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Mrs. B
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| Posted: March 17 2015 at 1:08pm | IP Logged
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Just wondering if anyone has tried this website? It's an online curricula for pre algerbra, alg. 1, geometry and alg.2.
Currently we are using saxon 8/7 for my daughter and I'm hoping we'll just be able to transition to doing the lessons online.
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dd-10, ds-8, dd-5, ds-2
and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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SallyT
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| Posted: March 17 2015 at 1:29pm | IP Logged
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Hm. I'll have to look at that. ALWAYS on the prowl for middle-school math resources (and up).
Thanks!
Sally
eta: I haven't looked at the demo yet, but wow, $50/month seems really expensive, given that we aren't currently paying a tutor -- if we were paying a tutor something like $60/hour (my brother's math-tutoring rate some years ago), this would seem reasonable, but since we're using MEP for free, and I have that, Lial's Basic College Mathematics (used copy I bought for $6), and access to Art of Problem Solving pre-alg videos (and Khan Academy) for free, I don't think I would consider this program for more than the free practice sessions.
I recently had the same sticker shock in checking out CTC Math, which I'd also heard good things about. The free demo lesson was great, but $50 a month, again, seems really exorbitant for a single subject. For the sake of comparison, Homeschool Connections Unlimited Access program (you subscribe and have, as the name suggests, unlimited access to HSC's recorded courses, including upper-level math) is only $30/month.
Anyway, this may be a great math program -- I thought CTC looked really cool, too -- but I don't think I'd use something online as more than a supplement, and the price really stops me cold.
I would be really interested in hearing how things go if you use it, though. And I really don't mean to be negative about the curriculum, which may be terrific and a perfect fit for your family. There just seems to be kind of a wave of these online curricula right now, similarly priced. If I were going to use one of these programs and had to choose, I think I personally would go with CTC. The guy who teaches that program is really personable, and his explanations are very clear -- he's Australian, too, so fun to listen to (and a father of 10, so if I could justify the expense in the first place, I'd be supporting those 10 kids!). I did watch a little of the Mathhelp demo, and the guy teaching the lesson just seems to have a really deadpan, monotone delivery. We might well come to Mathhelp.com for the free practice, though, so I'm definitely bookmarking it for the future.
FWIW, CTC suggests that it not be used as a stand-alone curriculum in the upper grades, just as a "tutorial" resource. So there is that difference, and I can see how something that could be a stand-alone would be of more value, if that's what you were looking for.
Thanks again for sharing this resource.
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Mrs. B
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| Posted: March 18 2015 at 9:39am | IP Logged
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It is 50 a month if you buy it at a monthly rate, but it's 200 a year if you decide to use it for a year.(That's much better than having to get a tutor.) I think going online like this is the new technology trend that's coming up, so I would expect to see more programs like this, and in fact I am glad to see it as it can help eliminate a lot of stress of having to check and double check students work for me. They do provide a printable practice sheet for the kids so if we need to see how they are doing on paper we can also give that to them. ( Doing math on the computer can be ok but I would always periodically check and see how they are doing on paper as well. We had a bad experience with TT a few years ago, so we learned that they have to be able to do math neatly on paper as well as on the computer.)
I think the lessons are ok. They are very solemn but some students don't want any bells and whistles and mine are like that. I'm trying to think how we would use this as the curricula for highschool math, if they would need a book and if they would get sufficient review to keep things fresh so they don't forget important stuff that will be on the yearly tests.
Thanks for providing those other resources. I will check them out.
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~ * mama to a houseful~ *
dd-10, ds-8, dd-5, ds-2
and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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SallyT
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| Posted: March 18 2015 at 12:10pm | IP Logged
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Yes, if it works for you, go for it! (eta: the annual rate, compared with what you can spend on TT for multiple kids is pretty competitive, too).
And I notice that they do do worksheets -- like you, I would definitely want a strong pencil-to-paper component, or would not consider a program stand-alone, especially at the high-school level.
And for upper-level math, I'm always looking for explanations that kids can watch, &/or I can watch with them. My older son Khan-Academied his way through Saxon, pretty successfully. I am suspecting that my current middle-schoolers will need more guidance from me than he did, so I'm anticipating learning with them more than I did with the olders.
Sally
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: mathhelp.com
