TOS Crew -- Math-U-See Review

Math is something I have always struggled with. A couple of my boys are very natural in this area while a couple have to work for it. I am always looking for what will work best and at times that isn't always a good thing. It seems George has tried math program after math program. There is one that he liked or rather endured but I knew he needed something to help him "see" it. Enter Math-U-See.

George and I reviewed the Epsilon level from Math-U-See. 

How It Worked for Our Family

At this level the program is very self-paced. The Instruction Manual says to "present and explore the new concept together". And while it is something I would definitely do with the younger kids I watched the first lesson with George and we decided he could tackle this on his own.

George viewed the DVD lesson and worked through the corresponding practice. There are about 3 pages of lesson practice. Once they are mastered they are followed by 3 pages of systemic review which review not only the new concept but also previously learned concepts. Once George mastered the concept he did not need to complete all of the review and went on to take the test. The time it took for each lesson varied based on how quickly he caught on and understood. I did allow him to check his own work and I'd periodically look it over.

So George, how do you like Math-U-See?  "I like it."

Why? "Because it explains how and why you do the problems better than other math programs do."

What do you think about the DVD lesson?  "He (Steve Demme) is funny which keeps my attention."

We also used fraction overlays which helped George in the beginning but then he was able to see how it worked in his mind and no longer needed them.

Details

The Epsilon level mainly covers fractions. Math-U-See does not have graded levels and is taught sequentially building upon each math concept which I really like. That is very helpful to the child who struggles with math as the grade level they "should be at" isn't dangled over their head. To determine what level your child is ready for there is a placement test to help you and I found it to be very accurate.

New to the 2012 student workbook they added a page called "Application and Enrichment". George said this is "for fun" but really it is to use what they have learned in different formats. And some of the problems may be things that would be seen on standardized tests which is helpful.

Purchasing Information

• Instruction Pack that includes the Instruction Manual and DVD lessons -- $45
• Student Pack that includes the Student Workbook and Test booklet both with 3-hole punched and perforated pages -- $30
• Fraction Overlays -- $33

To find out more about Math-U-See read what others on the Review Crew thought.