Right Start vs Math U See?

[happyWImom]

I've done a lot of research, and my kids like to use manipulatives, so in your opinion, which is easier to teach? I know they are both good programs, but math is my worst subject (dare I say hate?). So I need something that I can understand.:tongue_smilie:

Sorry if this has been discussed before.

[jensway]

We use MUS because my son likes manipulatives as well. When you get the teacher's pack it comes with a teacher edition and a DVD. We love the DVD as it has a gentleman (sorry his name escapes me right now) teaching the lesson.

My son likes it cause it's not me doing the teaching first. :001_smile:We both watch it then we do 1 page together then he does the 2nd page on his own. The next day when he starts the 3rd page I sit with him and have him teach me how to do the first 2 problems--that way I can see if he understands what he is doing.

I cannot comment on RS as we have not used that one.

[Cadam]

MUS is easy on me. Mr. Demme is all about teaching you to teach math. I have learned so much! You can go online and watch the demo video. Make sure to watch the introduction on the dvd if you choose MUS. SOme people skip the intro but it really helps you learn the MUS way and how to teach.

[Misty]

I vote for RightStart! I have used both programs and, in my opinion, RS is superior to MUS. MUS is a good program too and I would use it if RS were not available.

MUS is a mastery program and they will cover the same concept all year long, which gets really boring. RS combines mastery with authentic spiral. RS is never boring. There is always review, but also always a new concept. And the games are great for reinforcing the concepts and learning the facts. And the games are actually FUN! My girls actually ask to play them.

Just recently we had a lesson on squaring numbers. I never knew that it actually meant that you could make an actual REAL square out of that number! It was all explained to us using manipulatives in RS. There is even a lesson on how to do your taxes in RS!

We have been using RS for 3 years now. I use it with all of my children and I am so very thankful for it!

This question gets asked a lot on the RS yahoo group and this comparison was posted by someone there:

I read extensively on both websites.
I joined both yahoo groups.
I emailed both companies (and since MUS uses representatives
throughout the country, I figured I'd go for the gusto, and I
emailed every single one, aproximately 30 people).
Got the demo video from MUS and the "Sampler" books from RS
I talked to every parent who was willing to offer me their opinion,
be it on one or both programs.
I googled both programs looking for reviews.
~and finally, after all that~
I went to our state homeschool convention, where both programs were
going to have booths set up and "" each rep. *g*

After all this, these were my conclusions:

SIMILARITIES:

Both programs teach with the desire to achieve understanding, not
rote memory.
Both programs use manipulatives.
Both programs require roughly the same financial commitment per
grade/child.
Both programs have a toll-free number to call if you need help or
have questions
Both programs have a yahoo group to get assistance and encouragement
from other parents using the program.

MATH-U-SEE
PROS:
MUS has rods only, so the manipulatives would be consistent.
MUS has a "full" program that goes through high school.
MUS has "the videos."
MUS has placement tests.
CONS:
MUS has ONLY rods. There is no variety in the program. If the rods
don't work for your child, there are no alternatives.
MUS rods only represent numbers, they are not manipulative in the
way the abacus is. Learning that "Pink minus green equals orange"
requires advanced skills to get the concept because you
can't "manipulate" the pink block to become orange...all you can do
is set them up side by side and compare them. Although this may
work for some children, one of my daughters has autism, and that is
a very advanced skill.
MUS rods are "one" rod represented by little nooks...but to my
daughter (and from many other parents reports), their children
struggled with getting that the rods represented various quantities.
MUS had no option for teaching that concept beyond comparison, and
because my daughter does not have strong comparison skills, that was
a big concern for me.
MUS teaches a concept with the rods but the children practice the
concept through workbooks. There is no real-life application
outside of "word problems". Your child needs to be able to read the
word problems.
Some parents reported the videos were boring and did not hold their
child's interest.

