Review of Adaptive Math Curriculum Online from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.)

I was blessed while growing up to be one of those children that math came easy to through the years.  It may have helped that my dad was a draftsmen and designer and was willing to help me with math.  Or perhaps it was because I was blessed with amazing teachers for math (with only one exception).  My husband is another one that math came easy to as well.  But then we had children.  Essentially out of our four children only one of them excels at math.  So I recognize our children may need some additional help with mathematics – especially our 15-year-old daughter.  With the Adaptive Math Curriculum Online from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) we are able to to identify and address learning gaps in my daughter’s math skills with their Adaptive Math Curriculum Online that includes placement tests along with lesson plans.

From the company’s website they show they offer the following:

• Homeschool Edition – Placement Test w/ Lesson Plan to “Identify & Close” Learning Gaps
• Homeschool Edition – Family Math Packages – Online (Options to choose between 1-10 students)
• Homeschool Edition – Single Grade Level – Online Curriculum (PC and MAC compatible)
• Homeschool Edition – Multi-Sensory Interactive Math Full Curriculum Software CDs
• School Edition – Placement Test w/ Lesson Plant to “Identify & Close” Learning Gaps
• School Edition – Multi-Sensory Interactive Math Curriculum
• Full Curriculum Books
• Workbooks (Worksheets & Exams PACK)
• Mini Courses Online

This is a one year subscription for up to ten students.  So it is a great program for homeschooling families to use.  Whether you have one child or more, each child can get the individualized instruction to meet his/her needs.  For this review, we concentrated solely on the 7th grade/Pre-Algebra level.  My goal was to ensure our daughter would fill in any gaps in her learning.  For the most part we loved this program.  However, it is an online program, which means the computer is grading the work.  Students begin with the placement test for fractions and work their way through exponents and work their way through other topics including variables and more.  As long as the student achieves an acceptable level, they are allowed to move on to the next level.  However, if they miss too many problems, then they will work through video lessons and problems to make sure they understand the concepts.

The answers must be in the form the computer deems acceptable, however, there are no instructions to tell the students what format their answers should be in.  So for example, if a student leaves their answer as a fraction instead of changing it into a decimal, they will get the problem wrong.  For some children, I am sure this could be a great source of frustration.  At the same time, I have to say, I love the idea of having a program that can address the needs of my children by addressing those areas they are weak in while allowing them to move on when they demonstrate they understand a concept.

You can find A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.)  on social media at:

 

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APlusTutorSoft
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/aplustutorsoft
• Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aplustutorsoft

The adaptive program goes from grades 1-6 along with Pre-Algebra.  They also offer a Family Math Package that includes grades 1-6, Pre-Algebra and Algebra I.  So check it out for yourself.  Whether you are looking for a complete math curriculum or trying to fill in gaps, like our family did, check out Adaptive Math Curriculum Online or the Family Math Package from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.)  for yourself.

If you would like to check out reviews by other members of the Home School Review Crew, click here or on the graphic below.

Review of CTC Math’s Family Membership

We are in our 12th year of homeschooling.  My husband and I are both gifted in the field of mathematics.  However, the majority of our children did not receive that gift.  A couple of them truly struggle with math. I was thrilled to receive CTCMath‘s Family Membership with my kids, and homeschoolers can get 60% off + 6 bonus months.  Or you can select a 4-month free trial. However, these special offers are only good until November 15th.

I love that this program is video-based and offers the option of either a single student version or a family version.  We received the family membership.  I set up accounts for our three children who are ages eighteen, sixteen and fourteen as well as an account for myself.  For a high school student, the videos take about 8-10 minutes to watch plus the time to complete the exercises.

 

CTC Math is designed for children in grades Kindergarten thru twelveth grade.  It is perfect for getting caught up, staying up or moving forward.  I like that children learn at their pace rather than someone else’s pace.  Each high school lesson contains a video, practice problems, and a worksheet.  I like the fact that the worksheets can be printed out at the high school level. CTCMath’s founder, Pat Murray created this multisensory approach to math that is used in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom as well as other parts of the world.

