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.
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