REVIEW: 12-month Family Membership by CTC Math

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.

After using CTC Math over the last year to fill in learning gaps, we were very enthusiastic to review their 12-month Family Membership again by using it for regular daily lessons.

WHAT IS IT?:

CTC Math is a comprehensive online math program that teaches with 4-9 minute video tutorials.  This program provides instruction for Kindergarten through Calculus and includes access to over 1400 tutorials!

Students can complete their lessons online and receive instant grading (the exception to this is with some lessons in Algebra and Geometry where sketches or proofs are required).  They can even view full solutions to see how to arrive at the correct answer!  After watching the video instruction they also have access to print a one-page summary to help them study or use as reference when extra help is needed.  In addition to online lessons, parents can assign customized Question Bank worksheets that can be printed so kids can get extra practice on precisely what they need and work the solutions on paper.  Afterwards, they can enter their answers online and still receive instant grading, as well as comprehensive record-keeping for parents.

CTC Math is also compatible with iOS and Android devices for your convenience, making it possible to work on math assignments on-the-go!

CTC Math offers monthly or annual subscriptions.  One student can get a 12-month subscription for just $197, or if you have multiple students, you can get a 12-month Family Membership for just $297/year.  You can sign up for a free trial to see if it’s right for you.

As a side note, if you are a parent who is concerned about whether a math program is aligned with Common Core, then you can rest assured that this program is NOT.

OUR EXPERIENCE:

I got to review CTC Math last year with my son, Holden, as he began 6th grade.  At that time, we were using another math program that we’d been using for several years.  But I could tell that Holden was not proficient in some areas, and I suspected he may have developed some learning gaps along the way.  So after reviewing CTC Math at that time, we decided it was prudent to drop our other math program and replace it with CTC Math for the year in order to take a step back and use it to identify those holes in his learning and regroup before moving on to new material.  Holden was working above 2 levels above grade level at that time, so we had plenty of opportunity to take the year to solidify his math mastery without losing ground.  CTC Math was perfect for this purpose since it allows the flexibility to use diagnostic tests to “test out” of topics he already knew, and then I could assign appropriate lessons for material in which he did not demonstrate mastery.  We backed up to grade level material and started there.  Over the course of the year, we were able to identify and work on all the learning gaps he had, and we ended the year right where we’d left off in the other math program.

Now, we fast-forward to this review!  We were just beginning our new school year (7th grade) as this review opportunity came up, so it was perfect timing for us!  Holden had already asked to continue using CTC Math…he never wanted to go back to that other program again.  So were were very excited to tackle this review in a different way. This time, we’re using CTC Math to do our regular daily lessons on new material.  That means that instead of testing out of lessons as needed, we’re covering every single lesson at a standard pace. 

As we started completing whole sections of Pre-Algebra, we discovered a feature we hadn’t encountered before.  At the end of each completed subsection, I would receive an email containing a certificate of achievement that I could print and give to Holden showing the name of the topic and his overall score on it.  That was a nice surprise and a great way to encourage and motivate him for his hard work!  I made sure to share the email with my husband at work so he could mention it and offer congratulations and encouragement to Holden when he got home.  Positive reinforcement is a great tool for future success!

No matter which way you choose to use the program, it’s definitely flexible enough to meet your needs.  The program does not automatically assign lessons, which is what makes it so flexible.  You, as the parent, assign the daily lessons so that when the student logs in, the next lesson is right there in plain sight so the student knows what to do next. 

When you log in to your parent dashboard, you simply select to add a task and follow the prompts to assign due dates/times and which lesson you want your student to work on.  The lessons for each level are presented in order, and lessons that have already been completed are marked so you know which one to assign next without having to look it up.
 

Now that I’m having Holden complete every lesson, I generally schedule out an entire section of lessons up through and including the corresponding diagnostic test, and then I stop.  This usually gets him through 2-3 weeks of material before I need to do any more scheduling.  Once he’s completed all the lessons and the diagnostic test, I go online to check his detailed scoring information.  It breaks down each subtopic in the test and scores them individually.  That way, I can isolate the specific topics he’s still struggling to master, and then I reassign those lessons so he can go through them again.  If he does well on them the second time through, then we move on to scheduling the next subsection of lessons. 

