One thing you can do if you do use all worksheets A-G of a lesson is copy a couple of them for later. If the type of review your son needs is strictly multiplication drill, you can print out drill sheets from the MUS website. I do that sometimes for the extra review. I think, for my son, the key with extra review is only choosing a few key things. Maybe even just one or two problems, so it is enough to keep it fresh, but not so much to overwhelm and discourage. I think my favorite part of MUS is the simplicity allows for me to easily adjust for my boys needs. On some days my son (for whatever reason) takes a long time to do his work, and on those days we just stick right to our MUS program (with that extra bit of review) so as not to overburden my son. But on days he flies through his assignment, I have lots of odds and ends on hand to supplement his learning which helps with generalization of concepts, and consolidation. The other day I tore the Symbols and Measurements sheet out of the back of the Gamma workbook, and my son created his own reference book of the measurements and symbols used in Gamma so if he forgot he could look it up in his book (I mean, I don't have 3 teaspoons to a tablespoon memorized. I ask Siri!). Of course the process of making the book helped him nail down a couple he had forgotten. Anyway, those are some ideas of how we have adjusted our Gamma year to fit our needs.

[nena3927]

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses! You've given me alot of great information to tweak MUS for my ds. I will try to implement these suggestions and then reevaluate before deciding to abandon ship. We have printed off extra review sheets online but I never even thought about rearranging the D, E, and F review sheets! Brilliant! Thank you!!!

[MerryAtHope]

You can also do the review topics together--work on the review problems to make sure he remembers how to do each concept, and then let him try them independently on the next review page. When in doubt, work it together with the manipulatives or on a white board again :-).

[RKWAcademy]

You could copy old tests and present them a few lessons down the road - repeatedly if necessary.  MUS works really well for one of my kids.  But I add other problems - mostly word problems and occasionally math mammoth pages.  Or I make up my own.  But I use the "tests" from the little test book as review often.  If he forgets a concept, you could have him re-watch that lesson's video.  I've had to back up a few lessons to re-present the concept before.  It usually rings bells for her and she remembers how to do the problem. 

[bethben]

I've been doing MUS alongside of Saxon.  We only do a half a lesson in Saxon per day along with one worksheet of MUS.

[sweetpea3829]

You may want to give Prodigy a try.  Listen, I used MUS for a couple of years with my math LD kiddo.  She had good results with it, but stalled once we hit midway through Gamma.  For one, his approach to multiple digit multiplication had too many steps for her and the way he demonstrated with the blocks confused her.  But the only reason I used it for her was because of how slow and incremental it was.  Otherwise, I do not particularly care for the program, as it lacks substance and depth.

 

But if you choose to continue with it, there are plenty of ways you can supplement.  It's a bit difficult to supplement another curriculum because of how topical MUS is, but you could try Math Mammath's topical books.

 

For us, Prodigy was a good fit as a supplement, in that I could go in and specifically choose with concepts to assign for each kiddo and it would integrate those concepts right into their game.  Bonus that it's free (unless you want to pay for the advanced membership which gives better gaming options).  

 

Even better that my kids still beg to play, a year and a half since we first started using it.  

[kolamum]

We use MUS.. I think the #1 problem is that people do the pages in order. By not doing the pages in order you get the review.. Thus, the sample above where you'd do A, D, B, E, C, F, etc. Mind you if the child is REALLY struggling with the new concept doing the new pages may be needed, if they aren't you may be able to do A & D, B & E, etc. The review pages are E-F. They have new & review material. By skipping those pages & only concentrating on A-C you miss the review work. :)

[Garga]

I used MUS with my oldest until he hit algebra and then I moved to Lial's. I moved my youngest to CLE in the 4th grade, and I dearly wish that I'd used CLE with both of them all along. Soooo much review in CLE, it's not even funny. I thought there was review in MUS, but once I got CLE and *saw* all the review they had, I realized MUS did not have review. Not in the same way. Not by a long shot.