Review: A+ Interactive Math, Math Mini Courses (TOS Review)

For this review, my 9 year old son picked the Math Mini Courses of Money and Time from A+ Interactive Math.  He used these courses 3-5 times a week during the review period. 

He picked these courses because he felt like he could use some practice in these areas.  He started with the Money course, which he completed 11 of the 18 lessons and then decided to try out the Time course which he completed 6 lessons on. 

When you log into A+ Interactive Math, your Mini Courses show up, you click on which course you want and then the screen looks like this

My son mostly did the Video Lessons with Q&A, when I went to check on his grades, i would then generate some online worksheets on the lessons he needed more practice in under Worksheets and Tests.  For those that might prefer old fashion pencil and paper, you can also print worksheets and tests. 

For me, remembering to go back and grade the math work has always been an issue (and even more so now that I have more than one child homeschooling, and a toddler).  I love that this program grades for you, their are printable reports available for printing as well (great for portfolios).   The platform was easy to navigate, so my son worked on the program by himself. 

The Video Lessons consist of video instruction with animation, the voice is sort of computerized and strange (seems human, but with a weird echo or something). The video is followed by a Q & A.  If a question is answered incorrectly, it automatically reinstructs as to what the answer is and why it is that way.  This is a nice feature.

For the online worksheet and test portion, you assign which lessons you want worksheets and/or tests completed on and they show up when your child clicks on that button.   You can view the scores of the completed worksheet/test under this tab as well.

If you click on View Reports, you can see the scores and also see the worksheet to see what they got wrong. You can also view a detailed solution where it breaks it down step by step for you as to how to get the right answer.

There are a few other things that I would like to see in the program:

1.  An easier way to see lessons completed.  The lessons are listed on the left hand side, and if you click on the lesson you can see if you have done it already, but it’s not easily visible and my son accidently skipped lessons because of this. 

2.   Automatically register complete of lessons based on their finishing score.  I had to remember to go into the program and mark lessons complete, as previously mentioned, I have a lot going on, and well…I don’t always remember to do this.  It seems rather tedious to me.  Also it automatically puts the current date when you mark complete, even if you go in a week later to do so.

3.  A way to assign lessons, If I could work out the schedule so that the program told my child which lesson to do, whether it was video lesson or worksheet or test, this would be great!

4.  An email or some sort of notification for those of us with Mom Brain, who again forget to go in and check on a regular basis.  Daily or at a minimum weekly, would be such a HUGE help!

5.  Students have access and ability to CHANGE THEIR GRADES.  My son didn’t realize this, but I’m sure at some point he could figure it out. 

Now with that said, A+ Interactive Math is a program we have used and reviewed before, it’s a good math program and inexpensive.  They have a lot of different options, to meet a wide variety of needs.  They offer family plans and more.  They are very adapted to the needs of homeschoolers, which is great!  I have seen the program grow and change.  What works for one family, may not work for another and visa versa.  The few points I make would make this program even more awesome!  Math is one of those subjects, that the less involved I have to be, the better!  But if the above listed things are not DEAL BREAKERS for you, and you are looking for a math program that does the teaching and grading for you, this is definitely one to try out. 

The Mini Math Courses are GREAT for a little extra help in a few areas that need it!

Now for an outline of what each course covers. 

Money:  $12.99 and recommended for grades 1-5
1.1 Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters

1.2 Converting Nickels, Dimes and Quarters to Pennies

1.3 Converting Pennies to Nickels, Dimes and Quarters

1.4 Counting Coins up to One Dollar

1.5 Counting Coins Past One Dollar

1.6 Dollars

1.7 Counting Dollars and Coins

1.8 Comparing Money - Part 1

1.9 Counting Money - Part 2

1.10 Converting Money into Decimal Form

1.11 Comparing Money

1.12 Making Change

1.13 Salary Calculations

1.14 Money Games

1.15 Family Budgeting

1.16 Calculating Commission

1.17 Calculating Sale Price

1.18 Interest Rates

Time: $12.99 and recommended for grades 1-4
1.1 Days, Weeks, Months and Years

1.2 Days

1.3 Weeks

1.4 Months

1.5 Years

1.6 Converting Time: Days, Weeks, Months and Years

1.7 The Four Seasons

1.8 Seconds, Minutes and Hours

1.9 Digital and Analog Clocks

1.10 Telling Time to the Hour

1.11 Telling Time to the Half-hour

1.12 Telling Time to the Quarter-hour

1.13 Telling Time to 5 Minute Intervals

1.14 Converting Time: Seconds, Minutes and Hours

1.15 Duration of Time

1.16 Converting Digital and Analog Time

1.17 Converting Units of Time

1.18 Adding Different Units of Time

1.19 Finding Elapsed Time

1.20 Adding Elapsed Time

As you can see they cover a wide range in each Mini Course Subject.  They start with the basics and build from there. All Mini Courses are accessible for ONE YEAR from date of purchase.

