At first glance, Miquon and Math U See might seem similar. Both use different length rods/blocks to represent the numbers from one to ten. Both systems color-code their rods.
There are a few minor differences in the rods: Miquon's Cuisenaire rods are based on the centimeter scale; MUS blocks are a little bigger, based on a half inch scale. The colors are different.
However, there are some major differences in the rods/blocks. True c-rods are smooth, without dividing lines. They don't nest or connect. MUS blocks are notched according to their values and have hollow bases. They stack well.
Users of Miquon and MUS justify the shape of their blocks/rods. MUS block users like the notches in MUS blocks because children can see and count the units that a block represents. The hollow indentations in the blocks can be used to represent negative numbers in subtraction. C-rod users like their rods smooth, because the smallest block doesn't always represent "1;" sometimes the green block might represent "1."
These differences in the manipulatives underscore some major differences in the philosophies of the programs. Here are some major differences that I've noticed when looking into the two programs.
*Origins*
Miquon was developed in the 1960's by teachers for a school environment. Math U See was developed by a homeschooling dad for homeschoolers.
*Worksheets, Review, and Drill*
Math U See has lots of worksheets. The worksheets have built in drill and review. Miquon has a few "lab sheets" as a springboard for exploration and discovery. Many of Miquon's lab sheets look nothing like traditional workbook pages. Miquon has no built in review or drill.
*Mastery vs. Spiral*
Math U See is a mastery program. It teaches all of addition before moving on to subtraction. Then it teaches all of subtraction before moving on to multiplication. And so on and so forth. Miquon, on the other hand is set up as a spiral program. Each book touches on all four operations as well as a handful of other topics. Although you can re-arrange the Miquon lab sheets to use it as a mastery program, you'd have to really flip between books or rip out pages.
*Program Driven vs. Child Led*
In Math U See, the video does the teaching and the books determine the path. However, with Miquon, the parent or child picks the activity or lab sheet and then they must puzzle them out. Parent or child might choose to work on something totally different from yesterday's work. The parent and child work together to set the pace and direction of instruction.
*Types of Parents*
Parents who pick Math U See tend to be less confident in their own math abilities or their ability to teach math. They enjoy having the DVDs to rely on and a pre-planned path. Parents who pick Miquon tend to like math themselves. They enjoy the child-discovery aspect of Miquon and the early introduction of more advanced concepts.
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My years of Math-U-See lead me to a little different conclusion about the program. The other might be wonderful also but we love Math-U-See. We picked Math-U-See after years of using various other programs. None of them had the ability to teach my children. In learning about how my children learned information I discovered that they were all visual learners and I had been trying to teach them Math myself using a launguage based approach.
ReplyDeleteI have never known any true math program that lets the child pick the path of Math they will take so I have no idea what is meant by that?
I love that Math-U-See has the videos. I like it because the presentations are then given in the way that they are intended. Having 9 kiddos I find that I assume I said something that I did years ago but not to the child in front of me.
I do not love Math, it has never been easy. I, like my children, learn differently and was taught using a launguage based program. This created torture for me. I didn't understand so many concepts for years until I have relearned watching my kids with the Math-U-See program.
For big families, I find Math-u-See to also be cost effective. My children do not write in workbooks, we use overlays and Write on/Wipe off pens, or a notebook depending on their age level.
My Pooker was in 8th grade when I discovered Math-U-See for the next child. She had done very well in Math from the beginning and had very good grades. She begged me to give her the time to review all 8 years of the Math-U-See program before starting high school math. (Freshman year she did one level per month.) She claims that she had never really understood so many of the concepts until she re-learned them with this visual program.
I love the program. We have used it now through out all the grades. I have heard others complain that it doesn't prepare a child well for college math. That might be true. I can't tell the difference. Does Pooker struggle with college math because Math is difficult for her and the subject matter advanced or is she ill prepared? That I can't answer.
I am very pleased with Math-U-See. We came to it after years of struggling with many programs and years of wasting Math time. I have never tried Miquon so I can't say anyting to it. I haven't tried it because I had not heard of it years ago in my searches and after investing in so many programs I was happy to have picked one and settled. So we will probably never switch. I just wanted to give my two thoughts on the matter. Have a great day!
Wow, you really did write a book.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that Math U See is working so well for you. I bet that you would hate Miquon.
I'm a bit confused by your comment that you came to a different conclusion about MUS. Although I've seen MUS demos and own the first two DVDs, I've never used the program. So, if I've misrepresented the program, please let me know. I hope that you didn't think that I was putting down MUS. Rather, I was amazed how very different the two math programs are despite having very similar manipulatives. I think that both programs have their places.
Let me try to explain how Miquon "lets the child pick the path of Math they will take." Although not all Miquon users do so, it is set up so that you can hand the child the book and let her pick which page she wants to do, in whatever order she wants. She might pick a page on addition, subtraction, multipication, fractions, geometry, measurement, or telling time, jumping from topic to topic from day to day at will, even in the first semester of first grade. The teacher doesn't explain to the child how to work a problem, but rather encourages her to discover the solution for herself. Yes, it sounds strange but it works for some families.
BTW, I started using Miquon to supplement our main math program (with which I have a love-hate relationship). Miquon's flexible nature makes it easy to use as a supplement.
I guess I just can't comprehend how the system would work. I understood it a little better as we talked today and you pointed out that it only goes until 3rh grade. I was thinking it was an entire series up to college and I just could see how that would work.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I am sorry if I came of defensive. I really just was so happy to find Math-U-See. It opened Math for my visual learners. I had not seen nor heard of anything else like it. When we found it and bought the various age levels I cried. I really did feel like God has led us to this program. I was so thankful.
I am very emtional over the topic because it was so hard at the time. Every Math program "reported to me" (by test results) that my children were stupid, I new that wasn't the case. I knew that they were very smart and that I just wasn't able to get the information in their heads the right way. Math-U-See did it in a simple manner. I was and still am so glad.
I can see how we are very different in our understandings of Math programs. I suspect I would not like the Miquon at all. I even struggle to understand how it is even presented to the child. Sorry for the books! Thank you also for indulging me. Sometimes I just need to talk about what I like and why.
I'm a little jealous that you found a math program that works so well for your family. (Says the constant curriculum hopper.) As for struggling to comprehend Miquon, most people don't understand it. The first pages look like an alien IQ test. It's really weird, but it's also helping Sparkle.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post! I'm trying to decide between the two and this was very helpful. :)
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