As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the Delta books from Math U See as well as the DVD that teaches the lessons, and manipulative blocks. Eden jumped in, thoroughly frustrated with her math this year. I was reservedly hopeful this would be a better fit – that she would enjoy math and learn at the same time.
Eden is 8, in third grade, and has done pretty well in math in the past. This year, math has not been an easy subject for her. I was struggling to help her along, and emotions were running high each time she did her work. And then.
For the last month, she’s enjoyed math. She’s done well, she hasn’t cried once, is speeding right along – and learning. We’d had discussions of repeating third grade math in a different curriculum earlier this year, unsure what to do for next year but quite certain that neither of us wanted a repeat of this year.
For a dear child to struggles with staying on task and paying attention to her own work, Math U See has been amazing for her. It hasn’t jumped around nearly so much as what she’s used to, and that seems to have helped tremendously. It builds and changes in slow increments and has given her confidence in leaps and bounds. The dear girl who I found changing multiplication problems into addition (Confession: I remember doing the very same thing as a kid.) is dividing and multiplying with ease. Her quote last week had me laughing.
“Math is FUN!”
Really?! This from the child who cried on a nearly daily basis about her math all year?
Delta is all about division for both single and multiple digit numbers. Each book, instead of going by grade level, teaches mastery of one topic, introducing other topics as needed and provided plenty of review so concepts are mastered well. Their website has placement tests that made it really easy to figure out which books Eden would need to keep her learning from the level she’s at and moving forward. They don’t use grade levels, so the placement tests were super helpful in figuring out where she’s at. If you follow one book per year, Delta is grade 4 and Eden’s just wrapping up grade 3 so they follow a progression similar to the books we’ve been using – but be sure to check out the placement tests to be sure.
We’ll be doing Math U See next year. She’s actually excited about it. Both of us have reduced stress levels. That’s awesome.
Math U See Delta is available here. The Instruction Manual, DVD, and Answer Key are $44. The Student Pack contains worksheets, lessons, and tests for $30. The Manipulative Block Set is $38. I received two block sets – that makes it easier for some lessons so that the student has at least 10 of each piece.
So glad you found a curriculum that Eden can enjoy. Makes learning so much more fun, and for her teacher – well that goes without saying…..Roxanne
So happy to hear she is enjoying Math. I am hoping to purchase Delta for my 3rd grader next year and Gamma and for will be 5th grader (he is a little behind in with math right now).
We love MathUSee! Last year we went to Mr. Demme’s seminar at the local homeschool conference and came away understanding the why behind some things I just memorized formulas for in high school.
Thank you for this! I am going to share it with our home school community. Math-U-See is a favourite among many of us, but can be daunting when you’re just getting started with it.
Would you mind if we published this post in our free bi-monthly magazine in our Resources, Reviews & the Rest column? =)
I’d be honored!