I have a five year old son with whom we are slowly beginning kindergarten. He is not really ready to read yet (he is going to be a late bloomer when it comes to reading,) but he is ready to move on in math. I am planning on starting him with Math U See Primer soon and was reviewing the material myself beforehand. I was always under the impression that the videos on the DVDs were something you could have the child watch and then work through the worksheets. That was one of the many reasons I chose MUS to begin with (so it would make it easier when our three year old is also in school.) Anyway, I watched the first couple lessons myself and they seem to be more directed to the parent/teacher than the student. So my question is, does it stay that way throughout all the MUS levels or does it change as you go on? Do parents just show it to the kids anyway? I was thinking of doing that but thought I would see what others recommend first. Thanks so much in advance and Happy New Year!
MUS recommends watching the dvd with your child and teaching the concept as needed (very young children may not even want to watch the dvd’s until upper elementary though). We’ve only used the upper levels (Pre-alg through Pre-Calc plus Stewardship), but those videos were definitely geared towards the student. I’m not sure at which point that “switch” happens though.
The beginning of each level has some introduction to MUS information that is targeted at the parent and helps you get started. It is pretty much the same for every level and gives a lot of the MUS philosophy and how-to use the curriculum.
I have 3 kids currently using Delta, Gamma and Primer and they all watch the videos themselves. Some of the Primer videos are a lot shorter than the other levels. My kids love the videos and they are usually able to do their math independently. With Primer I do sometimes help my 4 year old, mostly because she wants the attention or won’t stay on task, not that she can’t do it alone.
If a student is having a hard time with something if I didn’t overhear or remember enough to help them, I either get out the teacher’s manual or have them watch the video over again with me. I’ve only had to do that a couple of times with multiple digit multiplication and my child who doesn’t do well with multiple step directions. Watching the video again with me and then me walking her through step by step seemed most effective, but again that has been very rare. I love this program for juggling multiple kids!
I have two kids using MUS. The older is in Delta and watches the DVD by herself. If she needs help, we watch it over together, and then consult the teachers manual if we need further help. My younger one is in Primer, and we watch the DVD together. He needs me there to stay focused, even though its just a couple minutes long.
My children watch the videos on their own, and if they don’t “get it” I ask them to watch the videos again - then I watch it with them and we tackle math together. Most often they are able to do their math independently.