My review of My montessori house math DVD

I have recently purchased a DVD set from My Montessori House. A website that sells DVDS and manuals relating to the Montessori way of education. I will review each DVD one by one as I watch them with my DD to give a decent review.

First things first, this is the FIRST DVD that my DD has asked to watch twice since first putting it on to show her. My DD does not like anything to do with maths, numbers or counting. I recently got out a puppet which I have named mathematics owl and she told the owl I don't like numbers, I only like words. So it has been an uphill battle for a long time with maths so when she asked to watch it again I was impressed.

The DVD only goes to ten but covers basic addition and subtraction and teaches what the number 1 actually represents a quantity. I think it presents this concept very well. It does repeat them and go over the quantities several times.  This DVD is certainly aimed at children who have not been introduced to numbers and makes sure the concepts are clear and not mixed up. It has no right brain methods there is no flash card concepts. Everything is very methodical and logical in how the information is presented to the child. Which is very Montessori.

It is very different to what I am used to watching with her. It is very slow to go through everything and the graphics are not of high quality and the voices used are a little condescending to the child watching it. The voice to me is a bit high and shrilly but in saying that it works for my child and she does not notice. My dd1 does struggle to sit through the whole DVD but sits through enough to learn what she needs to learn.

My DD2 does not watch she is doing Little Math through brillkids and is enjoying that. My dd2 is only 5 months and this is certainly not the age group this DVD is aimed at. I would certainly be looking at this DVD for an older child (2-3 not any younger than that) and if your child is extremely active I would wait until later to purchase it when they are able to sit still for at least 15-20minutes.

So down to the nitty gritty,

PROS

• Covers each math concept very well
• Repeats the concepts
• Logical in order presents what each number represents (Here is one and shows one thing)
• Has basic addition and subtraction,
• Very methodical makes sure the math concept is understood.
• Fantastic price tag for an educational DVD $15USD plus postage
• Most importantly my child who hates maths asked to watch it twice

CONS

• The quality is not high, graphics are very basic in a cartoon format.
• The voices used are high and shrilly (This annoyed me not my child)
• Only goes to ten does not cover numbers higher than ten
• Very long and slow and my DD can sit for about 20minutes of it although she has taken a lot of the concepts in.

So that is my honest opinion of this DVD. I think it is a great introduction to basic math concepts. It forms a good basis for you as the parent to build on. I think this is a good addition to your educational library and a great one if you are on a budget. (Which lets face it we all are) I hope this review will help you in your decision. Check it out for yourself mymontessorihouse.com

Happy Teaching
Kimba