Mortensen VS. Math-U-See ?

Math-U-See has a video for the parent to watch before giving each lesson. I would consider this a bit of trouble, but it would show you how to do it. Saxon provides a scripted lesson plan, so no guesswork there either. I have never heard of Mortensen.

Janis

Math-U-See is a lot more extensive than MOrtensen. From what I’ve seen & heard, MUS is really good for strong visual learners who do well enough with abstraction. Is there a way you can preview the stuff? I have a feeling you would know right away whether it triggered your own anxieties or made wonderful light bulbs go on. I have known people who just couldn’t make it really make sense to them.

Mortensen uses a really nifty and brilliant concrete metaphor for algebra — a balancing scale. (Okay, I think it’s brilliant because my father thought of it too ) It really helps make sense of the whole “equation” thing — which is totally fundamental to algebra. But that’s algebra for crying out loud and you’re talkin’ a six year old ;)

I would be thinking about the Landmark School math program — it’s very structured, lots of concrete stuff to it. (However, I’m ont familiar with other programs so I can’t compare.) Landmark School is a school for kids with dyslexia (http://www.landmarkschools.org — or .com, I’m not sure — click on “publications & outreach” to get to the math stuff).

And when you get creeped out by the math, just holler! We’ll break it down ;)

www.landmarkschool.org

Hello,

The difference between Math-U-See and Mortensen relates mostly to the instructional material. Mortensen’s books were simplistic and did not include many problems. Math-U-See has taken what Mortensen started with and made it MUCH more complete.

The video instruction is lesson-by-lesson and the lessons are about 5-10 minutes long depending on the level. They go from K to Trigonometry. Math-U-See is designed as a tutoring program and as such is mainly used in one-on-one and small group settings.

Saxon is a classroom style program designed to be used in a larger group setting. I know alot of home educators use Saxon, but it is still not designed for a tutoring setting. I know you can call Math-U-See and get a free video, check out the website at www.mathusee.com.

Dan,

I hope you are checking back in here, because I’d like to say that we need some experienced MUS users answering questions here on this math board. This board is much weaker than the reading board, because there is so much less help out there for math LD’s. I do think MUS is an ideal program to use, and along with some of the On Cloud Nine techniques, it would be a great program for LD math kids!

Janis

Janis,

I would be nice to have some additional MUS users on this board. It is oftentimes hard enough for me to get onto boards and post responses. Fortunately, my schedule is lightening up here for the next month or so.

I will endeavor to try and find some that would be willing from the MUS-Users loop on Yahoo!

Thanks for your response! :)

Dan

Dan,

That’s a great idea! I was on that MUS board for awhile and there were some people who were experienced using it with special needs children. They were very helpful.

Janis

If you’re math phobic I don’t think I’d recommend Saxon — it’s pretty calculation based. One of the reasons Math-U-See is effective (especially for bright visual thinkers who can readily generalize the abstractions when they’re presented visually) is that it goes in a “back door” and doesn’t look like that nasty stomach-turning stuff.
There are kids who need more practice than m-u-s comes along with, and I suspect kids who need things broken down more or presented more slowly.

Math-U-See has a video for the parent to watch before giving each lesson. I would consider this a bit of trouble, but it would show you how to do it. Saxon provides a scripted lesson plan, so no guesswork there either. I have never heard of Mortensen.

Janis

Math-U-See is a lot more extensive than MOrtensen. From what I’ve seen & heard, MUS is really good for strong visual learners who do well enough with abstraction. Is there a way you can preview the stuff? I have a feeling you would know right away whether it triggered your own anxieties or made wonderful light bulbs go on. I have known people who just couldn’t make it really make sense to them.

Mortensen uses a really nifty and brilliant concrete metaphor for algebra — a balancing scale. (Okay, I think it’s brilliant because my father thought of it too ) It really helps make sense of the whole “equation” thing — which is totally fundamental to algebra. But that’s algebra for crying out loud and you’re talkin’ a six year old ;)

I would be thinking about the Landmark School math program — it’s very structured, lots of concrete stuff to it. (However, I’m ont familiar with other programs so I can’t compare.) Landmark School is a school for kids with dyslexia (http://www.landmarkschools.org — or .com, I’m not sure — click on “publications & outreach” to get to the math stuff).

And when you get creeped out by the math, just holler! We’ll break it down ;)

www.landmarkschool.org

Hello,

The difference between Math-U-See and Mortensen relates mostly to the instructional material. Mortensen’s books were simplistic and did not include many problems. Math-U-See has taken what Mortensen started with and made it MUCH more complete.

The video instruction is lesson-by-lesson and the lessons are about 5-10 minutes long depending on the level. They go from K to Trigonometry. Math-U-See is designed as a tutoring program and as such is mainly used in one-on-one and small group settings.

Saxon is a classroom style program designed to be used in a larger group setting. I know alot of home educators use Saxon, but it is still not designed for a tutoring setting. I know you can call Math-U-See and get a free video, check out the website at www.mathusee.com.

Dan,

I hope you are checking back in here, because I’d like to say that we need some experienced MUS users answering questions here on this math board. This board is much weaker than the reading board, because there is so much less help out there for math LD’s. I do think MUS is an ideal program to use, and along with some of the On Cloud Nine techniques, it would be a great program for LD math kids!

Janis

Janis,

I would be nice to have some additional MUS users on this board. It is oftentimes hard enough for me to get onto boards and post responses. Fortunately, my schedule is lightening up here for the next month or so.

I will endeavor to try and find some that would be willing from the MUS-Users loop on Yahoo!

Thanks for your response! :)

Dan

Dan,

That’s a great idea! I was on that MUS board for awhile and there were some people who were experienced using it with special needs children. They were very helpful.

Janis

If you’re math phobic I don’t think I’d recommend Saxon — it’s pretty calculation based. One of the reasons Math-U-See is effective (especially for bright visual thinkers who can readily generalize the abstractions when they’re presented visually) is that it goes in a “back door” and doesn’t look like that nasty stomach-turning stuff.
There are kids who need more practice than m-u-s comes along with, and I suspect kids who need things broken down more or presented more slowly.