Math-U-See Gamma Review || Timberdoodle 3rd Grade Math

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3rd Grade math covers single and multiple-digit multiplication, and Timberdoodle curriculum kits make sure it sticks!

The Timberdoodle 3rd Grade Curriculum Kit Math selections are Math-U-See Gamma (single and multiple-digit multiplication), and to make it hands-on and fun, they add in Mobi Math game and Multiplication Wrap-Ups.

Math-U-See Gamma

Math-U-See Gamma is a complete program that includes manipulative blocks, student workbook, instruction manual, test booklet, instruction DVD, and digital online pack for videos and extras.

I love the way Math-U-See has different pack options–the first time you order you’ll get the complete Universal kit, and then after that you can choose the Level Up, Student Pack, or Instructors Pack based upon what materials and books you may have on your shelf from previous levels or other students. This keeps it super affordable for multiple children over the years. There is also a Placement Test to make sure you are choosing the right level for your student each year.

Math-U-See follows a sequential mastery approach where each level builds upon what the student has learned before. The Gamma level helps students to learn place value, solving for unknowns, solving abstract word problems, area, skip counting, time, U.S. currency, measurement, and of course, addition, subtraction and multiplication.

There are 30 lessons in each level, and each lesson can be taught via the Instruction Manual, or by watching the DVD or online lesson. We prefer to watch the DVD as Mr. Demme is an excellent instructor and uses the manipulative blocks in each lesson to illustrate the principle.

Each of the lessons then has 7 workbook pages in the Student Workbook. You can choose to do as few or as many of them as your student needs to master the concepts. The first three pages are lesson practice, the next three are systemic review, and the final one is application and enrichment. Most lessons feature a mixture of number problems and word problems.

I really appreciate that pages vary in how many problems they have. You’ll find as few as 8 when there are larger activities like skip counting, and as many as 20 when it’s smaller problems.

If the workpage is heavy on difficult problems, I sometimes will circle the odd or even number problems for my child to do to prevent overwhelm. You know your child best and feel free to customize the work to their needs!

The Test booklet features lesson tests and unit tests to add plenty of practice for your student. There is also a final test that covers the entire book. We haven’t really utilized the tests yet, but I may pull some out over the summer for extra review.

How We Schedule Math

Since there are 30 lessons (and typically at least 36 weeks in the school year), we generally schedule one lesson per week, but allow for flexible adjustments. Some difficult concepts take us two weeks to go through and that’s totally fine.

We usually do math three days a week. We watch the DVD lesson and complete workpage A. The next two days we do another workpage–sometimes a lesson page and sometimes systemic review, depending on what she needs extra practice with. If the application and enrichment page is a dot-to-dot, my daughter begs to do that too!

We do the extras–the wrap-ups and Mobi game when we have extra time–usually a few times a month.

Multiplication Wrap Ups

Multiplication wrap ups offer another hands-on learning tool that kids can work on independently. Featuring all the multiplication facts from x1 to x10, each stick requires concentration to read the problem and pick the correct solution. The problems are self-correcting as you can see if your answers match the string pattern on the back of each stick. We have the addition and subtraction wrap-ups as well and still pull them out for practice.

Mobi Math Game

Mobi Math game is a delightful number tile game for 1-6 players. My daughter and I enjoy playing this together and it’s rewarding to see her grasp different math facts while we play. It’s a good way to help kids discover new math facts and motivate them with a little competition! There are also various ways to play with the tiles as well so it won’t get boring. When given the choice between a math page or hands-on practice with a game, my kids will always choose the game!

You can check out the Timberdoodle Curriculum Kit here.

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