Some may choose to retest at that point.  The great thing about reassigning lessons or diagnostic tests is that the questions are randomized, so no two tests are identical.  I love that!  If he still needs more practice on something after repeating a lesson, then I might create a Question Bank worksheet, which I can customize to include specific topics where he needs more practice.  This customization goes right down to how many questions there are, what topics to include, and how easy or difficult the mix of questions is.  After he completes the worksheet, he can enter his answers on the website and have them graded instantly, just like in a lesson! 

I’d like to show you some of the different reports you can look at on the website.  Your student can access these reports, as well, if they want to check on their own progress. 

Summary Report

Detailed Report

Individual Results

Actual Grading of a Lesson

There are also several skills games that your student can play as an extra bonus.  One is called Speed Skills, where your student selects a level and a function (like addition, subtraction, order of operations, etc.) and then tries to answer questions rapidly.  Here is a sample of what it looks like in Level 4, Order of Operations.

In the dashboard, you can also generate a report on your child’s progress with the Speed Skills game.

Another game is called Times Tables.  This game has a space theme in which the student chooses a specific times table to work on and then “shoots” the correct answer to each problem, all while the answers begin dropping lower and lower on the screen, threatening to end the game.  Saucers periodically fly above which the student can shoot for bonus points.

The last game is called Swap Pieces.  This one is a thinking game that is actually quite difficult! 

If you want to view your student’s usage history, perhaps to check and see if they are wasting time or if it’s taking them too long to complete their lessons without assistance, you can view this information in the History portion of the dashboard.

As a parent, you can also keep tabs on your student’s progress without actually logging into the website.  I opted to receive both daily and weekly reports.  My daily report attaches a .pdf of his score on the lesson he completed for the day.  The weekly report gives me a full summary for the week.

As a busy parent who doesn’t always have time to log in and check behind my son every day, I truly appreciate getting this information sent directly to my inbox.  If I needed more detailed information, I can go to the website to investigate further.  But this lets me know what he’s doing day to day so I can be sure he’s keeping up with completing his tasks and also how he’s doing on those assignments.  I appreciate these little features that save me time but keep me informed!

CTC Math has other teacher tools, as well, I won’t go into all of them, but if you like to use a paper planner, you have the option to print out a checklist of all the lessons in order for each level you’re using.  Here, you can track when each lesson was completed and how your child scored.

I actually use this list to help me schedule lessons in the digital planner that I use.

With so many tools and reports available and so much flexibility in making assignments, you can truly organize and customize your child’s learning in math, all in one place.  And for the student, learning is seamless with video instruction and online practice built right in. 

Holden’s math performance has improved so much, and he no longer dreads doing his assignments.  If you’ve ever had a child in tears over math work, then you know the frustration some programs can cause your child to experience.  After using CTC Math in different ways since we began last year, we can’t imagine going back to anything else!  It has suited our needs so well.

Check out what other Crew members have to say about this awesome math program by clicking the banner below.

Have you tried the Flipp app? Find groceries on sale!

When my husband moved ahead of us to TX a few years ago to start his new job, he found himself lodging in an extended stay facility and doing his own grocery shopping for the first time in over 20 years!  He had taken a small crockpot and a grill, plus a small pan to cook in.  I told him how to shop for marked down meats in certain grocery chains, and I’d often send him tips on what was on sale each week.  Once I joined him in TX about 2 months later, he informed me he had made his own money-saving discovery…the Flipp app!  Someone at church had told him about it.  The app is available for both iOS and Android.  And if you’re at home, you can access it on the website, as well.  And the best part is that it’s FREE!

I’d never heard of Flipp myself.  And I have to admit that I didn’t really use it much, even after I got it, because I figured I didn’t need to use an app to look at grocery ads…I either get email links to them or I get paper copies in my mailbox.  But last weekend, I discovered what actually makes this app so special.  Not only can you view ads, but you can search through them for a specific item!  I needed a particular cut of beef for a recipe, and it was pretty pricey where I usually shop.  So I pulled up the Flipp app and did a search on the specific cut of beef, and it instantly scanned all of the stores in my area and then showed me where it was on sale!  How cool was that?!?  And it was at a store where I wouldn’t normally go, but it saved me so much money that it was worth the special trip!  That was pretty cool, because it’s a store I don’t normally get an ad for in any form.  Talk about a time and money-saver! 

