Like our story with All About Learning Press, I stumbled upon our math curriculum and began using Math U See. I was very leary of teaching math because it was not my chosen field, and I struggled with it in school. I somehow managed to make it through high school and college, but it was a struggle. I knew I needed something that would help guide me along the way and be very user-friendly in the long run.
Math U See is another curriculum we have used since our homeschooling journey began. Mouse, our oldest, has just started Zeta (Decimals and Percents), and Thumper has started Delta (Single and Multiple DigitDivision). I do not see us switching math curriculums, and here are the top five reasons we have chosen and continue to stick with Math U See.
One: Mastery Approach
As with All About Spelling and All About reading, I loved that Math U See also focuses on the mastery approach to learning. While it is trying when we get stuck on a topic, it is rewarding to see when they get a concept, and you can move on to the next one with ease. With the MUS worksheet generator for most concepts, it is easy to create extra work when needed to continue to work on a concept.
Two: Single Concept Focus
While confusing to some and monotonous at times, I like focusing on a single topic until we have the whole concept mastered. Growing up, it was confusing when I got something, and then we would move onto another completely unrelated topic. Building each concept off the previous one keeps my focus as a teacher. It is easy to jump back a few lessons when something was not quite mastered, as it seemed the first go around (I had to do this with subtraction and multiplication with one of our girls or the other at times).
Three: Parent and Teacher Friendly
I find watching the video, and then the text's explanations help teach the concepts I don’t quite understand or remember myself. I allow my girls to watch the videos with me; they can usually grasp the concept quickly. We have only once had to rewatch a video to understand the concept more.
Four: Video Instruction
Sometimes Mr. Demme’s sense of humor can be dry, but the concepts, in my opinion, are well taught in a quick and precise lesson. To further assist in the video’s instruction, I often pause when he asks questions so that our girls can answer instead of hearing the answer from the class.
Five: Reteaching the Concept
I like that part of the mastery approach is to have the student be able to reteach the concept back to you. This ensures that they have a complete understanding. I have also carried this concept into another aspect of our homeschool. Our girls usually demonstrate reteaching of concepts without realizing they are doing so or that this is needed to master a concept.
As stated above, I am not a math person and prefer to teach anything but math. Math U See has enhanced my knowledge of several math concepts, which helps me navigate and teach our kiddos better.
See how we have made Math U See work for us in this previous BLOG POST.
As always, keep following our journey on our Facebook Page or Instagram. If you want more in-depth conversations, check out our Facebook Parent Group.