Math Essentials ~ Review

Having children that are now high school level and learning the higher math, I found that I needed to have some kind of refresher in certain areas, but could never find anything that would help me. I was able to review Math Refresher for Adults from Math  Essentials over the past few weeks.

The book contains math from general math to pre-algebra and algebra. The general math  portion covers whole numbers, percents, decimals, geometry, percents, and problem solving.

The pre-algebra and algebra portion of the book covers positive and negative fractions and decimals, exponents, square roots, order of operations, percents, graphing, and much more.

The website also offers videos even though they don’t necessarily match up with this book, you are able to find the correct category and watch a short video on how to do the math.

I wanted this book since some of my children are needing help with upper level math and I haven’t been able to help them much because I had forgotten how to do a problem. Even though they watch videos to help them with their math, they still needed my help and I had to go to the internet to try to find something to help me so that I could help them.

I haven’t worked through much of the book yet, but what I have gone through has brought back some math knowledge and I feel like this book will help me help my kids this coming school year.

I did skip some of the beginning pages since it was adding, subtracting, and multiplying. I started working on multiplying fractions and the directions were clear and helped me to remember how to do the problems. I then skipped over to review some geometry since that is one of the areas I was not string enough to help my child with last year.

I will have one child in pre-algebra this year and one child in algebra 2 this year and I know that this book will be a big help to me and them as we learn the math together.

Even though the book is titled Math Refresher for Adults, you could use the pages to have your child (of any age) do some problems of the area they need help with the most when they are having trouble learning or retaining math information.

I am actually not a big math person, but have one child (my oldest) who loves math and has been able to help his younger siblings. I am enjoying going through this book and it has been fun re-learning and knowing that I can actually do the problem.  Even though my son loves math and has helped in the past, I know he will be happy if I am the one that can actually help the other children so I don’t have to take hi away from his school work during the day. I think this is a great book for anyone of any age to work through and highly recommend it even for non-math children and adults!

CTCMath ~ Review

I reviewed CTCMath a few years ago and used it with my daughter for several years for an elementary math. When it came up for review this time, I wanted to review it myself to see how the high school subjects worked. I also thought it would help me to help my son who is taking Algebra II right now. This time I am reviewing CTCMath’s Single Membership for myself and homeschoolers get 60%off + 6 bonus months.

CTCMath is an Australian based company that offers an online, video based math curriculum. It is self-paced so your child can go as fast or as slow as they want to go. The curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade is a full curriculum. There are diagnostic tests that can be taken before or after to find out where your child needs more help.

Each lesson consists of a short video that goes over the concept taught for that lesson.After watching the video, the student completes an online worksheet and answers the questions. The program keeps track of the right and wrong answers and gives the student a grade at the end of the lesson. If the student doesn’t pass the lesson they are able to go back and redo the lesson until they understand it enough to pass.



Some of the high school level work is not completed online and needs the worksheet to be printed or use a pencil and paper and copy the problems down. On some of the lessons, at the high school level, the student completes the worksheet, grades using the answer key, and enters their own grade.

The parent dashboard shows what tasks you have given to the student and if they have completed them. It also shows the activity of the student, awards given to the student, and weekly reports about what the lessons the student finished during the week. Also from the parent dashboard, you are able to download checklists for the different levels to keep track of when the lesson was completed and what grade the student received, export the data from your student, and browse the lessons where you can see the video, questions, worksheet, and answers. When browsing the lessons it also gives a direct url to that lesson.

When you sign up, either the single membership or the family membership, you are given access to all levels of the program.

I am not that great at math. I started out going through the Algebra II and was having a difficult time. So, I went back to the Algebra I for a while and went through a few of the lessons and did great (go me!). I do really like this curriculum. This program is a great tool for anyone that wants to learn or re-learn math. I did also look over some of the elementary math and found that it was engaging and would be a great curriculum to use if you are looking for a math program that is online. My younger son is actually wanting to re-take Algebra I because he said he does not understand it at all from what he learned last year with a different curriculum. I think I am going to let him go through the Algebra I course and see how he does and hope he learns something.

CTCMath offers a free trial where you can view the first lesson for each topic. And don't forget that until November 15, 2017, homeschoolers receive a 60% discount + 6 bonus months.

CTC Math ~ Review

Do you have a child that struggles with math? Maybe you have a child that excels at math and wants to do more everyday. Because my daughter struggles with math, I have been looking for something easy for her to understand and use. We were given the 12 Month Family Plan from CTC Math to review.

What is CTC Math?
CTC Math is an online math program. It is an Australian company. It includes math from kindergarten through sixth grade which can be used as a complete curriculum. Also included for junior high and high school levels:

• Basic Math and Pre-Algebra
• Algebra I
• Pre-Calculus
• Algebra II
• Geometry
• Trigonometry

Each lesson includes a short video introducing the math concept. After watching the video, there are questions that need to be completed by the student. Because it is online and interactive, the student is able to see if they got the answer correct right away. If wrong, the student is able to go back through the lesson and try for a better grade.

CTC Math is geared for children ages kindergarten through 12th grade (and adults too). The cost for the 12 month family plan (at the time of this post) is $118.80 (which is a 60% savings) for two or more students. There are also other membership plans available.

How we used CTC Math:
When we first received the product, I set up a log in for myself and my three children. *Side note: My oldest son didn’t use the product since he is trying to finish another math curriculum before the end of the year and didn’t want to get off track.*

My younger son and daughter used this math program almost daily. I used this program a few times to get a feel for it.

When we first logged in we were given this screen:


We chose what course we wanted, what stream, and what topic. After we chose all that the first time and logged out, the next time we logged in, it went straight to what topic we were working on at the time.

My daughter stuck to doing one lesson at a time under one topic at a time. I started her off with 3rd grade division since that is where she struggles the most.



When she finished the division, she ended up with a 99% average which is a gold certificate. She could have gone back to the division by 10 lesson to redo it and may have ended up with a 100% average which is platinum. She didn’t want to and was just thrilled to have ended up with a gold.



My son has been working on 6th grade math since January and he likes to do things in order, so he began with the first topic and the first lesson under that topic.



He is also one that won’t settle for a low grade. Below you can see that he went back to lesson 5 and redid it and received a better grade.



He is aiming for a platinum certificate.

I decided to use this program to brush up on my algebra skills. I logged in and began working on Algebra I. The first few lessons I didn’t do too well, but after I realized I can use pencil and paper to work out the problems, I started getting a better grade.

Our opinion:
My daughter gives this math program five stars. She use to complain and cry whenever it was math time. Now whenever I ask if she is ready to do her math, she starts yelling “YES!” with a smile on her face.

My son loves going in and working on the lessons to try to get the best grade possible. He loves a challenge and loves using the computer. He also gives this math program five stars.

Some things I really like about this math program:

1. The videos for each lesson are short ~ 5-10 minutes.



2. The children are able to get started without my help. They know their username and password. Since the program remembers where you left off, they can click on the next lesson and get started.

3. The parent receives a weekly email with information about what each student completed during the week.

4. I liked that we could choose any topic to start with within the grade level, especially with my daughter.

There is also a speed skills game, but we did not use it very much. I played it once to see what it was like and my son played it once.



Cons: *These are not really cons for me, but may be for someone else*

1.Since it is based in Australia some of the words are spelled differently (colour instead of color).

2.They use metric measurements.

Overall: this is a great math program. My children have really enjoyed using this program.

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