Side-by-side comparison
Math-U-See vs Teaching Textbooks
A side-by-side from Demme Learning and Teaching Textbooks.
Teaching Textbooks and Math-U-See both promise to make math less painful — but they do it in nearly opposite ways. Teaching Textbooks puts a video tutor in the screen and walks the student through everything; Math-U-See puts physical blocks in the student's hands and walks the parent through teaching them. Families searching this comparison are usually trying to decide between a hands-off digital program and a hands-on tactile one.
Teaching Textbooks runs entirely inside an app. The student watches a short video lecture, works practice problems with auto-grading, and watches a step-by-step video solution for any problem they miss. The parent's role is reviewing the gradebook now and then. Subscriptions run $49–$84 per year per student, and the Family Plan ($239.95) covers four to eight kids across all levels. Coverage is Math 3 through Pre-Calculus. The program is widely loved for getting math anxiety out of the house and freeing the parent's day.
Math-U-See keeps math physical. Steve Demme's videos are short (about five minutes), but the real work happens with the Integer Block Kit — students build problems, see what's happening, and then practice. The parent typically watches the video with the student and helps reinforce the lesson. First-year cost is around $215 with the block kit; subsequent years are $135 per level. The blocks are reusable across all your kids and last forever.
The honest difference: Teaching Textbooks asks nothing of the parent. Math-U-See asks the parent to teach (with help), but in exchange it builds a deeper conceptual base — particularly for younger learners and kids who struggle to grasp abstract math from a screen.
At a glance
The specifics
| Math-U-See | Teaching Textbooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Demme Learning | Teaching Textbooks |
| Established | 1990 | 2000 |
| Price | $135–$215/grade | $49–$84/year |
| Grades | PreK, K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12 | 3–5, 6–8, 9–12 |
| Subject | Math | Math |
| Method | Mastery | Mastery, Online Video |
| Format | Print, Video, Manipulatives | Digital, Video |
| Worldview | Neutral | Neutral |
The verdict
How to choose
Choose Teaching Textbooks if you need your child to work independently, you have multiple students and can't sit through every math lesson, your student is older (5th grade and up) and ready for screen-based learning, or you want predictable annual pricing with no manipulatives to manage.
Choose Math-U-See if your student is in the early elementary years, needs hands-on manipulatives to understand math, has a learning difference, or struggles with abstract concepts on a screen. Math-U-See is also the better long-term value across multiple children because the blocks pay for themselves the second time through.
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