Anyone used Math U See before? How was it?

MUS is not grade level based but skill level based. so you could start in where you need to by using their assessments and just keep moving forward. They are set up to build on skills. I have heard many moms say that if you do go with MUS to stick with it because of this skill mastery method. we did not stick with it and I made a bit of a mess of things doing the math curriculum flip-flop-hokey-pokey. we are straightening all that out now using the Mathmatics book SCM put out this school year. Richele’s work and guidance on CM math is SO helpful. If I was on a desert island and could only use Singapore or MUS…I would definitely choose MUS. Don’t know if that was helpful at all, but there it is 😉

 A different perspective here.  MUS was not a huge success for us.  We are only using it right now for the pre-algebra level and the younger kids have switched to CLE.  I think that MUS would have worked well for my oldest children who were more math-inclined and did better at working independently.  For the younger children, the mastery approach doesn’t seem like a good fit.  If they didn’t see a type of problem for awhile, they would forget how to do it and we’d have to relearn it.  Ummm, wait, I thought we had “mastered” this!

CLE is more of a traditional program and is less time consuming for me to teach multiple levels (currently five).  I like that all the explanations are right there in the student book, so they can read it for themselves, then if they understand it they can just keep going instead of having to wait for me to explain.  Until the sixth level, there are built-in review drills every day and I don’t even have to think about it because it’s right there in their book.  For example, it will say, “Count by 2’s from 20 to 100” or “Do speed drill #4”.  Also, my kids like it that the curriculum comes in 10 smaller books and they have a great sense of accomplishment when they finish a book.  

Ok, I know you were only asking about MUS and I’ve given you an advertisement for CLE. MUS is a strong program and many people like it.  It just didn’t work that well for us.  

I have used MUS for fourteen years with great success.  My sons have all responded very well to it.  More importantly, *I* understood it.  Yes, the DVD comes in a packet with the teacher’s manual.  You can buy the student books separately.  This can be useful if you buy the teachers set used–I often did that.  Then you only have to buy the student books new.  MUS is one of the little handful of purchases I’ve never regretted, and it’s the one curriculum I’ve never changed.  

I started my dd on it this year. It’s the only way she has figured out place value and all that comes after that. She had been stuck for over a year on adding and subtracting more than one digit because she got the place value concept confused. Finally MUS got her over that hill.

I am also switching my son to it come Epsilon so he has someone teaching him in the high school math and they are also using teh same things, which is helpful.

I’ve been pleased with her pregress. She struggles with sequential and repeatedly ordered thinking so MUS has been able to work with that way in that her brain does’t order things easily.

I buy the DVD’s and TM used from either welltrainedmind for sale forum or homeschool classifieds and purchase the test bk and workbook new. I was alos abel to get all of the blocks used.

Love MUS. Pretty much the only program we’ve never changed! Kids watch the dvd w/me, I help w/a few of the problems in first lesson, then they pretty much complete the rest of the week on their own. Mr. Demme is a good teacher…interesting and simplifies things:)

The DVD isn’t really lessons for the children, but for you.  You should be using the principles and examples in the teacher manual and DVD to teach the lesson to your children, and it can take as many or as few days as necessary and as many or as few minutes per day as necessary.  If the DVD lesson does not last long enough or give sufficient instruction for a child, then Mom demonstrates and guides work through examples until the child is ready to do work on paper–for as long as it takes.  

And when you get to high school math levels, trust me, the DVD’s last PLENTY long.