MUS Primer..Is it worth the money or...

[Sue G in PA]

can I accomplish what it teaches on my own for my Ker? Just starting MUS Alpha with ds6 and I'm thinking ds5 might really get into it. He is just starting to recognize numbers. He can count, knows "how many" of something is, etc. He doesn't write very well yet. Could I just get him up to speed on the basics and move him into either Saxon 1 or MUS Alpha or is MUS Primer or Saxon K worth the money? THanks.

[yslek]

You could definitely do without the Primer. I bought it for my 2nd ds when my older ds was working on Alpha. ;) 2nd ds had good fine motor skills, so the writing in each lesson was no problem for him, but it would have been a disaster for my older ds who has fine motor difficulties.

Mostly it's just an intro to MUS with topics such as learning which colors represent which numbers (and counting along with that), some simple time-telling, and simple addition, subtraction, and skip counting.

Everything taught in Primer is repeated in Alpha (except telling time, which is covered in Beta, although I think I recall an appendix in Alpha covering this as well.

While it may have some value for a child that really wants to do a workbook, I think it's really not worth the money.

HTH,
Kelsy

[Sasharowan]

The only thing it did for my ds that I couldn't have easily done is give him a book to work in just like older siblings. Looking back now, I would have worked more on mastering the + facts so that Alpha is easier and done more hands on. He developed some bad habits like finger counting cause I was paying more attention to the older 2.

[Jenstet]

What a great and timely question. I am in the same boat for next year. My son wants a "real" math book like the older so we were planning on starting with the Primer too. I may have to rethink that.

[Cadam]

no way, I only bought it because my then 3.5yo begged and begged for her own "math movie" and my mother offered to pay for it. It is basic shapes, counting and writing numbers. Don't bother, with a 5yo I would just get another Alpha book and let him do that at his own pace. Primer was created just so younger siblings would have their own book, it is not a necessary part of the program and kids ready for a gentle intro to math can just use Alpha. If you understand the MUS way of doing things you could just get the student book and forgo the dvd easily.

[blessed3x]

My son is currently using the Primer for K; he is 5. We have been very happy with it, though I can understand what everyone else is saying. For us, this year has really boosted his confidence and made him enjoy math. I personally don't regret doing the Primer first.