Transitioning from Math-U-See to Brighter Maths

Why we're no longer selling Math-U-See

For over 25 years, Maths Australia has promoted the program Math-U-See. Our CEO Esther White used the American program while homeschooling her 5 girls, loved the approach and in 2000, she made Math-U-See accessible to Australian, New Zealand and Asian families and classrooms with her exclusive licence and a deep desire to make this multi-sensory way of teaching maths known..

With direct permission from Steve Demme, Esther single-handedly created the Australia-New Zealand-Asian Metric Edition of the entire Math-U-See program of the time (Primer through to Pre-Calculus). 

In 2020, when the world went into lockdown, we made the bold decision to make the video component of the program accessible to our customers via a highly secure login portal. Before this, and until now, no online version of the program was available to any customers outside USA. It was a necessary - and important - step in service to our customers that did not have DVD players in this new world. Our search for colour-coded manipulatives that were unavailable from Math-U-See at the time required us to take the plunge, improve and develop our own. It also took us on a deep dive into the origins of Math-U-See, and to learning more about the truth of the Montessori-inspired and brilliant Jerry Mortenson who developed this way of teaching maths.

The Math-U-See program, as developed by Steve Demme, has remained the same for over 20 years. And while the multi-sensory approach is fantastic, the latest research around cognitive load, the science of learning and the needs of both neurotypical and neurodivergent students has not been integrated into it's program.

Just as Steve Demme innovated pre-2000, now in 2025 we're innovating again.

We bring you Brighter Maths!

Brighter Maths brings together the elements you love about Math-U-See, whilst also adding in critical elements from the latest pedagogical research. It takes all of the feedback we've ever received, analyses it based on real student results and delivers you the most effective, efficient and explicit maths program you'll see.

With extra care to ensure accuracy of instruction, video delivery and demonstration; simple lesson plans that truly equip you to teach; student workbooks that integrate I-CRAVE Maths methodology and ensure you'll never have to go back and re-teach another lesson again; downloadable unit tests and curated flashcards, games, power points, and more. We're providing you with every resource you'll need to be your student's best maths teacher they could have ever wanted.

We've aligned the program more closely with the Australian Curriculum, providing timely instruction to ensure that every lesson can be taught with fidelity and confidence.

What Changes

Simpler Execution
Our videos are conducted by Maths Australia CEO Esther White, in a 1:1 tutor style, rather than a live classroom model, allowing for more explicit instruction. We've streamlined instructions, and provided lesson plans to ensure an increased capacity for learning by reducing cognitive load.

The inaccuracies of Math-U-See's videos are no longer, and every demonstration is clear and precise whilst following the build-draw-write-say instructional approach.  Math-U-See's build-write-say approach misses the key component of the student drawing what they have built. From what we've seen, and in alignment with cognitive load and multi-sensory learning, this drawing step significantly improves the students retention and learning, minimising the huge jump from three-dimensional concrete building to abstract symbolic writing.

Greater Research Integration
Cognitive Load Theory, Universal Design for Learning, Multi-tiered Systems of Support/ Response to Intervention, Explicit Instruction, Rosenshines Principles of Instruction, and many more frameworks outline the key components necessary for effective numeracy instruction. We've integrated these, and an understanding of dyscalculia and learning differences to bring you a way of teaching maths that includes each and every recommendation from Grattan Institute's Maths Guarantee report on boosting students learning in primary years, the Australian Research Education Organisation, the Australian Council for Education Research & beyond.

Teaching Maths As A Language
Every language is a unique system of standardised set of symbols, rules, exceptions to the rules, and terms that we use to be able to communicate. Maths is the language of the universe, and so we've integrated best fit practices, sequential mastery, cumulative and timed review and I-CRAVE Maths methodology to teach decoding and encoding of those squiggles that were never meant to make any sense. This approach demystifies maths, making it THE simplest language in the entire world to learn.

Closer Australian Curriculum Alignment & Content
Each level aligns more precisely with the Australian Curriculum, with clearer mapping for parents and educators wanting to follow a students development alongside our sequential mastery-based approach. (Elements like time were previously introduced at a later level).

Word problems that made sense 20+ years ago have been exchanged for contextually-relevant life questions that support understanding and retention, whilst Australian songs have been developed and added into the optional resources for each level.

Stronger Day-To-Day Support
We've introduced multiple additional opportunities for support so that your teaching becomes simpler, and your students progress more confidently. 

• Monthly live Q&A available.
• A custom built app for practise exercises (both timed and fact-based).
• More examples and worksheets for those requiring additional repetition.
• Greater clarity in student instructions about “what to do next”.

More Cost Effective
We've introduced a completely online, annotatable option with a monthly subscription model. 
The cost for one Math-U-See level was at least $127 for the Instructor Pack, and $107 for the Student Workbook. You can now get access to all the Brighter Maths material for one level for just $17 per month. 

This subscription model allows your student to progress at their pace, without penalising them if they progress more rapidly. As each level is completed, you just progress to the next.

What Stays The Same

Same Levels
The new Brighter Maths levels are sequentially aligned with the Math-U-See levels to make your transition simple. When your student completes their current Math-U-See level, they can continue seamlessly at the next equivalent Brighter Maths level. 

We've removed references to Greek alphabet letters that have no mathematical relevance, and instead named the levels according to the simplicity of the block colour progression so that:

Brighter Maths Red Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Primer,
Brighter Maths Green Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Alpha,
Brighter Maths Orange Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Beta,
Brighter Maths Pink Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Gamma,
Brighter Maths Yellow Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Delta,
Brighter Maths Blue Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Epsilon,
Brighter Maths Purple Level is equivalent to Math-U-See Zeta.

Need to purchase your multi-sensory maths materials - visit the Store.

Same Multi-Sensory Tools (Manipulatives)
We introduced our Maths Australia Integer Block Kit, Teacher Magnetic Block Kit and Advanced Kit a few years ago and there are no changes to these. Our integer blocks are slightly larger than the under-sized Math-U-See blocks (and therefore much simpler for students to manipulate), and click together easily (bye-bye the frustration of blocks that don't click together even though they should). They are also compatible with lego base boards for ease of use. 

The Teacher Magnetic Block Kit is the only of its kind, worldwide, and is a great resource for whiteboard instruction; for fridges and at-home learning; and for those students that need the larger size to manipulate. Through our collaboration with Nepean Special School, Victoria, we also now have available oversized blocks for students with complex needs and physical dexterity challenges. 

Our Advanced Kit supersedes and combines what was the Math-U-See Fraction Overlay Kit and Algebra/Decimal Inserts. From the Fraction Overlay Kit that didn't ever have enough cards to build fractions, decimals or percents and required abstract 'imaginings' to plastic inserts that were also limited in number and application (and required the integer block kit), our Advanced Kit now includes a selection of more than 300 cards for teaching all fractions, decimals, percents and algebra. It integrates additional features in the numerators and denominators that enable accuracy of teacher instruction and ease of student understanding. With 72 symbols cards and a beautifully presented mini instructional booklet, this exceptional creation enables you to teach all fractions, decimals, percents and algebra operations and applications with ease.

Hear Directly from CEO, Esther White

Questions?

We're here to help. If you have questions, we'd love to answer them. Give us a call on (02) 9094 3390, click the button above or email [email protected]

Introducing

The Maths Australia Team

We’re a small Australian business, proudly supporting families, tutors, and schools succeed.

Let's teach maths as the language that it is.