The Master Ruler (Crew Review)

We recently had to opportunity to review a few products from Master Innovations, thanks to the TOS Homeschool crew. Master Innovations is a company that specializes in making unique and easy-to-use tools to help children learn how to measure the world around them and understand tricky math concepts like time, fractions, mixed numbers, and much more.

We received two Master Rulers (one standard and one metric) and a workbook to try out. When I first learned about the review my first thought was, “Oh Goody, a ruler.” But after I visited the website and watched this video I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to get our products in the mail:

As you can see, the Master Ruler does more than just measure length. With the Master Ruler your students have a visual, tactile tool to use to help learn about fractions and their relationships. I tried out the products with two of my children. For my 8th grader, we used the ruler with the portions of the workbook covering fractions. With my 5th grader, we used the measuring portions of the workbook.

My 8th grader has long struggled with fractions and she found after getting the hang of HOW to use the ruler to help her, understanding fractions was much easier. All she had to do was use the ruler to find the mark that coincided with each fraction she was given and compare them. We both found this to be much easier even than using fraction “pie manipulatives” because it was quicker and there were no little pieces to keep track of.

For my 5th grader, this was his first time measuring anything more detailed than 1/4 inches. The different layers of the rulers for each unit of measurement made it easy to figure out how to measure things to even 1/16 of an inch! I am looking forward to using these rulers in the future with my 2nd grader also.

Along with the Master Ruler, Master Innovations has several other products available including the Master Clock, Master Fractions, and Master Angles. I have yet to try any of these other resources, but after reading the reviews of my fellow Crew members, I have added them to my homeschool “wish list”.

The Master Ruler (U.S.  or Metric) can be purchased for $9.95 each directly from Master Innovations. I think this is a very reasonable price, considering how many uses it has and how sturdy it is. The Student Workbook  is available for $15.95 also, or you can purchase The Master Ruler Starter Set which includes metric, U.S. and a teachers ruler plus the workbook  for $41.25. Make sure to check out the other products that are available, too!

DISCLAIMER: This item was provided free for review purposes through the TOS Homeschool Crew.  I received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner above to read more reviews on this and other products by other Crew members.

Learning Materials – BJU Press Math

This is the first post in my attempt to share with you the different types of materials we have used (or are currently using) in our home for learning. In the near future, I will link to these “reviews” in my sidebar by subject to make them easier to find.

Today I would like to talk about BJU Press (Bob Jones) Math curriculum.

                     

So far in our homeschool, we have used grades 1-3 BJU Math and we love it! This was not the first Math program we used (we previously tried several resources from Alpha Omega) but once we started using it, we were hooked.

General Info

Publisher: Bob Jones University Press (BJU)

Grade Level(s): K-12

Price: from about $70 to $120 for a grade level set (depending on where you purchase)

What we like about it:

Oh goodness, where to begin? I would say the thing we like MOST about this math program, is that it is geared towards all learning styles. Each lesson has teaching suggestions that you can pick and choose from and tailor your lesson to your child’s unique learning style. You can do as little or as much in each lesson as you want. For instance, when I am introducing a new concept, many times I use the included Home Teacher Packet pages and the Student Materials (and at times other simple materials I have on hand) to go over the new concept with my child. For my kinesthetic learner, I use a lot of the manipulatives so he can work with his hands and get a physical representation of the concept. For my visual learner, we many times just work through some problems using just the Home Teacher Packet and/or scrap paper and the white board.

The worktext pages are set up so that you have one page front and back for each lesson. For new or challenging concepts, we work through the front page together, then I have my kids do the back independently. The same exercises that are on the front, are the same types of exercises that are on the back, so there is no re-explaining how to do a specific type of problem (with the exception of a few review exercises here and there).

The teacher manual is a HUGE help. To be honest, I don’t always use it for every lesson. If it is a concept I can easily explain on my own or something we have done before, I just sit down with the worktext page and show them what to do. Other times, they know what to do and work through the lesson on their own. But when it comes to new concepts or something that is tough for my kids to grasp, the TE is a huge help. It describes how to teach each concept step-by-step so there is no guesswork involved.

What we don’t like:

The only negative thing I have to say about this program is that it tends to be a bit pricey. But for me, being able to reuse it with multiple students (by merely purchasing a spare worktext) is worth the cost. That said, it is very easy to find BJU curriculum second hand for a reduced price. If you must purchase it new, I highly recommend purchasing it through CBD or Learning Things online. It is more expensive to purchase it directly through the publisher.

So all in all, BJU Math is a great program and I highly recommend it for your homeschool!

Star rating:

  4/4 Stars