Math-U-See

I personally enjoy math, but finding a curriculum to teach math has proved difficult.  Curly Girly started Saxon math (http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/math/saxon-math) in Kindergarten and it was really fun.  She loved playing with the manipulatives, which consisted of pattern blocks, teddy bear counters, linking cubes, tangrams, and all sorts of different, colorful things.  Then, the next year we started Saxon Math 1.  It became a drag.  Where did the manipulatives go?  We weren't hardly using them anymore.  Sure, we're learning how to count with pennies, dimes, and nickels (who doesn't like money?!?), but slowly and painfully, Curly Girly was losing the spark of discovery.

So, what did we do?  We started researching again.  What curriculum is fun?  and uses manipulatives?  We ended up choosing Math-U-See.

Math-U-See is a mastery approach to math.  It does not go by grade levels, but rather, the level at which your child is ready to learn.  If they simply aren't getting multiplication, you could be working on those lessons for weeks at a time.  And for those others who's math concepts come easily, you could work on one lesson in a day.  I loved this idea so much.  It is much better suited to our needs than the spiral approach that Saxon uses.

I can't wait to dive in.  I'm debating if I want to be one of those lame moms who "schools" during the summer or not.  Curly girly has been begging to do school, but I'm still kind of in newborn stage and recovering from all these bugs that we've been getting.  We simply just haven't gotten to it.  I have all these great ideas that I want to implement, but I think Math-U-See is the one I'm most excited about.  We'll have to see.  Ferdinand only has 2 weeks of preschool left, so perhaps when he is home for good, we'll get started and take breaks when the occasions call for it.  I'll definitely keep you updated with what I decide in a later post!

(If you would like to explore Math-U-See some more, please visit their website at www.mathusee.com)

Image taken from (https://www.google.com/search?q=Math+u+see+alpha&safe=active&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=775&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz2MmAxarMAhUN-mMKHVsBA8YQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=SnJIUyZdaw5OcM%3A)