All you do is enter your zip code, and the app quickly populates with all of your local stores. 

You can put certain stores on your favorites list so they show first at the top, you can click on any add to view it page by page, you can click on specific items in the ad and save them to your shopping list for that store, and you can search for a specific item across all the ads instantly.  Brilliant!  You can see that in my area alone, there are 93 different circulars to scan!  There’s no way I’d see all those ads otherwise.

So if you haven’t given Flipp a try, take a look.  It has non-grocery ads, too, so feel free to scan and search other ads for big box, pharmacy, electronics, home improvement stores, and others, as well.

Happy shopping!

REVIEW: Arduino Education Student Kit by Pitsco Education

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 husband and son were excited to work together to review the Arduino Education Student Kit by Pitsco Education.

WHAT IS IT?

The Arduino Education Student Kit is designed for students in grades 6-12 (ages 11+) to give them an introduction to integrated electronics, circuitry, and coding in a step-by-step format they can follow to learn at home.  With this kit, kids can explore current, voltage, digital logic, and programming, all while learning about some of the most famous inventors in the history of technology.

Each kit contains an Arduino UNO Rev 3 board, an assortment of sensors and actuators, plus access to the online content platform that includes 9 lessons with up to 25 hours of class time instruction.  The lessons cover the basic concepts of electricity, class safety, schematics, writing code, controlling a circuit, coding concepts, controlling a servo motor, producing sounds, tones, and music, and measuring the intensity of light.  There’s also a Digital Engineering Notebook where students can take notes about their experiments.  The necessary software for programming can be downloaded from the website at the product link.

This kit can be purchased for just $59!

OUR EXPERIENCE:

My husband, Steve, is a Project Manager for an electrical construction company, and he was once a master electrician.  So he was the perfect candidate between the two of us to work on this with Holden.  Holden is 12 and has ADHD, so we knew Steve would have to screen the lessons and figure out which ones would keep his interest and attention and what he was capable of doing with some parental help.  In addition, he noted that each lesson included a quiz that could be found in the downloadable logbook.  Steve downloaded the logbook but chose to just discuss the lessons orally with Holden rather than administering any of the quizzes.  This better suits Holden’s attention level and abilities.

Once Steve activated and set up his account, he was able to access the lessons and view the resources for each lesson that corresponds to the Arduino Education Student Kit. 

To get started, Steve and Holden sat down together and viewed the “Getting Started” instructions on the website.  This gave them a little lesson on the invention of computers, introduced them to the components in the kit, and guided them through downloading and using the software.  Then there was a little lesson about electrical safety. 

The next lesson was on Electricity Basics.  This covered some electrical vocabulary, a history lesson on Benjamin Franklin’s use of electricity, and how to build a circuit.  Then they learned all about how electricity is measured.  In the activity portion, they used a battery to power a light bulb and learned how the use of resistors would affect the brightness of the light.

They began to pick and choose lessons at this point and decided to move on to Traffic Signals next.  This lesson demonstrated how microcontrollers (such as the Arduino board) operate circuits.  This involves programming, so the downloaded software came into play in this lesson.  There was another vocabulary section and a history lesson on the invention of the traffic signal.  For the activity, they got to build a circuit using red, yellow, and green bulbs, just like a real traffic light.  Then they used the program and the coding provided on the website to set up how it would work.  Steve felt the programming would be really difficult for someone Holden’s age if they had to type it themselves since the slightest error would cause it not to work.  But the program allows you to cut and paste the programming directly from the lesson, and that made it much easier.  There was also a “check” button in the program that allowed you to find out if your programming was good or not.  So Steve did the cutting and pasting and got the programming set up for Holden.  Once they tested how the programming operated the circuit, they were able to implement modifications in the programming to see how it would affect the traffic signals.  For instance, they modified the timing of each color of light so Holden could see how that would change the traffic light and imagine it being put into use on the street.  He was super interested at this point and thought this was a really cool project!  Another modification they did was adding a pedestrian button into the mix.  Now it was all making sense!

