Math-U-See Review || 2nd Grade Timberdoodle Kit
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While not every child loves math, there are some curriculums that excel at explaining and teaching concepts in a way that’s friendly for teachers/parents, and kids too!
Math-U-See is a mastery program that goes from Kindergarten to 12th grade with a predictable format, a full set of colorful block manipulatives, video or written instruction book lessons, and a host of other learning supports available.
A special thanks to Timberdoodle Co. for sponsoring this series by providing us with a complimentary 2nd Grade Curriculum Kit. All opinions are our own!
When we ordered our 2nd-grade curriculum kit, I chose to downgrade our Math program to the Alpha level (single digit addition and subtraction) because we had done simpler math in 1st-grade unit studies and were a little behind. The Timberdoodle 2nd-grade kit defaults to Beta level (multiple digit addition and subtraction).
However, a few months into Alpha, I have recognized that some lessons are quite easy for my daughter and we are making very good progress, leaving us some extra weeks in our school year to begin (and maybe finish) the Beta level as well.
Math-U-See Program Materials
The first time you order Math-U-See you get the Universal Set. This includes everything you need for the program: block manipulative kit, student workbook, instruction manual, DVD, and test book.
The nice thing is that you only need to get the Universal Set once. After that, you can save some money and get the Level-Up Set (student workbook, instruction manual, test book, and DVD), or the Student Pack if you already have the instruction manual/DVD from previous students (student workbook, test book).
Included with your instruction manual is an online code for access to a digital pack. This gives you access to stream the lessons online that are on the DVD, as well as so many other resources like PDF lesson pages, online block builder, test builder, coloring sheets, and math facts songs.
The Lessons
Each Math-U-See level includes 30 lessons that are covered in a straightforward manner in the instruction manual, on the DVD, or accessed online.
Most of the time, I choose to glance over the written lesson and then teach it to my daughter. Sometimes, we watch the video lesson for variety. If it’s a concept she already knows, we briefly go over it and move on. This is the beauty of homeschooling!
After each lesson, the student workbook features 7 pages of worksheets. The first 3 practice the concepts taught in that lesson. The next 3 offer a systematic review of various concepts from past lessons. The last page is a more fun application and enrichment page. A test book also holds lesson tests and unit tests if you want to use them.
We use these 7 workpages as Math-U-See instructs–you don’t have to use all 7 for each lesson. First, you only use as many lesson practice sheets as your child needs to master the lesson concept. Sometimes that means we only fill out one of them. Other times we need to do all three.
The same goes for the systematic review and the application/enrichment page. Some lessons require more practice and other times we are able to skip them and move on to the next lesson. In general, we complete one lesson per week, but if mastered quickly, we move on to the next lesson.
Why Hands-On Math
My memories of math as a child (Saxon Math), include page after page of problems and timed tests. Not that those things were bad in any way, but it left a general distaste of mathematics for me. I wanted something different for my kids, especially in the early learning years.
Math-U-See offers focused lessons and manageable worksheets. Just enough problems to encourage mastery, but not enough to cause frustration. While my daughter may not love math, she doesn’t complain about her lessons, and I believe this is due in part to the small chunks of learning they offer.
The hands-on blocks are amazing for seeing and moving math in practical ways. The digital pack also has access to online features that let you use blocks on the website for on-the-go.
For tactile kids the consistent use of the same colors of blocks through the years helps to form their understanding of math in a progressive manner.
I’ve watched the manipulative blocks help my daughter to try out number combinations as she figures out problems. Being able to move to work things out is key to bringing math problems to life. Instead of just being a flat, untouchable set of numbers, the physical blocks bring them straight off the paper and make them real.
I’ve been impressed with the progress my daughter has made while using Math-U-See and I look forward to continuing with their levels in the years to come!
Check out Math-U-See here in Timberdoodle Curriculum Kits.
