The Master Ruler

 

     “Mom, what do these little lines on the ruler mean?”  “Why is this line longer than that one?” Have you ever come across questions like these when trying to teach your children how to use a ruler? I know I have. Master innovations, LLC has designed a ruler to help make teaching how to use a ruler easier.

     Master innovations, LLC is a company committed to helping make teaching various math concepts pleasant, easy, and successful. It is like having several rulers in one. I was given a Master Ruler to try out in our homeschool. I was also given a poster called Marvels of Measurement.

What is the Master Ruler? 

      It is a ruler that has a hard plastic back, and 3-4 clear overlays, depending on the style. It is available in either standard or metric measurements.  The rulers are very well made, quite sturdy and well able to withstand avid measuring. There is an overlay for each fraction of measurement. Each fraction is a different color. This makes reading the ruler very easy even when flipping over a new overlay. It is designed for use by all ages.

The Marvels of Measurement! poster is a colorful poster that gives length, capacity, and weight conversions. It is very simple to read and understand.

What we thought:

     We loved the Master Ruler!  When we first received the product, I gave the two rulers (one standard, one metric) to Ben (9) and Rebekah (7). They looked at them, then proceeded to measure everything. At this point I made no explanations as to what the lines mean. Each of them have used rulers before, yet really only ever measured items in inches and half inches. After the general excitement of something new wore off, I was pleasantly surprised to find that anytime they needed a ruler they would grab The Master Ruler on their own.

     After a week or so, I then started using the workbook that came with The Master Ruler. This book is full of activities that introduces how to use the ruler, both in standard and metric. It also is very helpful in explaining equivalent fractions.  Ben quickly caught on to the Fun with Fractions page.  An example of using the ruler for equivalent fractions is, looking at the inch markings on the ruler, flip the half inch overlay on top. This way you can easily see that two halves is the same as one inch. Or you can look just at the 1/2 inch overlay and flip up the quarter overlay to find that 1/2 = 2/4. The big joke at our house became “Do you want 1/2 of the sandwich or 4/8ths.” To which Ben would laugh and say, “It’s the same thing, Mom”.

      I had not introduced Ben and Rebekah to the metric system yet, but The Master Ruler changed that. I explained that the metric system is based on 10, then we looked at the ruler. By flipping the overlays up they were easily able to see and count that ten centimeters are in a decimeter and 10 millimeters are in a centimeter.

The poster Marvels of Measures! is also a wonderful product. It answers common questions like “”How many cups are in a gallon?” or “How many ounces in a pound?” I was quite taken by the poster and referred to it often.

Pricing information and Where to buy:

The Master Ruler is available online through The Master Ruler website.

The standard or metric ruler is available for $9.95.

The Mastering the World of Measuring workbook is available for $15.95.

You can also purchase a starter set that includes: 1 Standard Master Ruler, 1 Metric Master Ruler, 1 Teacher's Model Master Ruler, and 1 Master Ruler Workbook (reproducible) for $41.25.

The poster Marvels of Measurement is available for $10.00.

There are other products available through Master Innovations. Also available is a Master Clock, Master Angles, and Master Fractions. Some of my other Crew mates reviewed these other products. Visit the Crew Blog to read what they thought of their products.

As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of TOS Homeschool Crew I received the two Master Rulers, one standard and one metric, the workbook and the poster for free from Master Innovations in exchange for my honest review of their product.