The next lesson they did was called Dimmer Switch.  There was another section of new vocabulary words to discuss, and there was a mini-lesson on the invention of the telephone.  They learned about using a potentiometer, which acts as the dimmer switch, and using the programming to control it.  First, they built the circuit with a blue light and then did the programming and added the potentiometer to change the brightness of the light. 

Steve actually did the lessons out of order, because he said that setting up and programming the dimmer switch was actually much simpler than doing the traffic signals, and he thought it was odd that it was set up in reverse order.  As he looked ahead, he felt that the lessons beyond this were a bit too advanced for Holden at this stage, so they stopped there.  But it will be a great kit to set aside and come back to as Holden gets older and a bit more mature.  Another comment he made was that everything was supposed to snap onto the project board, but he found it difficult to attach the bread board and the circuit board to the project board, so he ended up not using the project board at all, but instead, set everything up on the table.  He said it would have been easier if the items had snapped onto the project board, but he couldn’t get them attached.

Overall, Holden found the projects pretty exciting, and when I walked into the room, I could see how animated he was when he was working on it.  The two of them seemed to be having good discussions on how things worked and how to create variations, and I was impressed with how long it kept his attention and focus!  He usually struggles to remain interested in anything for very long, but this turned out to be a great learning activity for them to do together, and I’m thankful for that!  For all the activities included, it also seemed like a good investment and something that would last and be able to be used over an extended period of time as desired.  It was a great source of fun, learning, and entertainment for them.

The generous folks at Pitsco Education are sponsoring an Arduino Education Student Kit giveaway, so be sure to enter for your chance to win!

Check out what other Crew members have to say about this and other great educational products by Pitsco Education by clicking the banner below.

Just How Bad Is Your Vacuum Sweeper?!?

My husband and I have been limping long with the same old, decrepit vacuums since before we moved from VA.  We’ve been here in TX now for over 3 years.  These vacuums both have things wrong with them.  The one we use regularly is missing a wheel (can you imagine how difficult it is to push it?), and we’ve bought lots of replacement filters and belts for it in the last year.  Our compact vacuum is missing the clamp that holds the canister on, so we hold it on with a bungee cord.  Now, mind you, we aren’t poor, but we’re very thrifty, as evidenced by how we’ve made do with these old vacuum cleaners for so long.  We weren’t in a rush to replace them since we only have 2 carpeted bedrooms in the house and 3 area rugs.  But it was in the back of my mind that if I stumbled upon a deal, I should maybe get a new one.

Last weekend, I was shopping at our Ollie’s Bargain Outlet on a day when everything in the store was 15% off.  I always stock up on my husband K-cup coffee pods when I have a coupon like that, so that’s why I was there.  As I was walking around the store trying to think of what else we might need while there was such a good sale going on, I stumbled upon the vacuum cleaner section.  Aha!  Perfect time to purchase a new vacuum.  They had many reconditioned vacuums, and they were super cheap.  They still came with a 6-month warranty, so it seemed like a good option.  I didn’t want to spend a lot since we mostly use a pet broom and dustpan for all the hard floors that we have. 

I wanted to stick with a Bissell since we’ve owned that brand for many, many years, and we are familiar with their filters, belts, and how to tackle clogs.  I usually buy one of their pet vacuums since we have 3 dogs who live in the house full-time.  But as I got on my phone and started looking up the various models for reviews, I stumbled upon one that was not a pet vacuum, but it had tons of excellent reviews that said it had incredible suction and was great for pet hair.  With the coupon, it ended up being about $42, so I couldn’t pass it up.  It’s the Bissell Powerforce Helix Turbo Rewind (model 1797).  There was only one in the store with the Rewind feature, and that’s something I really wanted…the ability to draw the cord inside automatically so you’re not left winding and unwinding a cord on the outside of the vacuum.  I had that before and loved it. 

I got it home, and it only took a couple of minutes to assemble…pretty simple, really…no instructions needed.  It came with just a couple of basic accessories.  It’s a no-frills vacuum…pretty basic in design, pretty compact, and very lightweight.  There’s no HEPA filter, but the other filters are all washable, permanent filters, which is great. 

