“All your children will be taught of the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace,” (Isaiah 54:13).

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Curriculum Review: Math-U-See

by Jessica Peterman


Our family has been homeschooling for six years now, and I must confess, we’ve done our fair share of curriculum hopping.  But there is one area, however, where I’ve been happy from the start.  Enter Math-U-See. 

Math-U-See was created by Steve Demme, a math teacher and homeschooler of 4 boys.  In my estimation, it is very different than many of the mainstream math textbooks out there. 

First (and perhaps most important for me), the program includes an instructional DVD to teach the parent how to teach the lessons.  Or you and your child can watch the DVD together, which is what we do most of the time.  This is a step not to be skipped, because although I did fairly well in math, I’m learning so much more of the why’s and how’s from Mr. Demme’s methods.  He also gives you a few different ways to solve problems that you most likely didn’t learn in school. 

The program only covers one new skill at a time, and works on review after the first few pages of introducing the new topic.  This worked well for my kids who would be thrown off by busy math pages that skipped from addition, telling time, and a couple other skills all at the same time.  The program’s goal is for the student to practice the skills, master the skills, and ultimately, be able to teach them back to you. 

My kids’ favorite part of the program is the blocks.  Starting with the first level, the Primer, the kids work with and solve problems with colored blocks.  They build large numbers, learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and even fractions with these manipulatives.  (The fraction ones are especially cool!)  All of which is great for hands on or visual learners.  After they get the hang of things with the blocks, they move towards regular computations.

I would say that the only areas that aren’t covered as thoroughly as I’d like are money, time and measurement.  He does touch on these things, but if these don’t come easily to your child, then you might want to supplement a bit. 

Check out the program and get a free sample DVD at Mathusee.com

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