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Pros and Cons of MUS Geometry & Geometry Honors


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I'm still investigating geometry programs for son #3. We used MUS through Epsilon with him (piggybacking with Singapore PM). He complained that MUS was boring and each lesson seemed to follow the same format all the way through. I tended to agree with him....not that there is anything wrong with consistency of format, but he and I both tend to like variety and do best with frequent changes in pace, format, and flow.

 

If you've used MUS geometry, did you feel that the honors part needed to be added? This guy isn't a math whiz, but he does well. I'm really hoping for a program that will allow him amazing, ego-building success. He needs a bit of encouragement because he's sandwiched between my 2 most academic kids.

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We're using MUS Geometry, and he is doing the Honors portion.

 

Kiddo may be an outlier in that he likes the consistency, but I could see how some kids would think it boring.

 

One thing we noticed right off the bat was that kiddo usually didn't need to do all of the lesson sheets. On the topic he "gets" immediately, I make him do selected problems / a couple of sheets, and then he does the test. After that, he does the honors portion (which rarely has anything to do with the lesson, and definitely requires "stretching" one's mind). We do one complete lesson a day in this manner.

 

If a person is of the mind that concepts will only "stick" or be "gotten" by doing tens and tens of problem sets, this program is not for them. It has little to no "fluff".

 

Kiddo happens to like this particular format, as it is similar to that used in "Systematic Mathematics", the program he used up to Geometry (that program quits at Algebra 2, and has no formal Geometry).

 

He scored a 100% on his first unit test yesterday, so I guess it works for him.

 

 

asta

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Has anyone else used MUS Geometry?

 

Thanks, Asta, for the review. Thinking back to our MUS experience the problem might have been me rather than my son. I felt he needed lots of reinforcement so I had him work through ALL the workbook pages. He has improved in his math ability since that time, so it might work if we do it the way you have used it.

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We've used MUS Geometry with my 3 boys. They are math-oriented and good at it and liked MUS fine since if they GOT IT it didn't make them do a lot of extra problems for busywork (we'd used MUS all along). I think the honors book is good to do with it; if your son complains about the format being the same, he probably would enjoy the different kids of problems in the honors book. I also added a geometry proofs book when they completed MUS Geometry, since it IS light on proofs, to finish out the school year (we've done 2 pages/day and usually finish in April with 2 months for the proofs workbook).

 

I know some people have issues with MUS, but it has served us well. DS #1 switched without problems to Chalkdust Pre-Calculus this year (we switched 'cuz he's interested in engineering) and just tested into college-level math at the CC's dual-enrollment placement test. He's done well on the ACT and PSAT, and even the 8th graders scored well on the ACT this year and they'd only been 1/2 way through Geometry.

 

HTH,

Kimm in WA

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Thanks, Kimm. I think I'm going to order it (even if it is just to preview it) - I understand a new edition is coming out in a couple of weeks, so I'll wait until then. I have several programs I would like to look at but I think I'm just going to have to order them and return those I don't want. OH, well...

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We've used MUS Geometry with my 3 boys. I also added a geometry proofs book when they completed MUS Geometry, since it IS light on proofs, to finish out the school year (we've done 2 pages/day and usually finish in April with 2 months for the proofs workbook).

 

 

 

Kimm - Would you mind sharing which book you used for proofs? We've used MUS since the beginning and will be doing Geometry soon. I really like the idea of adding some work with proofs.

 

Thanks

Pegasus

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