It had been 6 days since my husband had last vacuumed our bedroom carpet, so it was due.  I plugged it in and gave it a whirl. Holy smokes, Batman!  It was amazing!  I could immediately hear what sounded like sand or sediment going into the collection cup, and I could see the dog hair spinning around.  Mind you, I was just vacuuming in front of the door to our patio.  I kept going over and over the same area, as I could hear that sediment sound continuing.  After such a short time, we both noticed the collection cup was already full!  I turned it off and emptied the cup into the trash can, and we were absolutely AMAZED at how much straight dirt and sediment had been sucked up from the underpad of the carpet!  It was like the bedroom had not been vacuumed since we’ve lived here, and it hadn’t even been long since we had shampooed the carpet in there! 

In a bit of a shock, we started up the vacuum again, and let me just tell you that before we were through, we had emptied that collection cup FIVE TIMES in just our bedroom/bathroom suite!  And most of the room is taken up by our extremely heavy wooden bed, so that carpet didn’t even get touched underneath!

I immediately went on to vacuum the other bedroom and had a similar experience in there.  Then my husband took it to the 3 area rugs that notoriously have dog hair clinging to them 5 minutes after you’ve vacuumed, and they looked like new afterwards!  The colors were so vibrant, and it sucked up all the hair that likes to cling to the edges of the wool.  Amazing! 

So I just wanted to share that this little vacuum is quite the powerhouse, and it’s worth every penny!  If you live near an Ollie’s store, you can get it for about half the retail price reconditioned.  But even if you bought it new, it would be worth every penny! 

FREE Slurpee Day…Don’t Miss Out!!!

Yes, today is, in fact, the infamous July 11th…AKA Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven stores.  Although 7-Eleven did cancel the traditional celebration where you get a free small Slurpee just for stopping by, they did offer an alternative.  In the app, you can score a FREE medium Slurpee at any time throughout the month of July as a “reward.” 

In the spirit of the absent celebration, my daughter and I stopped by with our refill cups to treat everyone in the family to a Slurpee this afternoon.  To our pleasant surprise, the clerk handed us a voucher for a FREE Slurpee for each of us that’s valid from Monday through early August.  Yay!  So swing by your local 7-Eleven store and get yourself a voucher, too. 

REVIEW: MaxScholar Orton-Gillingham Software by MaxScholar

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 youngest child doesn’t have any reading difficulties, but I’m providing an informative review of the MaxScholar Orton-Gillingham Software by MaxScholar for you to help you learn more about it and find out if it might be a good fit for your student(s).

WHAT IS IT?:

The MaxScholar Orton-Gillingham Software is an online reading intervention program designed to improve reading skills, language, and performance skills in children through a variety of multi-sensory online activities.  It is also aimed at helping children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

This software bundles together an assortment of phonics and reading programs.  The program can be accessed on any device, and there are even apps available!

A MaxGuru Pack subscription gives one child twelve months of access and includes MaxPhonics, MaxReading, MaxWords, MaxMusic, MaxPlaces, MaxBios, and MaxVocab for $279/year.  You can try out the program in a 15-day trial for FREE.

MY IMPRESSION:

In the teacher dashboard, I can view student progress, reports, set up my students, access corresponding materials, and there is a video instruction section that is coming soon.  I actually got to view these videos outside of the website, and users should find them quite helpful.  Many things work by default settings, but there are also many things you can manually adjust as the teacher, such as who takes what placement test, or what grade level to be placed in.  For instance, if you choose PK-2 grade level, the student will only see MaxPhonics and MaxReading.  For grades 3 and up, all of the areas of the program will be visible and accessible to the student.

MaxPhonics includes four modules:  Pre-K, Alphabet, Blends, and Digraphs.  It also includes games.  A tutorial takes you through how to navigate the program the first time you enter it.

You choose a group of letters to practice, and visual, tactile, and auditory practice options are offered.  You can see the letter, watch it being drawn and trace it with your finger if you choose, and listen to words that may or may not start with the given letter sound and select the correct images on the screen.  This is in module 1, the Pre-K level.  It appears that the modules progress as each activity is completed, so that you would automatically move on to the next level.

In MaxReading, you can choose to read a recommended chapter, or you can directly choose the level that you want to work with from 1-12.  There are also games to play. 

