A positive story about MUS...

[Alyce]

My dd just finished her first semester of college as some of your children did here as well. She took 6 courses and got 4 A's and 2 B's. In her Japanese class her grade was so high the professor told her she didn't need to take the final which is great but what I want to brag about is MUS. She has used MUS since we first started homeschooling 8 years ago. For all that time I've heard horror stories about how kids have done in college and most people say you should use something else. This is a positive story. My dd's professor told her that she had the highest average in class, a 95. So you can use MUS and have your child succeed in college math. I know many of you will still disagree and say it's because she is math talented. That's okay (my dd is not math talented that's why we used MUS) but I wanted to post this for encouragement for those who would like to keep using MUS but have heard the horror stories as well. I'm no longer doubting my choice of math programs and say to those that want to keep using MUS, go for it.

[cbollin]

to try to help flesh out your encouraging story.... would you be willing to share a few other details?
What level of college math was she in? and what level of MUS had she finished before college? Did you use the "honors" books?

-crystal

[Alyce]

She took College Pre-Calculus. We used MUS all the way through Pre-Calculus but did not do the honors books. It took her too long to do the regular math and she just didn't have time for the honors books. We did do the honors book for Alg 1 though and she did okay with it but didn't excel. We started MUS before they came out with the new editions and started with the beginning book. She had already learned addition, subtraction and division so those were just reviews. As I"ve already said she wasn't a math whiz and after reading all the negative replies doubted my decision but it was just too good a fit for her that I couldn't change and so I just prayed. I'm not saying it will go like this for all children who use MUS. I'm just saying it's possible.

[cbollin]

Thank you for the details. :)


-crystal

[Kareni]

Thanks for sharing your daughter's experiences, Alyce; it's always great to hear a first-hand account.

And congratulations to your daughter for her first semester successes.

Regards,
Kareni

[sweetbaby]

This was very encouraging. I have a high school student also who isn't a math whiz either. MUS is a perfect fit for us and we have just switched are younger ones to MUS for some of the same reasons as my oldest. I'm so happy for your dd. I wish I had used a program like MUS in school.
Tell her to keep up the great work!:)

[Sue in St Pete]

Thank you for sharing. We've used MUS from the beginning and are now in Algebra. While I don't think we'll continue with the series, since I have a degree in math and it's not challenging ds enough, I have a df whose dds are not math-oriented and are doing well with MUS at my suggestion. It's good to hear the success stories that I can pass on.

[Karin]

Thanks for sharing! I have 2 who have used MUS from Alpha to present, although we do two math programs due to personal math needs. I picked up a MUS pre-Alg DVD & TM used, and this helps establish my decision to incorporate it into our pre-Algebra program next year. Actually, she finished Zeta months ago and doesn't want to do any more MUS, but I think after a break she will go back to it readily.

I can see where for some dc MUS could be lacking, and there were holes for us, but I can see that it can work well alone, especially with the right teacher (one more patient than me;)). Your story shows just what MUS can do for dc who have difficulty learning math, and I hope you share your story with Mr. Demme.

[MariaTX]

Thanks for sharing. I used to question our decision to use MUS, but my dh has been the one adament about using MUS. He's has a Chemistry degree, so he took lots of math in college. He says if he would've learned by Steve Demme, he probably would have done better in those math classes :)