CTCMath {Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

 

My kids have been asking to change to an online homeschool math curriculum, so they were excited for the opportunity to review a 12-month family membership to CTCMath.

CTCMath is a full math curriculum for grades K-12. It is not common core aligned and teaches math in the traditional way.

Features of CTCMath:

• Students learn at their own pace.
• Lessons include a 4-9 minute video tutorial. Students can rewind and review the lessons to achieve understanding.
• Lessons include online interactive questions or printable worksheets.
• There are speed skills drills available, and times table games.
• The program stores student’s ongoing progress.
• Progress reports for each student allow parents to monitor areas that need additional practice.

How we used CTCMath:

Initially, I logged into my parent account to set up profiles for each of my kids. Jacob and Johanna were my eager volunteers. There was a video tutorial to help me through the process, making it easy to add my students.

Determining where to place my kids was a little more challenging. I chose a lower grade level then I felt they were at, to get a feel for the program, and to review foundational facts. I liked there was an option to “hide” the grade level of the lesson to avoid any discouragement on their part.

Instead of assigning a lesson each day, I set the calendar to complete tasks over a 1-2 week period. During the school year we study math daily, but only about three days per week in summer. By assigning tasks for the week, they were able to choose what days they completed the assignments.

Johanna thoroughly enjoys the lessons. She caught on quickly that many tasks I had assigned were for summer review. Often she would check the online questions prior to viewing the lesson video. She went back to the video if she felt she needed instruction. I received reports of her scores to monitor her progress.

Jacob completed a few lessons but became inconsistent with voluntarily doing assignments. I received notifications of finished assignments and those that had expired incomplete. He has suffered a combination of summer distractions and a little eye fatigue from the computer screen. Although he would prefer to complete questions online, I have the option to set his lessons for problems to be completed on printable worksheets only. Working from a worksheet is helpful in keeping him on task. When he’s just too busy for a summer day lesson, he has enjoyed the compromise of doing speed skill math drills.

My experience using CTCMath:

If you know me, you know I prefer a good old fashion paper book over reading from a screen. The same goes for textbooks. Adding the fact math is not my favorite subject, I felt apprehensive over this online adventure.

Thankfully there is a helpful parent user guide. The videos walked me through the process to get started, how to add my students, and how to assign tasks. I have struggled with determining the level to place my children, and feel I will benefit from reviewing some of the parent tutorials as we move from summer review lessons to our full-time school year. As my kids are enjoying the online learning, I’m determined to overcome my textbook preference.

Visit the Review Crew to see how other families are using CTCMath.