RightStart:
PROS:
RS has many manipulatives, so the concept that math can be used in
many different ways would be taught.
RS manipulatives are manipulativeable (is that a word?) On the
abacus, when you want to show three minus two equals one, you
actually start with the quantity of three, and then can manipulate
the actual quantity by removing a quantity of two).
RS was more fun. At the homeschool conference, my kids looked at the
MUS table, played with the rods a little, then were ready to move
on. At the RS table, I had to drag them away because they were
having fun.
RS teaches a concept with manipulatives and the children practice
the concept through games so they are using what they learn in real
life situations. (What's more real to a child then games!)
Workbooks and word problems are then used to supplement their
skills. To me, this was a big deal for two reasons. (1) In real
life, we don't "think" of word problems. We live and have to figure
out the problem. Word problems are laid out very easy...Key words
like "More then" and "less then" and "How many are left" or "how
many all together" are used. In real life, we don't always have
that luxury of "hints" when we are figuring out what to do. (2) My
daughter's reading comprehension is not very good, and reinforcing
the skill of doing real-life games without having the secondary
problem of her reading delays was important to me.

And now that we've been using RS for the last few months, I've been
able to say to my children "If you don't clean your room, we're NOT
doing math today!"....and the best part: THAT WORKS!

Basically, my conclusion was:
MUS teaches rote concepts with visual tools and worksheets to
practice those concepts.
RS teaches concepts through a variety of tools and reinforces
concepts through real-life experiences.

[Cadam]

I vote for RightStart! I have used both programs and, in my opinion, RS is superior to MUS. MUS is a good program too and I would use it if RS were not available.

MUS is a mastery program and they will cover the same concept all year long, which gets really boring. RS combines mastery with authentic spiral. RS is never boring. There is always review, but also always a new concept. And the games are great for reinforcing the concepts and learning the facts. And the games are actually FUN! My girls actually ask to play them.

Just recently we had a lesson on squaring numbers. I never knew that it actually meant that you could make an actual REAL square out of that number! It was all explained to us using manipulatives in RS. There is even a lesson on how to do your taxes in RS!

We have been using RS for 3 years now. I use it with all of my children and I am so very thankful for it!

This question gets asked a lot on the RS yahoo group and this comparison was posted by someone there:

I read extensively on both websites.
I joined both yahoo groups.
I emailed both companies (and since MUS uses representatives
throughout the country, I figured I'd go for the gusto, and I
emailed every single one, aproximately 30 people).
Got the demo video from MUS and the "Sampler" books from RS
I talked to every parent who was willing to offer me their opinion,
be it on one or both programs.
I googled both programs looking for reviews.
~and finally, after all that~
I went to our state homeschool convention, where both programs were
going to have booths set up and "" each rep. *g*

After all this, these were my conclusions:

SIMILARITIES:

Both programs teach with the desire to achieve understanding, not
rote memory.
Both programs use manipulatives.
Both programs require roughly the same financial commitment per
grade/child.
Both programs have a toll-free number to call if you need help or
have questions
Both programs have a yahoo group to get assistance and encouragement
from other parents using the program.

MATH-U-SEE
PROS:
MUS has rods only, so the manipulatives would be consistent.
MUS has a "full" program that goes through high school.
MUS has "the videos."
MUS has placement tests.
CONS:
MUS has ONLY rods. There is no variety in the program. If the rods
don't work for your child, there are no alternatives.
MUS rods only represent numbers, they are not manipulative in the
way the abacus is. Learning that "Pink minus green equals orange"
requires advanced skills to get the concept because you
can't "manipulate" the pink block to become orange...all you can do
is set them up side by side and compare them. Although this may
work for some children, one of my daughters has autism, and that is
a very advanced skill.
MUS rods are "one" rod represented by little nooks...but to my
daughter (and from many other parents reports), their children
struggled with getting that the rods represented various quantities.
MUS had no option for teaching that concept beyond comparison, and
because my daughter does not have strong comparison skills, that was
a big concern for me.
MUS teaches a concept with the rods but the children practice the
concept through workbooks. There is no real-life application
outside of "word problems". Your child needs to be able to read the
word problems.
Some parents reported the videos were boring and did not hold their
child's interest.

RightStart:
PROS:
RS has many manipulatives, so the concept that math can be used in
many different ways would be taught.
RS manipulatives are manipulativeable (is that a word?) On the
abacus, when you want to show three minus two equals one, you
actually start with the quantity of three, and then can manipulate
the actual quantity by removing a quantity of two).
RS was more fun. At the homeschool conference, my kids looked at the
MUS table, played with the rods a little, then were ready to move
on. At the RS table, I had to drag them away because they were
having fun.
RS teaches a concept with manipulatives and the children practice
the concept through games so they are using what they learn in real
life situations. (What's more real to a child then games!)
Workbooks and word problems are then used to supplement their
skills. To me, this was a big deal for two reasons. (1) In real
life, we don't "think" of word problems. We live and have to figure
out the problem. Word problems are laid out very easy...Key words
like "More then" and "less then" and "How many are left" or "how
many all together" are used. In real life, we don't always have
that luxury of "hints" when we are figuring out what to do. (2) My
daughter's reading comprehension is not very good, and reinforcing
the skill of doing real-life games without having the secondary
problem of her reading delays was important to me.

