Math-U-See® Manipulatives

Unfortunate that people rate this app poorly because of their own misunderstanding of the description. It's like saying "I don't think this is a good donut because it doesn't taste like a steak. I wanted a steak." The why did you buy a donut?! If you are a MUS user you will use the manipulatives. This app is a wonderful way to have blocks as fraction overlays available. The physical items can be cumbersome compared to all the whiz bang technology available. This app gives almost all of the functionality of blocks and fraction overlays without being cumbersome. I gave a 4 star because on occasion it will freeze or lag but the design is awesome. (I see that it does decimals and graphing too but I haven't used those parts yet personally) It's a great tool, yes more expensive than other apps but less than the physical manipulatives. Please read the reviews a determine whether people are rating the app or their own comprehension. (It never claims to give quizzes or practice problems). I don't usually write reviews but this was too much bad press for illegitimate reasons.

I love this for tutoring math! No, it does not produce practice problems, but there are plenty of free resources available online for producing practice problems, including the MUS website, and inexpensive multiplication drill apps. If your student has been taught how to make the models, they should be able to use the app to solve whatever practice problems you generate for them, which should make the app worthwhile enough. But what I appreciate so much about this app is that it provides an unbelievably easy laboratory for active tutoring sessions. I can quickly make examples for demonstration and interactive questioning. Today, I introduced improper fractions and their mixed number equivalent. It was easy as dragging in a fraction model and tapping the parts to shade them. Switch to notation mode to write and erase easily on the model. No more spending time and paper drawing the models I need. We sit in a cozy chair and don’t need to chase around paper, pencils and blocks. The more I play with this app, the more I appreciate the things it does. Drag in a model of 1/2. Drag in another model of 1/2, rotate it, and place it on top. Not only does it show the 2/4 shaded, but it changes the color of the shaded pieces -- all fractions of a given size are displayed in the same color. Multiplication of fractions? Easy. Choose from three backgrounds, including x and y axes and the houses of “decimal street”. Select from algebra, integers (like the physical blocks), decimals (units, tenths, hundredths), and fraction overlays. As a teaching tool this app is easily worth twice it’s price. No problems or glitches running on iPad air. Destined to get a hard workout in my homeschool. Thanks for a wonderful tool!

I love the idea of having the blocks in app form. Unfortunately the app is very glitchy on our 1st Gen iPad . The blocks don’t move smoothly. It is difficult for little fingers to align and rotate the blocks and it freezes quite often. This is by far the most money I’ve spent on an app, therefore I expected better performance. As far as the functionality goes, it has all the features I expected, I just wish it worked better on our ipad. A rotate button would be helpful, and a snapping feature to align the blocks would be good as well. An automatic zoom out would be nice so that it automatically fits the blocks in the window.