If you are looking for an online math option that is truly affordable, this is definitely one to consider! 

You can see my previous reviews on A+ Interactive Math:

2nd and 3rd Grade CD Courses

Online Family Math Package

See more reviews by clicking below:

Review: Talking Fingers, Inc. (TOS Review)

For this review, my (almost) 7 year old and 5 year old both got to try out Read, Write & Type by Talking Fingers, Inc.  After watching my 7 year old for the first time play, my 5 year old was begging to play as well! 

During the review period, both children used the program 3-5 times a week  They progressed to level 2 out of 10 levels.  The program works on Phonics, Reading and Spelling in a fun way.  They can print certificates as they complete levels through out the program, but my kids didn’t care so much about doing that.  They could be beneficial if you have to keep a portfolio for your homeschool, though.

The kids have to rescue the letters, and they are taken through exercises that require sound identification (beginning, middle and end of words), spelling, typing, and other related activities. 

Both of my kids liked this program, they never complained about having to do it (which is quite common for my 7 year old to do, whether he likes something or not).  The lessons were fairly short, but sometimes they chose to continue on and do more than one lesson in a sitting. 

It was definitely a hit with my kids, though my 5 year old had some frustration with the program, as it progressed, it became a little over his current level.  Obviously the lessons get progressively harder as they go on. 

As a parent, I loved that my kids loved the program.  I could see noticeable improvement in my children in phonics, reading and spelling after using the program.  I wish the parental page gave a little more details as to what they are or are not doing well in (more specific), it just gives a percentage score for each focus area.  I also had hoped that typing skills would have been more of an emphasis, but that’s not a deal breaker for me.  Just be aware, that this is NOT a typing program.  My kids did not learn how to type on here, they were hunting and poking to type their answers.  Though there is some typing instruction, that is definitely not what they were getting out of it.   It does help get them familiar with the keyboard though, which is a great thing.

Another frustration for me was that the program did not work on Chrome, which is our preferred browser, I was able to use it on Microsoft Edge, with came with Windows 10, but I was not able to make a shortcut on the desktop to it through that browser, so log in was a bit more complicated for my younger children.  There were also a few computer glitches that seemed to work themselves out, though when I notified them, the help desk was very helpful and attentive.  However, they wanted to know what level or lesson we were on, and I could not figure out where to find that information, as it is not listed on the screen when they are playing.  As I stated though, the problems worked themselves out.  

This program is recommended for ESL students, and though we are not ESL; I felt it was very beneficial for my children who are beginning readers/spellers. I think it was most ideal for my 7 year old, but my 5 year old definitely benefited and enjoyed it as well.

The recommended age is 6 to 9 years old.  My 9 year old tried the demo and it was definitely too easy for him (though he did enjoy it, he would have finished the whole program in the blink of an eye).  A 9 year old ESL child or lower level reader could definitely benefit from this program, older than 9 and they may find it to ‘young’ of a program for them. 

Online Subscriptions for home use are for 5 year terms, and price varies from $35.00 to $100 based on the number of users.  There is a FREE demo to try out, I would recommend trying it to see if this is something that would work well for your child. 

Social Media Links

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TalkingFingers/
YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/user/talkingfingersvideo
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ReadWriteType/with_replies @readwritetype

Field Trip #197 Friday Blog Hop–Federal Reserve Bank

Blog Hop designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related Blog Posts(does not have to be a 'home school field trip', can be any trip to any place with your children!)

**NOTE:  Before linking up please review guidelines HERE!

This week we took a field trip to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, located in Baltimore!  I couldn’t take pictures inside, except for this one:

They had a pretty neat historical display of old money and other items inside, we got to see where they sort and shred the money.  We also received A LOT of free resources for furthering the learning at home, and each kid received a bag of shredded money! 

You can find out more about the educational resources available by visiting this website.

We have another big trip scheduled for tomorrow, so you can see more about that next week!