When I selected level 12 and a chapter within that level, it asked me to read the selection and highlight things like the topic, main idea, and important details.  Then the program quickly grades your highlighting and shows you the best answer side-by-side with yours, along with your score.  Next, it walked me through creating an outline from my previous highlighting.  Then it asked me to do my choice of writing activity:  a summary, open-ended question, or general question.  If I chose to do a summary, it allowed me to reference the outline I had just created to write my summary.  The other two options allowed me to reference the full article with my previous highlighting in tact.  The last step had me answer a series of five comprehension questions about the chapter.  Then it gave me a final chapter score and said I’d scored well enough to unlock the games!  It let me choose from Hangman, Definitions, or Word Search.

In MaxWords, you can select from five areas of study:  CLOVER (syllabication), Spelling Rules, Prefixes & Suffixes, Latin Roots, or Greek Roots.

These areas each have a number of activities and quizzes to help you learn and practice within each learning segment.  There’s a lot of material to cover here!

In MaxMusic, you can pick an artist or play a game.  When you choose an artist, you can then select one of their songs.  The lyrics appear on the screen.  You have the opportunity to read the words, and then you’re asked to identify a part of speech like the verbs.  The program grades your responses and shows you the correct responses.  Next, it shows you the lyrics with some missing words, only indicating the part of speech that belongs there.  When you click on the part of speech, a drop-down menu gives you several possible answers for what the missing word(s) might be.  You select all of your responses, and the program grades it for you.  This is a great activity to test both your grammar and memory skills!  I found it to be a lot of fun personally.  It’s an effective way to sharpen your ability to recall details and also practice identifying parts of speech.  What’s more, there are a lot of artists and songs to choose from so the activity appeals to a wide audience.  In the games section of MaxMusic, you can choose from two games:  Pair the Sound (in which you play a memory match game with letter sounds) or MaxGuitar (in which you use a mixture of timing and coordination to strike the corresponding arrow keys as the symbol passes over a timing bar).  The program gives you a rating score at the end of each game.

In MaxVocab, you can use the online dictionary or play games.  In the dictionary, you can choose a level and topic, just like you did with the reading chapters in MaxReading.  The program then gives you a list of related words as you might see them in a dictionary.  You can click on the definition, see the word used in a sentence, or view synonyms and antonyms for the word.

In the games section, you can again play Hangman, Definitions, or Word Search.  The hangman game gives you a definition to help you figure out the word.  The definitions game has you match a set of words with the definitions by clicking and dragging them together.  The word search game has you click on the first and last letter of each of the listed words that you locate in the puzzle in order to highlight them.

In MaxPlaces, you select a city from the map.  Then you are prompted to read an article about that city with the option to highlight important text in various colors.  Next, you are asked a series of comprehension questions, and you only get once chance to get them right.  At the end of the quiz, you are given a grade with a goal of scoring at least 60% correctly before moving on.

In MaxBios, you can choose from seven categories of important and influential figures and read theirl biographies:  Entertainment, Fascinating Men, Old School Musicians, Hip-Hop Artists, Amazing Women, Business, and Star Athletes. 

Once you select a category, you can select a famous person/group from the list.  Then, just like in MaxPlaces, you can highlight important details in the text of the biography before being asked to answer comprehension questions in a single attempt.

Wow!  What I learned by going through the various areas of this program myself is that there is no specific targeted age range persay, because there is material here for all ages.  The program is so rich with content and potential benefit to students that really any student would find benefit for using the program!  I honestly think that even an adult or college-aged student would benefit from the skills practice with word roots, reading comprehension, finding key details in a reading selection, writing an outline, and summarizing a reading selection as a writing assignment.  These are skills that anyone would benefit from practicing.  I feel like this is not a program that just touches the surface of usefulness, but instead, can deeply enhance reading/writing skills of users of all ages.  There is truly a vast amount of content available in the program, and the learning opportunities abound.  When I initially explored the website before signing up for review, I really did not get a nearly adequate impression of all the site has to offer.  For that reason, I would highly encourage you to give the 15-day free trial some consideration so you can try it out for yourself and get a chance to see all of the valuable and extensive content it offers for your student(s).

Check out what other Crew members have to say about this program by clicking the banner below.