And now that we've been using RS for the last few months, I've been
able to say to my children "If you don't clean your room, we're NOT
doing math today!"....and the best part: THAT WORKS!

Basically, my conclusion was:
MUS teaches rote concepts with visual tools and worksheets to
practice those concepts.
RS teaches concepts through a variety of tools and reinforces
concepts through real-life experiences.

I am not going to go through everything but as a MUS user it is obvious that the person writing the review hasn't actually used MUS. The understanding here of how the blocks work is not accurate. You would have to get into the levels to see the different ways that the blocks and overlays are used. The other thing that popped out at me from the review was "the kids thought the videos were boring". This program was not designed for the kids to watch the videos. Many of us do that (my kids love the videos) but the intention is for the parent to watch so that they learn to teach and then they work with the child.

I know MUS isn't for everyone and I am glad that if something doesn't work for a child there are other options. I just wanted to touch on these things that stood out to me.:001_smile:

[EKS]

I've used both, and I would say that MUS is easier on the teacher.

[cillakat]

RS helped us at a time when MUS didn't. DD was bored to tears working through MUS. RS *at the time* offered a framework to keep things varied, yet sound. In otherwords, it wasn't spiral for the sake of variation but spiral for the sake of holding interest and maintaining skills.

We worked through C....and it took us 15 months. There were lots of breaks:) Lots of days that were just math games.


But RS C gave her a very good foundation and automaticy with addition and subtraction.

Then, it happened. As I've learned to expect, what works for my child some of the time, will not work all of the time. Something that 'works' for her will cease to work. We alllllways have to mix it up.

She was growing frustrated with the spiraling. She was growing frusted with her seeming inability to memorize multiplication facts as we worked on them for many many lessons. We needed a change.

We did a quick multiplication memorization using _Memorize in Minutes: the Times Tables_. It totally worked.

Then we did one of the multiplication workbooks (downloadable) from Math Mammoth. It was great. The explanations were fantastic.

Then we went into Singapore 3A and are blowing through it. We'll be in 3b in no time. Singapore is a great page layout for her (few problems on most pages) so she feels like she's accomplishing much.

I am so grateful for RightStart. It filled a need when nothing else did. Perfection it isn't, but it's unique and sound. Some of the explanations are lacking....and oftentimes it wants the child to figure out how to do something before giving direct instruction. That definitely doesn't work for my dd. She has to be taught directly and explicitly first, then we work on the why. Overall, it's fabulous.

I guess the bottom line is that there is no perfect program. It just depends on the needs of the child and teacher at that particular time and for that particular topic.

Oh! and even though I'm using Singapore ftmp.....I have 15 or so lessons marked in RS D that we are using for instruction as those things come up in Singapore. Those things, to me, are more thoroughly covered by RS in terms of the teaching aspect. So I am still peicemealing it. Some Math Mammoth may get thrown in too. I love their explanations for most topics. Love love love. Very visual, very clear.

All the best,
Katherine

[Misty]

I am not going to go through everything but as a MUS user it is obvious that the person writing the review hasn't actually used MUS. The understanding here of how the blocks work is not accurate. You would have to get into the levels to see the different ways that the blocks and overlays are used. The other thing that popped out at me was that the kids thought the videos were boring. This program was not designed for the kids to watch the videos. Many of us do that but the intention is for the parent to watch so that they learn to teach and then they work with the child.

I know exactly what you're saying! I thought the same thing about the videos. Another thing that popped out to me (after I had already posted this review here and went back and re-read it) is that she forgot to include the "cons" for RightStart! There aren't many that I can think of, but here are a few:

An occassional typo in the books that has left dd and I feeling annoyed on more than one occassion.

No high school level

No video instruction, but the lessons are scripted for the parent.

Sometimes there is prep time for a lesson, but rarely (cutting out strips of paper or something similar)

Some people consider the program "mommy-intensive" or time-consuming (but I see it as time well spent).


That's all I can think of for now, but I obviously love the program so I a little biased. :001_smile: