Kindergarten Math Curriculum Comparison | Math U See Primer vs. Simply Good and Beautiful Math K
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- Let's look at Math U See Primer and Simply Good & Beautiful Math K today! These are both roughly "kindergarten" level math curriculums, although you will see that each curriculum has a very different pace as far as which concepts are covered when.
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I'm Rachel, a mom of two and the oldest in a family of 8 kids. I'm a second-generation homeschooler who is passionate about education. I'm originally from Michigan, but am living overseas. My two young boys and teaching homeschool lessons to my youngest sisters keep me busy, but I make time for writing and for making CZcams videos, too! On this channel, you can expect videos featuring books and homeschool curriculum, homeschool tips for hard days, our journey raising bilingual kids, and vlogs about the intentional adventure that our homeschool lifestyle allows! Subscribe to join our family here:
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I do mention in this video that the amount of instruction on certain topics--like ordinal numbers, or the teens being 10 + a single-digit number--doesn't seem like enough to create deep mastery and understanding of the topic, especially for my son, who is on the younger side and hasn't had prior introduction on some of these topics. I realize that this is somewhat intentional in a spiral math curriculum, because practice of those topics comes up repeatedly in future lessons. However--I have not seen these topics really being TAUGHT repeatedly--it's more than practice activities come up, and because my son hasn't mastered that concept, I need to re-teach that topic on my own. That's not a problem for me, but it's just something to note or be aware of if you're using this curriculum with a child that doesn't always grasp a math concept the first time you teach it--either because they're a little young for the concept or being math just doesn't come naturally to them. There WILL be many opportunities to practice, but you have to remember as the teacher to actually re-teach the concept. In the time since I filmed this video, I have done some extra practice on ordinal numbers with my son, and he's already come a long way in understanding what the ordinal number thing is all about, in just a few weeks. For him, I do like that they introduce topics that I might not otherwise have taught him or feel like he's ready for, because more often than not, he will 'get it' if I take the time to work on it with him instead of just thinking, "oh, he's not ready."
Such a great reminder!
I love how you explained this because I was one of those who, when faced with lessons in a curriculum that seemed too challenging, was torn between not wanting to push "too much learning" too soon and wanting to take advantage of my child's interest/openness. Since everything is new, she doesn't really have any resistance because she doesn't know what's "too much." Now my SOP is to give things a try then back up whenever it becomes evident she's not ready for a concept. One weird thing my daughter did was she would easily count by 10s to 100 with clear understanding of what makes 10 or 20, etc. but somehow, whenever she counted 1 to 100, she always had a hard time moving from 19 to 20, from 29 to 30, from 39 to 40 and so on. No amount of explanation seemed to work so I stopped making her count 1 to 100 for a while. Two weeks later, we tried again and she did just fine. It finally clicked 🤷♀️ ...and I was reminded once again of what a blessing homeschooling truly is. 😀
@@f3nw1ckfamily Yes, you never quite know when a topic will 'click,' and many times, it won't 'click' on that very first explanation. There are times when he will do the work eagerly and follow the procedure as I guide him, but I can tell (like with the ordinal numbers thing), that he's not truly 'getting it.' I just make note of that mentally and remember to keep taking opportunities to teach the concept, a little at a time, until it does click.
This was an awesome flip through! I love diving into different math curriculums to see how they approach math. Very well done! ❤️❤️
Thank you, Summer!
I love this. Thank you!
You're so welcome!
Thank you for including special tips for using these materials overseas (without the math resource boxes)! It's so helpful to so many of us. :)
You are so welcome! It's something I can very much relate to--the international homeschool community is close to my heart!
@@SevenInAll ❤
Another great flip through!!
Thanks so much!
For the level 2 math you can definitely get away without the math box too and use things around the home. I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on both curriculums .. thanks for sharing Rachel!
Good to know about level 2!
We’ve not started math yet with our youngest but teach numbers thru play!!! We love that temperature is in math!!! We find we learn in English then when it’s taught ok we add in the German!!! We found that making up the “math boxes“ have been easy to do!!! We don’t always keep the stuff together tho!!! We have zoomed in to pictures on the higher levels on the devices and we would print them out bigger.
A good idea to zoom in on pictures! Sometimes counting all those tiny little things is difficult just because of how small the images are.
I feel the same with the rushing. My daughter wants to fly thru primer but we supplement with the new Singapore 2022 and it’s the perfect combo. I do it with my older daughter as well!!
That sounds like an awesome combo! I've heard really good things about the new Singapore materials!
This was interesting, thankyou Now I want to go do math curriculum with my son. He loves numbers. 😊
Aww! Isn't it so fun when they have that natural love for numbers? It caught me by surprise!
Totally agree with you about the math from TGTB. We use the Grade 1 very much the same way you do to supplement BJU. My little girl likes the cute pictures and little games and so it makes a fun review. I also liked - and one of my main reasons for trying to incorporate it was that it regularly incorporated things like calendar and time and writing and spelling number words. BJU hits some of those things but as one unit well into the year (for calendar for example) so the repeated practice of those concepts in TGTB has been very welcome, but I agree I couldn't see using it as my only math curriculum. It's too random and not systematic enough. I will say their videos with the days of the week, months and number words are great and daughter's favorite. So I skip around to lessons that I want to do and for skills like addition and place value, etc. that match with skills that we've already learned with BJU, and so are just fun review. I've never used MUS. I've heard good things, but I never could wrap my head around the idea of doing nothing but addition for a whole year. LOL.
I will say, MUS in action IS a little bit more varied than "addition for a whole year"...although that is the general overarching idea of it. I myself tend to like variety, get bored by repetition... and I was one of the few kids in my family who never used MUS myself in my own school years. And yes--I do like the variety of topics touched on in TGTB, but I feel like the randomness might not be very successful if it were the only program we were doing. MUS's systematic, mastery approach combined with TGATB's "all over the place" approach are surprisingly combining together rather well for my math-obsessed little one right now who enjoys math but isn't necessarily mastering everything instantly--he still needs some time to practice and grow in these skills, but he's making good progress.
This was helpful, thanks! My oldest son has ADHD and we LOVE math u see because it has no colors and is all clean lines. Because my son is an artist (13 yes) and I thought he’d love colorful math books but it was so overwhelming and slow for his brain. Colorful pages were way too slow for him to get through. My kinder son will probably love both these programs!
I have definitely seen that for some kids, overly colorful and "fun" pages can create too much distraction and overstimulation--and simple pages can be much more "do-able".
WOW.... I’ve had originally leaned towards TGATB curriculum for almost every subject so far, including math, but after watching this and already debating on Math U See for a while, I think I’m officially sold on it > over TGATB 😵😵😵
I wanted my child’s curriculums to all intertwine within one company but I might be switching to the Primer program now, at least for Kindergarten this year. I also originally thought that a spiral approach would be the best option for us but seeing this info has made me really re-think how we should approach the basics like addition and subtraction and maybe try out the mastery instead. I was tempted to order JUST the Math U See manipulative blocks set without the actual workbooks because I thought they would be a handy Montessori material to have, oppose to the traditional gold beads sets.... but now I’m probably going to go with the entire program as a whole!
I do still love The Good & Beautiful and we will definitely be using them for all the electives, Language Arts & Science because I think they’re layout is so beautiful and draws kids in.... Math on the other hand should be kept simple I think so they don’t become easily overwhelmed and should really be able to master each concept before moving forward. Can’t believe I’m even saying that but wow.... this really changed my entire perspective.
Thank you SO MUCH for this thorough in-depth comparison!! Very helpful. I almost wish I could afford trying both hahaha
I'm so glad this was helpful, that is my goal with all of my videos! (And sometimes that's the reason my videos are so long because I am trying to be very thorough) Primer is an awesome introduction to math. TGATB does offer its Kindergarten math as a free download, so without too much budget outlay (just paper and ink if you have a printer) you could fairly easily add it in (maybe not every day, but once in a while) for some math that's a little different--but from what I've observed, I wouldn't personally want to rely on it for teaching these big, foundational concepts like addition and subtraction. Getting math's BIG concepts down solid is key for future math success, so I do think that limited 'distractions' is very helpful at this stage.
I'm really new to homeschooling, and I love the simplicity of TG&TB. However my daughter flew through level K within months, and is almost done now with their level 1. We have been supplementing with Beast Academy workbooks which she really loves! Right now they have 1A and 1B, she's very excited for the rest to be available! I have also tried looking for video reviews for the Dimensions math, specifically with their home instructors guide, but cannot find any. & nobody in my small homeschool group of friends has used them, but theirs does look pretty good too!
I think I've seen more posts about Singapore Dimensions math on Homeschool instagram....actually, if I'm not wrong, Kaela from "Ode to Abode" uses Singapore Dimensions, and may have some videos about the math on her channel, I'm not sure, but it may be worth a search.
@@SevenInAll Ahh thank you so much!
How old is your daughter
Have you thought of reviewing Math Mammoth (they have a Spanish version and they offer PDF). I would also love your take on Mathematical Reasoning by Critical Thinking Press. They are two of my favorites, we used both in combination in the younger years.
I've heard great things about both! I have considering Math Mammoth mainly because of the Spanish edition...but then I get intimidated by the thought of Math in Spanish. We are working on learning the basic math terms in Spanish, and I do use some Spanish when narrating his lessons, but his math skills are outpacing his Spanish math skills at the moment.
@@SevenInAll the English version of the light blue series is what we used. It is such a strong program. I think you would enjoy it. Plus it is very economical.
Leaning more towards math u see for my pre k boy because he doesn’t like to do long lessons he likes to finish and go lol .. I also feel like with math everything needs to be deep and detailed when first introduced , I get that vibe more from math u see
We are really liking Math U See for Pre-K!
Thanks for this review! I’m doing TGTB math this year for my first and second graders but I have a feeling we will be supplementing. I see exactly what you mean. I am already looking at other options for coming years. I do like TGTB for some things but I always appreciate honest reviews!
There's some genuinely fun and interesting activities, for sure, in TGATB, but I'm not feeling like I would personally want to lean on it for solid, conceptual math mastery--like you said, I think many would find a need for supplementation.
My son likes to cross out wrong stuff too
I think they find it more satisfying!
Thank you so much for showing this to us and being very informative.
I was practicing math with my girl and to her math seems to be her best interest and comes easy. She is 5 her and her birthday is February. this year ( August) we are moving to alpha unless I try math with confidence, bc she is flying through primer already. I got it just for fun for her but just so I can see where she is at level wise so I know for kindergarten what to use that's appropriate which isn't to hard but yet not to easy so I can challenge her a little bit.
Even though the sample placement test they have online / their website said to get alpha I at the time was like no way lol, I just didn’t agree because technically it’s aimed for first graders. ( I’m knew to math u see ) So I still did primer just as an over view to see exactly where she is but I didn’t expect my daughter to fly through it sooo quickly which is great, so I am going to order alpha as they recommended to us for this year kindergarten.
But then here i go, I then came across math with confidence and I love how it goes over money, subtracting, addding, counting, shapes, etc and it’ just seems like a faster paste then what primer was but I'm not sure if it's because primer was just to easy for us?!
just I’m not sure what’s after math with confidence once we do finish with them. as with math you see I feel like it’s easier as in if someone wants to go in “ order “ so to me it’s easier to know what is next.
So my few questions to you is.
1. have you used math with
confidence before and if so how did you like it ?
2. Did it seem more engaging since it uses more materials/ hands on items then just blocks like alpha ?
3. do you think it be less intimidating for a 5 year old who isn't technically " mature " for the alpha to sit there and all those pages? So almost like you said with your daughter mine is the same if it's too much she will lose interest. She can only do 20mins a day.
math with confidence there is only one page she has to do because the rest is just hands on with math materials to keep her engaged.
4. Will it be too much to just add both. Meaning math with confidence and alpha and each day just switching them both up? Bc she just want to fly through these pages so I’ll give her them so I feel like I need something else’.
I’m not a fan of good and beautiful reason why I am asking about the other
And lastly if she knows how to count 1-20 and knows her shapes, colors, adding subtraction should we just stick with alpha? I’m just lost what to do
Thank you so much
I actually have several videos on Math with Confidence, we've used their Kindergarten level, 1st Grade Level, and now currently using their 2nd grade level. I would probably NOT start with Kindergarten MWC if she can already understand and write numbers 10-20 and all the rest you mentioned...you may want to look at 1st Grade Math with Confidence. I have a video comparing 1st Grad MWC and Alpha MUS here: czcams.com/video/Jd6ce8lVqsk/video.htmlsi=-A_FC6fY49TJhtCS
I have a son who loves math and has a knack for it, he would fly through a page of alpha in maybe 3 minutes? And also flew through the MWC workbook pages, but loved all the games and activities. I used both 1st grade MWC and MUS Alpha during his kindergarten year--so it's definitely doable with a child who enjoys math and is a little bit advanced in math for their age.
@@SevenInAll thank you so much for the reply and okay I’ll definitely check your other videos!! Again thank you
Great comparison! We are a MUS household. My kiddos all have used Primer. I actually found that I loved adding in Memoria Press Numbers books for additional counting and number familiarity. It's a lovely set to add in.
Those are ones I haven't seen in real life! Our family has used Math U See for many years--it's a very solid curriculum, but we also enjoy adding in other quality math resources!
@@SevenInAll They are cute and simple. Writing numbers, coloring pictures ( ie, "color all the things quantity 2 in the picture"), coloring biggest or smallest shape.
That is good to know, I will look that up.
We have used the Simply Good and Beautiful math K and 1 and I am wondering if the small detailed paintings are especially hard in the PDF version. The printed book is large, much larger than a normal sheet of paper, so I think the pdf sheets may be compressed when printed on normal paper. Just a thought!
That could definitely be a difference--I've never seen the printed version.
“Only one homeschool video” 😂 😆 Contrary to all of the internet advice, we are using two math curricula in preschool too… I feel crazy 😜 lol. But my boy loves it and it slows him down a little bit which is helpful since he’s bookish and ready yet still pretty young. We are in rightstart A and Singapore dimensions. I debated so much with MUS primer since we have the blocks and my boy loves them!
hahaha--I love it, another math-obsessed preschooler! YES, using multiple curriculums is a great method when you have a kid who loves a subject but isn't necessarily ready to move ahead really fast to a new level. The MUS blocks are a big hit in our house. My son told me this weekend I need to get 16 more blocks from grandma because he tried to use all the smaller blocks to cover up all the squares on the hundred block, and there was 16 left that he couldn't cover because I didn't have enough. lol
I really enjoyed this comparison. I’ve never understood the hype behind THTB for both math and LA. I have never been tempted to try either with my kids. It just seems like a bunch of fluff and distractions, both of which my children do not need! I’ve found Masterbooks math to work beautifully for my girls.
I did purchase Preschool Math at Home to start with my boys hopefully this next school year. After seeing your video on that book I decided it was worth it to purchase it. I am so impressed already just by flipping through it briefly when it arrived. I think it will lay a great foundation for math concepts with my boys before we start Masterbooks Kindergarten. I’ve also got MUS Primer on my radar that I may do with them to lay more math foundations with them.
Thank you so much for your excellent content!!! Looking forward to your other May content too 😀
And thank you for the feedback on the writing too. Very helpful as I make decisions for next year!
Good job not giving into the hype. I think a large part of the appeal is the fact that those programs are a free download--that is genuinely appealing when the cost of buying and shipping books is high. Also...all the CZcamsrs know that making any video relating to TGATB is likely to get a good amount of views, versus making videos about the old-school standbys that have been around forever. ;) Distraction is a real issue when it comes to math--there tends to be the idea that the more that's going on on the page, the more 'fun' it is, but I do think we need to consider that simplicity in a curriculum can be really helpful when you're working towards mastering solid concepts. Glad that you like what you see in Preschool Math at Home! That was a great buy and worked well for us this past year...now he's taking off into math faster than I was able to get Kindergarten Math with Confidence into my hands (which was my first choice, but I really wanted hard copy vs. pdf because they were the same price.)
Thank you for sharing this :)
Are you planning on using either one of these alongside Math with Confidence for your son for supplementation, or do you think you’ll just stick with MWC?
I haven't yet actually been able to get my hands on Math with Confidence and implement it in real life, so at this point it's hard to exactly know how math will play out for us in the future, but I strongly suspect that Math U See at least will stick around--it's a very affordable supplement for us because my mom already has all the manipulatives and all the Teacher Guides.
Have you tried Apologia Math yet? It is a conceptual math curriculum and seems to use mastery.... I am actually going to try it for the next school year.
We have not! It looks really interesting!
We're using Apologia Math 2 and it's working great. It is mastery but the teaching guide tells you what concepts to review weekly so that the child is getting that continued practice. It's also very hands on and it follows the CPA method (conceptual, pictorial, abstract). It kind of reminds me of MWC and Singapore. Apologia does use real life pictures and after completing a unit there is a hands-on project to do. The projects show students how math is applied in real life and they also have some science integrated into them.
We have used the good and the beautiful prek through 1st grade math and now I see my daughter struggling with simple addition and subtraction problems. This leads me searching to find a different curriculum that may have better instruction. We've used mathusee primer and some of alpha, and she was just not a fan of it. I'm looking at math with confidence grade 1, but I fear that there won't be enough practice at the end of each lesson. Or she will be so bored with the repetitive information that she will resist doing it. We are also using Eureka math through Zearn that's web-based, but each lesson feels so much longer than it needs to be. She would prefer a book over videos. Any suggestions?
Have you seen my review of Math with Confidence Grade 1? czcams.com/video/l1daq4BgMEQ/video.htmlsi=VRxh_KPmu8_1RlOY
There is a great deal of review incorporated, but reviews aren't really at the end of the lesson, a major part of the review comes through activities at the beginning of each lesson. You only need to do as much review as the student needs, so there's no real reason for a student to get bored because if they have mastered the addition and subtraction skills, they don't need to do as much review.
If you think MWC Grade 1 is too easy you could also look at Grade 2, which I also have a video of. I have been VERY impressed with the thoroughness and depth of MWC.
Have you considered Singapore math or have thoughts on that? I’m considering that for my preschooler.
I have--I was very strongly considering Singapore math for my son but, considering the cost...I actually ended buying Kate Snow's Math with Confidence. I was very impressed with the deep concepts in her Preschool Math at Home book, and with the next two levels of her curriculum costing about $30 each on sale, I figured it was a good deal. But then my son was SO eager and demanding to do more math--so I had to use what I could get my hands on immediately, which was Math U See and TGATB. Still planning to use Math with Confidence when I actually receive it but I these two curriculums are working well for him and satisfying his need for numbers.
Hey there, what is your choice Math u see or math with confidence?
This past year, we've done both Math with Confidence and Math U See. We do the complete Math with Confidence lessons and then he'll do a quick worksheet from Primer as well--a Math U See worksheet just takes him a few minutes so it's an easy add.
Are you still using Preschool Math at Home at this point? Also, this might be a silly question, but does your child write directly in the MUS workbook, or do you copy out pages for him?
There are a couple of the games from Preschool Math at home that I weave back into our days once in while, because he hasn't fully mastered the skills, and he's improving at them as time goes by, but we've gone through all the chapters in that book, and I'm no longer using the activities daily--planning to do so again with my little one...probably starting sometime when he's 3 and working through at his pace, just like I did with the first one. I wasn't too worried about him FULLY mastering everything in Preschool Math at Home, because I plan to do Math with Confidence once it arrives, and I've heard that there's definitely overlap between the preschool and kinder levels, as far as concepts go. And he's writing directly in the MUS workbook. At this level, there's coloring/matching/dot to dots...a lot of reasons to write directly in the workbook. At some of the older MUS levels, it's very doable to just do the work in a notebook and leave the workbook clean for future re-use.
That makes sense. Thank you very much.
True... I believe that TGATB Math is beautifully made but it’s not rigid for me. Hahaha... Anyway, I only add this because my kid loves the distraction I should say. The games, the stories. But if were up to me I could just forego with it. And yes, we don’t have the math box and just do away with what we have. I was planning to use our own Philippine money but still he insisted using dollars just to be in line with it.
Thus far, I don't necessarily love the way that concepts are taught in TGATB, but he does really enjoy the activities and all the 'maps' in his lessons.
Did you mean to say the 30 lessons is meant to be done in approximately a week? Or did you mean each lesson within the book is meant to be done within a week? (Of the math u see)
Each lesson of Math U See is can be completed in roughly a week--which will give you 30 weeks of math if used exactly (but no one will likely be exact).
@@SevenInAll okay thank you!
My 3 year old son has to cross out wrong answers too, as well as say "we don't want that one" every time lol
hahaha, so many "X's" ...the allure of crossing out wrong answers is strong!