Digital Manipulatives from Math-U-See (Schoolhouse Review Crew Review!)

We received this for review purposes!

 Product Links: Digital Packs and Epsilon

Vendor Information Link: Demme Learning

Age Appeal: The student needs to be able to do addition, subtraction, Multiplication, and division

Format: Online digital manipulatives (need Chrome or Safari browsers), video lessons, PDF Instruction Manual, Answer Keys (12 month access)

Price: Please go to the website for current prices.

Does your family use Demme Learning’s Math-U-See program?  Is it a homeschooling math program your family would like to use?

Math-U-See now has Digital Packs.  You will get access for twelve months to everything you would get if you purchased the physical instruction pack.

Our Experience: 

My children really enjoy using Math-U-See, so I was really excited for the Digital Pack.  Our homeschool library has the fraction overlays, but each set was missing some, so B wasn’t able to do the problems.  The Digital Pack solved our problem.

B would watch the video, and use the manipulatives while he was completing his worksheets (a separate workbook is necessary).  C is working on Division with Delta, so I had her use the manipulatives when she needed the extra help.  I also had her watch a couple of the Epsilon videos, so she had an idea of what she would be doing next.

Mama’s Thoughts:

• It was wonderful having this program.  I was glad that B had an unlimited amount of digital fraction overlays at his hands.  He was always disappointed when he couldn’t do what he needed to do, because some of the physical overlays were missing.
• I liked the easy access to the lessons.  It was nice that we could use the computer instead of having to find the DVD and get it ready in the DVD player. 
• I appreciate the instructional videos from Steve Demme.  I have the children watch them.  After they do that, they work on their worksheets.  This works for us, because they appreciate having someone different teach them something. 
• Initially I thought it was an inconvenience when we had to use Chrome or Safari to use the manipulatives, but it worked out very well.  I didn’t even notice we were using a different browser.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 12, officially in sixth grade):   

I like doing Math-U-See, but never really had access to the manipulatives, so this was perfect for me. I liked how fun the manipulatives were to use, one time I made a heart out of the blocks. I relished how you had unlimited access to all the manipulatives, and fraction overlays, and how easy it was to use. I also enjoyed watching the online math lesson videos, for Epsilon, which I am doing. I liked how we had access to the answers to the lessons, as Mamma sometimes has me check my own answers. I would highly recommend this product to kids my age.

 C’s Thoughts (girl, age 10, officially in fourth grade):

• I think this product would be good for people who need help with fractions. 
• The digital manipulatives are fun to work with.  You never have to worry about losing any of the manipulatives, because it’s on a computer.
• I had fun making stairs out of the blocks, when I was done with my work.

Dad’s Thoughts:

Dad was not available.

Mama recommends Demme Learning’s Math-U-See Digital Packs!

Social Media Links!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathusee

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mathusee/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mathusee 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mathusee

   

Homeschool Spelling Program from Spelling You See (Review for the Schoolhouse Review Crew)

We received Spelling You See: Americana (Level D) from Spelling You See for review purposes!

 

Product Links: Spelling You See: Americana (Level D)

Vendor Information Link:   Spelling You See

Age Appeal: elementary school or struggling spellers (placement information is on the website)

Format: Physical copies of the Instructor’s Handbook and two Student Workbooks

Price: The Instructor’s Handbook is currently $14 and the Americana Student Pack which includes the two workbooks and a pack of erasable colored pencils is $30.

Spelling You See is a program which has been used with children since 2000.  It consists of short activities consisting of listening, speaking, reading, copywork, and dictation.  Currently there are five available levels, Listen and Write (Level A), Jack and Jill (Level B), Wild Tales (Level C), Americana (Level D), and American Spirit (Level E).

Americana (Level D) contains nonfiction stories from American history.  The students will chunk the letter patterns at the beginning of each daily lesson, then spend ten minutes on either copywork or dictation.  The letter patterns which are chunked are Vowel Chunks, Consonant Chunks,  Bossy r Chunks, Endings, Tricky y Guy, and Silent Letters. 

There is a sample lesson available at the Americana webpage. 

Our Experience: 

We have struggled to find a good spelling program for B and C that models the Charlotte Mason Method, but is still fun.

From the moment I first learned about Spelling You See, I knew it would help B and C learn how to become more efficient spellers.  It consisted of short lessons and natural ways of learning how to spell.

Each weekday I would read the passage, we would read it together, they would chunk the letter combinations of the week, then they would do either the copywork or the dictation for no more than ten minutes.  If it was a dictation day I would dictate to one child at a time, because they write at different speeds. 

Mama’s Thoughts:

• C has always been a strong speller and B has always needed extra help, so Americana (Level D) was a good fit for both of them.
• I liked that the lessons were short, because short lessons work the best for B and C.
• Seeing them learn how the words were spelled just by chunking certain letters was spectacular.
• Sometimes teacher’s books are not very helpful.  I thought that the Instructor’s Handbook was great.  Dr. Karen Holinga didn’t leave anything out.  She included information about the philosophy behind Spelling You See and how the chunking, copywork, and dictation worked.  The book had the answer key and all information needed to teach the lessons correctly.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 10, officially in fourth grade):   

I really liked Spelling You See: (Americana Level D).  I really, really think it would be a good spelling program from Demme Learning for children who are struggling with spelling.

I liked how you only had to do one part of a lesson a day.  Chunking was fun to do.  I was glad that dictation and copywork lasted only ten minutes, that way I didn’t get tired of doing the work. 

I enjoyed doing spelling, history, and handwriting all at the same time.

C’s Thoughts (girl, age 8, officially in second grade): 

I liked working on Spelling You See: Americana (Level D).  Lesson 6E about the Liberty Bell was the best, because I spelled a lot of words correctly. 

Children my age would learn a lot from Americana. 

Dad’s Thoughts:

Unfortunately Dad was unable to participate in this review.

Mama highly recommends the homeschool spelling program Spelling You See and Americana (Level D) !

Social Media Links for Spelling You See:
https://www.facebook.com/SpellingYouSee
https://twitter.com/spellingyousee