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Math-U-See: are the DVDs necessary and other questions
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My six-year-old will be starting second grade this fall and I’m debating what math curriculum to use for him. We used Horizons last year and I thought it was okay, but he asked me to please find him a new math book without all the colors! ☺
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Math-U-See and recently had a chance to page through some at a homeschool convention. I liked what I saw…except for the inclusion of the DVD. Is it necessary to use those, especially in the younger grades?
Also…the cost of the manipulatives really threw me, especially when the website recommended two sets?! How necessary are those and do you really need two sets?
Thanks so much for any info!
We love Math-U-See. I was telling someone the other day that at least I can rest assured that I picked the right math curriculum! I started my son in the Primer when he was 5 and he’s in the middle of Beta now at almost 7. I think he appreciates that the workbook pages are not visually overwhelming and he loves the manipulatives.
Regarding DVDs, I have only used them a few times when I wanted to be sure to teach a concept using the manipulatives the correct way. They are not necessary in the early levels in my opinion. A friend of mine has her kids watch every lesson, but I think that’s because she has a lot of kids and that frees up some time.
The manipulatives are worth the money for us, but no, you do not need two sets. It only comes with 5 “hundred blocks” instead of 9, but you the problems so far have not required adding with more than that.
The dvds probably aren’t necessary for the first few books. I enjoyed using them because I was a brand new homeschooler and they gave me tips for teaching math. The manipulatives are definitely an integral part of the program and really should be an integral part of any math program for young children.
However, I don’t really think you need two sets. I only bought one and every now and then we needed more, but we made do without.
We only have 1 set of blocks and have had no problems. They are necessary though.
As for the DVD’s not necessary but the kids and I really like them. I have learned great tips for teaching math and the way he explains things, it just makes sense. The kids and I watch the video together and then the kids do their math. It is pretty hands off for me. I watch the videos too to make sure that I am teaching how he teaches, if there are questions, not my short cuts I learned years ago and confusing the kids, LOL.
My oldest is starting Zeta this year and math is the one thing we have not changed for school because it is hands off for me and works for the kids.
I always buy the teacher book and DVD used very inexpensively. The nice thing is that the older teacher guides and DVDs still work with newer student books. I have some guides with the old “comb binding” from I think 2004 it is and others that are the nice hard back TG.
The information on the DVDs is all in the text book, so you can teach it to him yourself, without the DVDs. With the younger levels, I’ve found they do best with me teaching. We generally still watch it since each lesson is only about 5-10 minutes, then we do some problems with the manipulatives before they start the worksheet. With Gamma and up, they usually just watch the DVDs, then get right to the workbook pages.
We have 1 set of manipulatives as well.
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