With three high school students, this plan was perfect for our family.  The family membership gives the parent the opportunity to add family members to the account.  Once added, they can work on diagnostic tests as well as the various courses.  I primarily was interested in this program as a way to fill in some gaps on increase proficiency.

One of my favorite things about this program is that I as the parent have the ability to determine the proficiency level I require.  So for our children, I selected 90% as what they needed to achieve.  Another thing I love is that the program goes all the way from Kindergarten to Calculus.

Our fourteen-year-old daughter needed to brush up on her skills for Algebra.  Our sixteen-year-old son needed to brush up on Geometry.  I just selected various lessons from the different courses to try.  However, my husband and I both plan on using this program to continue brushing up on our math skills.

I did lessons in Algebra I as well as Algebra II.  I found the videos to be straight-forward, informative and easy to follow.  I appreciate that there are not a lot of distractions.  I also like that the questions in the practice section relate to the lessons being taught.  Our children found the questions easy to follow and easy to answer.

Here is a screenshot of one of the videos.

Here is a screenshot of one of the practice problems for the Order of Operations sections of Algebra I. I love how the students can see their progress as they move through the exercises.  Plus, they can also see their score to the point of completion as well.

Here are some sample worksheets – one from Algebra I, one from Geometry and one from Algebra II.  For each worksheet, you have the option to print out the worksheet.  Then the student enters the answers and finally, the student can view the solutions.

Our family really enjoyed CTCMath and  I encourage you to try it for yourself.  Remember, you only have until November 15th to take advantage of the 4 weeks free trial or the 60% off + 6 bonus months.  If you want to read more reviews of CTCMath, click here or on the image below.

 

 

Review of Unlock Math’s Unlock Geometry Course

Teaching high school math can be intimidating for homeschool moms like me so I was thrilled to have my son try UnLock Geometry from UnLock Math.  I am a former High School Math teacher, so I know about all the problems that come with teaching students math.  Over the years, our family has used a variety of math programs. So I was really excited to see the product review being offered.

One of the details that impressed me most about this company is the level of customer service they provide.  Almost immediately after receiving the email informing us of our enrollment, I received a personal phone call from the owner of the company.  He impressed me with his concern about our family and our use of the course.  Since we have used online math programs in the past, I felt comfortable with my son using this program.

Each unit includes lessons, several quizzes, a unit review and a unit test.  So far there has been a quiz after every two lessons.  I feel this does a marvelous job of ensuring my son is retaining what he is learning while not providing an overwhelming amount of material.

Each lesson contains a warm-up (which reviews material already covered), an instructional video, practice problems, problems to help the student stay sharp, reference notes, and challenge problems.  With the exception of the challenge problems, all other problems may be attempted as many times as needed for mastery.  Because this is an adaptive program, the student only gets as much practice as they need.  Another thing  I really liked about this course was the way the challenge problems only add to my son’s score if he gets it right.  If the answer to the challenge problem is wrong, it simply does not count at all.  The days my son got the challenge problems right, he was absolutely thrilled to tell me so.

As a parent, I set up a parent account first.  Here is what the parent screen looks like after logging in to the site. On this screen, I can find tabs for managing students, courses, billing contact, credit card, payments, and passwords.  It is easy to navigate around the screens.

I love how I am even able to navigate to my son’s dashboard while signed into my parent account.  This becomes very useful if my son needed to redo a section after I looked at his grade for a particular assignment.  One item that took a while to get used to for our family was how the grade book shows the average based on the total number of points possible for the course instead of for only what has been completed.

My son has really enjoyed this program so far.  Because I aim for my son to master concepts, we have not gotten as far as I would have liked.  But, I know we will finish out the course.  He really seems to be learning a lot and does not complain about doing the assignments.   I also plan on having my 14-year-old daughter do the Algebra program potentially in the fall.

I love that the computer does all the grading work for me.  All I have to do is look online to see his progress and scores.

Here are some more screenshots I took.

Currently, Unlock Math offers, Unlock Pre-Algebra, Unlock Algebra, and Unlock Algebra 2 in addition to Unlock Geometry.  If you would like to read more reviews about Unlock Geometry or any of their other courses, click here or on the graphic below.

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