We were given the opportunity to review for a great company called A+ TutorSoft, Inc.. I chose to have Terrific T be the one to review this, since he was just finishing up his current math book and ready to start a new one. He was also excited to get to do math on the computer :) We took the free math placement test and decided to review A+ Interactive MATH Online Homeschool Edition for 4th grade, even though we are part way through 4th grade. I'll talk more about that later.They also have CD software available, which would be nice if you had slow internet.
A+Tutorsoft, Inc. was easy to set up. I logged into my own account, and made an account for T. He was then able to log in with his own username/password each day. The lessons combine audio and visual, which is great as everyone doesn't learn the same way. I also liked that you can chose which lessons to do each day. We didn't do them in order, since, like I mentioned, we are 1/2 way through 4th grade so I didn't want to start at the beginning. We chose to start with division.
Once we picked the lesson, T was off. The computer reads everything to the student and works out the problems while explaining them. He really didn't need me at all! The lessons were short...maybe 5 minutes each. Then there is a short interactive quiz that he would take to make sure he understood it all. Some things were explained differently than he was used to learning it....but I like him hearing different words for the same things in math - you never know what will be on those pesky achievement tests!
If he missed any on the interactive quiz, they immediately corrected him and then explained...in detail...how to get the correct answer. I loved it! I haven't used an actual online curriculum before so maybe they all do this but this was a HUGE perk for me. They didn't just say, "No, try again." They actually retaught the whole problem and then he tried again. Genius!
If he missed any on the interactive quiz, they immediately corrected him and then explained...in detail...how to get the correct answer. I loved it! I haven't used an actual online curriculum before so maybe they all do this but this was a HUGE perk for me. They didn't just say, "No, try again." They actually retaught the whole problem and then he tried again. Genius!
There were several things I really liked that were included with the subscription:
1) E-books. I liked that I didn't have to watch the lessons with him. If he was struggling with something, we clicked on the e-book of that lesson and I could see what the issue was.
2) There is a 9 page reference sheet available. I printed this little wealth of knowledge and put it in a folder for him to have for reference. It includes things like fact tables, geometry, and conversions. I'm sure he will use this for years to come.
3) I liked that we could work at his own pace on here and there were several things in each lesson to help them learn, including online worksheets, printable worksheets, and exams. If he "got it" easily, we could skip the extra help and move on to the next lesson. If he was struggling, we could take more time. You can even generate a new worksheet on a topic to help cement it in their heads.
4) All of the online things are graded immediately and then I was able to log into my account and see all the scores.He got instant feedback from his "teacher" and I had things graded for me - lol.
5) With the subscription, you have everything you need to use the curriculum. The prep work is minimal - just decide which lesson to do and get started. There is no teacher prep and really no materials needed. I kept things as PDFs and referenced them to save on printing. We did print a few of the worksheets to try them that way, but I liked the online better since it was graded for me (lazy? maybe - lol). We printed the reference sheet, but that was just our preference there, you could get away with not printing them. He wanted to print the certificates after each lesson, but we didn't - lol.
A few things that I didn't, personally, love:
1) I would have preferred it to be full screen. I emailed them to see if that is possible to fix on my end but haven't heard back yet. I'll update if they tell me a way to correct this as it is totally possible it is a mistake I am making. ;)
2) T needs more review of previous skills learned than this provided. Even though we could go back and review anything we wanted (which I liked), it would be nice to not have each concept so separated and have a little review in each worksheet. On the flip side, one of the things T liked is that this didn't take as long as his previous curriculum that has a lot of review. If your child doesn't need cumulative review than this won't bother you at all.
1) E-books. I liked that I didn't have to watch the lessons with him. If he was struggling with something, we clicked on the e-book of that lesson and I could see what the issue was.
2) There is a 9 page reference sheet available. I printed this little wealth of knowledge and put it in a folder for him to have for reference. It includes things like fact tables, geometry, and conversions. I'm sure he will use this for years to come.
3) I liked that we could work at his own pace on here and there were several things in each lesson to help them learn, including online worksheets, printable worksheets, and exams. If he "got it" easily, we could skip the extra help and move on to the next lesson. If he was struggling, we could take more time. You can even generate a new worksheet on a topic to help cement it in their heads.
4) All of the online things are graded immediately and then I was able to log into my account and see all the scores.He got instant feedback from his "teacher" and I had things graded for me - lol.
5) With the subscription, you have everything you need to use the curriculum. The prep work is minimal - just decide which lesson to do and get started. There is no teacher prep and really no materials needed. I kept things as PDFs and referenced them to save on printing. We did print a few of the worksheets to try them that way, but I liked the online better since it was graded for me (lazy? maybe - lol). We printed the reference sheet, but that was just our preference there, you could get away with not printing them. He wanted to print the certificates after each lesson, but we didn't - lol.
A few things that I didn't, personally, love:
1) I would have preferred it to be full screen. I emailed them to see if that is possible to fix on my end but haven't heard back yet. I'll update if they tell me a way to correct this as it is totally possible it is a mistake I am making. ;)
2) T needs more review of previous skills learned than this provided. Even though we could go back and review anything we wanted (which I liked), it would be nice to not have each concept so separated and have a little review in each worksheet. On the flip side, one of the things T liked is that this didn't take as long as his previous curriculum that has a lot of review. If your child doesn't need cumulative review than this won't bother you at all.
3) All the answers were in multiple choice format. I think this is going to be
helpful for when standardized testing time comes around again. However, I
would like if he had to put his own answer in for some of the
worksheets instead of just multiple choice every time. This would make him have to work out the harder problems on paper and get an exact answer instead of estimating and guessing an answer that is close...which I noticed him doing a few times. Again, this will be nice later on for testing, but for daily work, I would like to see his exact answer. Maybe a mixture of the two where the tests are multiple choice and the worksheets are fill in the blanks might work.
{update - After posting this, I very quickly heard from a gentleman at A+ about my concerns. Full screen is proving to be a little tricky, but they are working on it. The other two were already on their radar for change and should be changed by spring. He said that 1st and 2nd already have some non-multiple choice questions mixed in and 3rd and 4th will be next. YAY. I love a company that truly listens to their customers!}
Overall though, this is a very thorough math curriculum and we have enjoyed using it. They currently offer 1st-6th grade, Pre Algebra and Algebra I.
{update - After posting this, I very quickly heard from a gentleman at A+ about my concerns. Full screen is proving to be a little tricky, but they are working on it. The other two were already on their radar for change and should be changed by spring. He said that 1st and 2nd already have some non-multiple choice questions mixed in and 3rd and 4th will be next. YAY. I love a company that truly listens to their customers!}
Overall though, this is a very thorough math curriculum and we have enjoyed using it. They currently offer 1st-6th grade, Pre Algebra and Algebra I.
The price for the online subscription for one child is $19.95 per month, $49.99 per quarter, or $124.95 for a year...which is almost 1/2 price of the monthly fee (I wasn't kidding when I told you we did division!).
A+ TutorSoft, Inc is graciously offering a 50% OFF Special Promotion through the end of MARCH. Use coupon code "SPOFFER50" to get this fantastic deal!
But wait!
It gets better!
A+ TutorSoft, Inc is graciously offering a 50% OFF Special Promotion through the end of MARCH. Use coupon code "SPOFFER50" to get this fantastic deal!
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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse 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. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.
What about just using it as a supplement, or extra practice? Especially at 50% off that seems like it would be a fun change of pace. What do you think?
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