Math-U-See / Primer Teacher Pack (Complete Kit)

Purchased for my children, this math program breaks down concepts and algorithms in simple base ten related practice. I appreciate how straight forward and simply the lessons are taught. The humor is minimal and dry but my boys still laugh and enjoy learning and practicing math. They think it's easy and fun while I see the huge strides they are making in understanding math and applying it to real life. A great product for homeschooling or as a supplement to public/private school.

I really enjoy how easy this has made math for my daughter. Great place to start. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a math program for their child.

****This program is a lifesaver!***After trying Christian Liberty Press, A Beka, Switched on Schoolhouse, Teaching Textbooks, and Singapore Math, we have found a WINNER!!!! I would give this a hundred stars if I could. We completed our 7th year of homeschooling and my son (12) has always been frustrated by math. He is a logical black and white thinker and he needs to know WHY the symbol for "eight squared" is 8 with a little two. WHY? Well, because it's 8 up and 8 across, two eights making a square. Eureka! He can't stand to memorize facts without knowing the principals behind them and why should we?!At the end of 6th grade, I compared the remainder of his lessons to this book we had purchased for 7th grade and found that a lot of the teaching overlapped. We went ahead and tried this book for the lessons that were duplicates (to Singapore Math). At last count, he had completed 300 problems with all correct answers! The DVD teaches the why and then they do it with their hands to SEE it. Then, they do it to learn HOW. You can't just tell a kid that 6x6 is 36 and expect them to accept it as fact. If you can show them with blocks, their mind is engaged and it is etched in their memory bank. Truly amazing and simple, simple.However, there are not answers to the Application and Enrichment pages in the teacher book. I need to search for those but they're pretty self-explanatory. It's not math, it's concepts (ex. What is the result of two addends being added together? The sum.).

We're in our second year of using this program with our two homeschooled children. Last year it was great but this year when we ordered our new books we received the 2010 updated books. They are not like they used to be and none of the changes have been for the better. The books are no longer the nice spiral binding with large font pages only printed on one side. Now they have regular binding, difficult to remove pages, small font, small answer lines, excessively large font for the lesson number, goofy pictures, two sided printing, and holes drilled for those who use binders. They took what was a wonderful math book and made it like all the others out there. I contacted the company and while they were nice about it they simply told me the changes were made to 'keep costs down' and make the program 'better for parents'. This doesn't make sense because the price has not changed, nor has the shipping even though the books are now lighter and smaller. I would have been willing to pay extra for the nice version but they no longer have them for sale. I'm now working on finding an unused copy but am not having much success.Here are the issues with the new version:- regular binding; the pages are difficult to remove and impossible to use without tearing out so now we have more papers to keep track of- holes punched; not everyone uses binders and those that do always own three hole punches anyway so why force everyone to have pages with holes in them- smaller font; the old edition had wonderfully large font, just right for little kids and great for parents who are helping from across the table, now I have to get up and stand right over the kids to help them, it also makes the pages seem cluttered and overwhelming and my kids keep saying there is too much on the page even though there is the same amount of work, just with more white space (I can only assume this was a move to save ink and keep printing costs low for the company)- small answer lines; my kids are advanced in math but not in handwriting and the lines are now so small that they have difficulty writing numbers tiny enough to fit- huge lesson number; for some bizarre reason the lesson numbers in the upper corner of the page are now in huge font, adding to the clutter and prompting questions such as 'what does the 13F go to?' when before the kids were easily able to ignore the lesson number and focus on the lesson- goofy pictures; the old edition was nice and simple, no pictures to distract the kids, just dots or squares to represent sums, now there are pictures of dogs, marbles, etc. which doesn't add anything and only serves as a distraction and to make the math u see text just like all the other math programs- two sided printing; the old edition had work printed on only one side of the page. this was wonderful because it left plenty of room for writing or drawing more examples and served to make the book overall feel easier and less intimidating. the new two sided pages make everything seem cluttered and have my kids becoming easily overwhelmed thinking there is too much work or it will take them forever to get throughThe only other overall gripes I have with the program are the way the books are sold and the shipping. The shipping is very expensive and all the books arrived damaged. The books are sold in 'sets' with the required blocks a la carte. In the primer level the student text is sold alone but the only way to get the dvd is to also buy the teacher's manual, which we never used. At the alpha level the student text can only be purchased along with the activity book, which contains extras like dot-to-dots and is not needed but the tests are in the activity book so you must buy and use it (why couldn't the tests be in the regular book?). In alpha, as in primer, the dvd is only available with the purchase of the teacher's manual. The blocks must also be purchased on their own but at least they are sold as a starter set, completer set, and holder case so you can space out the purchase of them. We have the wooden holder case, which cost somewhere between $40 and $50 plus shipping. It fits the blocks very nicely but looks like it was made in someone's garage. The wood was splintery and required an hour of sanding to be usable and the small pieces of wood that separate the compartments are glued in a bit off, leaving gaps and glue drops. Very expensive for the quality. I didn't mind the cost of the blocks though since they are used for several years, are very sturdy, and can be shared by more than one child at the same time.The program, overall, is nice and we will continue to use it but will keep looking for someone selling the old editions. One downside is that once you start math u see you are 'locked in' to using the program for years. If you want to use something else or send your children to school you must catch them up on some concepts while dealing with them being ahead in others. This is also an issue if your state requires that homeschooled children take standardized tests. In these cases parents must use additional materials to teach their children what will be on the test.

I agree with the last reviewer. While the cost of this curriculum has increased by 10 dollars since they have redesigned the books, one should NEVER pay more than $45.00 plus shipping since that is the price you would pay directly from the Math U See website. I have loved using this curriculum with my two children. As a homeschool mom, I myself do not excel at math, and this curriculum has been a huge help in not only helping my children understand math, but also myself. It can be a little repetative, but if your child has really grabbed onto the concept, then skip the review and move on, because that is how it has been designed to work. My daughter struggles with numbers in general, so I have her do every page, every time, while my son excels in math so he is allowed to skip a page or two when I know he really knows it (I just save the skipped pages for when my daughter gets the "hand me down" curriculum, and use them for extra review). Buy the blocks is a must with this curriculum, and very handy.

Don't listen to the nitwit who rated this one star -- he was actually rating the USED BOOK SELLER, not Math-U-See.This is an excellent program. My son has used this math publisher for years and has a 'B' average (and this is his worst, most hated subject, but he likes the teacher, Mr. Demme, on the videos).

Math U See is an excellant Math Program which teaches to all the learning styles, visual, auditory, and tactile. The students learn their math facts, rules, and formulas, and are able to use them in real life (as well as in testing). My student liked watching the video and the simple pages keep his focus. The DVD is great I wouldn't try the program without it.