September 4, 2007 @ 7:48 am | Filed under: Math
As Karen has noted, I can wax pretty enthusiastic about Math-U-See. Here’s what it looks like in our house. Jane is not in the picture; she prefers to take her algebra book off somewhere after she watches a lesson. I’m a floater, available to answer questions and prevent small unit blocks from entering the baby’s mouth.
Rose didn’t happen to have her dry-erase board out the day I snapped this, but usually she gets herself all set up with the markerboard, markers, eraser, and remote control before she turns on the DVD (as I described in this post). When she was seven, I’m pretty sure the markerboard was a huge part of math’s appeal—that and the bubble gum. She really likes to work problems on her board while Mr. Demme is solving them on his. She pauses the DVD and works it out, then [snatches the remote away from her little brother and] hits play to see [because now she can't hear above his outraged shriek] if she was right.
Beanie, meanwhile, makes sandwiches.
Brain food!
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That’s funny–Madeline likes to make sandwiches, too!
Posted on September 4th, 2007 at 11:52 amHere it was chocolate bars. With cm / gram cubes. Some were very strange colours for chocolate - I wonder what flavour they were meant to be?
Posted on September 4th, 2007 at 12:23 pmAbby says:
Wow! I can’t thank you enough for recommending Math-U-See. My family is still tiny (ages 4, 3 & newborn) but we ordered after hearing about it from your blog. We’ve had so much fun with it all summer.
I was horribly “math anxious” in school and totally unsure how to introduce my kids to Math. This program really is fun and works so well for visual learners.
Posted on September 4th, 2007 at 12:33 pmHello
I love reading your posts–thanks for sharing with us out here!
I wanted to ask you if the Math-U-See dvds are closed captioned? I was considering the program for my two hooligans
and need the captioning option for my son.
I tried to find the answer on the website, didn’t see it and therefore have emailed them. Just thought I’d ask you while I was here
Posted on September 4th, 2007 at 12:38 pm~~
ROFL! I have three kids who make sandwiches too!
Posted on September 4th, 2007 at 8:42 pmWe also love MUS =)
Home schooling is interesting concepts. Would like to know more. In my homeland, government does not like homeschooling. But I think otherwise. Would like to continue to read your blog to know more.Pamela.
Posted on September 5th, 2007 at 11:08 amWow, math looks like FUN at your house! I decided to check it out further and we are anxiously awaiting the demo DVD. Thanks for the info!
Posted on September 6th, 2007 at 8:25 amLooks like great fun!
Posted on September 6th, 2007 at 4:25 pmWe’re really big fans of Math U See here too. Dd is way behind in math for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with her capabilities. Dh expressed concern and suggested we change curriculums. I’m sure that her cries of protest were heard `round the world!! She proclaims that until we started using Math U See (when she was in 3rd grade) she didn’t understand math at all. She’s 15 now and is whipping through 2 books a year and will soon be moving into Algebra.
Posted on September 6th, 2007 at 7:13 pmWe are great fans of MUS. My oldest has autism and it’s been fantastic for his mind. And, Steve Demme is very funny. My son likes to use the 10 blocks as drum sticks.
Posted on September 6th, 2007 at 8:45 pmthat’s great
I really enjoy the brain food 
Posted on September 7th, 2007 at 12:21 pmHow fun. We love MUS at our house too and I have a picture of a football field that Jonathan made with the manipulatives.
http://gracelikerain.typepad.com/grace_like_rain/2007/08/post.html
Posted on September 8th, 2007 at 3:22 pm