Math-U-See Homeschooling Math Review

by Renae Head
(Missouri)

Math-U-See-loving mom shares some words of wisdom, as well as what her family likes and dislikes about this hands-on homeschooling math curriculum.

As a family, we have used Alpha through Delta. I was very enthusiastic about Math-U-See homeschooling math curriculum at the beginning, and still use it with my younger children. The DVD lecture demonstrates the lesson concisely, and most of my children were able to advance quickly.

• Alpha focuses on addition and subtraction of single digits.
  
• Beta focuses on multiple digit addition and subtraction.
  
• Gamma is multiplication.
  
• Delta is division.
  

The fact that each book focuses mainly on one operation was a huge selling point for me, but it has also been a stumbling block. I switched curriculum for one of my children since he wasn't "getting it". This has been a small problem, since most curricula introduces many more concepts and operations during the course of a year. So Math-U-See may not mesh as well with other curricula. This is not a problem for most, but it was in my child's case.

We've had mixed success with the manipulatives. My older children are somewhat resistant to using them; they seem to think they don't NEED them. The younger children LOVE the manipulatives. Buy them - use them. They really do help. Perhaps if my older children had used manipulatives from the outset, they wouldn't have had resistance to it.

The new 2009 version has the same math content as the prior version, but it has been hardbound and dressed up a little. I appreciate the more durable binding, since the older comb-bound books were subject to tearing and folding, and were so huge they were more difficult to give shelf space (the thickness of the book was due to printing pages on one side only). I know I'm not the only one with shelf space limitations!

The price - very affordable! If you have a very limited budget like I normally do, Math-U-See homeschooling math curriculum fits the bill. We were living on a shoestring budget, and a math curriculum was non-negotiable.

On the whole, our experience with Math-U-See has been very good. I recommend it - 4 stars!

Renea, thanks for sharing your homeschooling math review as well as your "Buy them – use them" words of wisdom regarding Math-U-See's manipulatives. Omitting a certain part of a program or skimping on materials because of money often leads to a less-than successful outcome. I also appreciate your honesty about what worked and what didn't with your children; your thoughts are so helpful. Wishing you multiple blessings, Heather :)

Renea shared about Math-U-See's new 2009 version. Watch the video as Steve Demme, founder of Math-U-See shares about all the new improvements.