Luv'N Lambert Life

A blog about living with Epilepsy, IBHS, Homeschooling and so much more

Math

IXL {Crew Review}

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IXL is a well-known name in Homeschooling and education.  What began as a Comprehensive Math program has expanded to include Language Arts as well.  This amazing program can be used to supplement any math or language program available.
IXL provides thorough instruction and practice of important skills in both Math and Language Arts.  The program is designed to be set up to meet State Standards but can also be used to simply supplement extra practice in subjects or units as needed.  Covering grades K-12 in Math instruction and grades 2-4 in Language Arts, with future plans to expand, this program provides just the right amount of supplementation at home.
The formatting of the program is set to basically allow children to read through the problem then choose an answer through A, B or C options.  This allows a child to process and answer quickly when using the program.  Children can work on, above or below grade level as needed and parent/teacher options allow this to be set per child as needed.
There is audio available for math skills in the younger grades, which is helpful for students who may struggle with reading skills.  An iPad app is available as well for extra math practice.  Students can work either by grade level or by topic as needed.  Working by topic allows the student to work strictly on Addition or Estimation or Algebra as needed, wherever the student needs the extra help.  
Language Arts is set up similarly to Math, allowing the student to work on grade level or by topic.  So if your student needs extra practice with Sentences or Nouns and Pronouns, you can simply choose that topic to start them on.
In parent mode, you can set up each child’s account through the Profiles and Settings options.  I was able to set up a parent account and one account for each of my older children.  I input their names and chose a picture to fit them so they can tell who is who.  These are fun little images to help them distinguish their personal accounts.  I can also opt to set a secret word for each of them to log in with or to leave the account without a word in this section.
Through my parent account, I can check the progress of each student.  I can print reports of their progress, as well.  I am able to view awards for each student’s progress to see how well they are doing in their work.  I can also view my state standards to see how well my children match up to their grade levels and their educational knowledge through the program.
We’ve used IXL for several years off and on now.  It’s a program that I have personally enjoyed though it’s not always been appealing to my children.  However, it’s a wonderful program to have them use as a go to just to cover review lessons quickly and gauge their personal progress.
The style and set up of the program lessons remind me of the Standardized Testing that I used to take yearly in public school.  It’s pretty much presented as a problem with fill in the blank answers, or online choices in the place of fill in the blank.  This isn’t necessarily a problem but it doesn’t completely mesh with our homeschooling style.  My children are extremely hands-on and prefer to watch a video on a math lesson or to actually work out a lesson using blocks or some kind of manipulative over choosing the correct answer from a group of answers.
This program would be amazing for students who are preparing for testing in their state.  In our state, testing is not mandatory, so it definitely doesn’t benefit us there.  It would also be a great program for a family who wishes to meet their state’s standards or to stay aligned with the public school’s standards for education.
My children enjoy being able to see their accomplishments through the Awards in the program.  They also enjoy seeing the information they’ve covered in lessons, and I enjoy that as well.  It’s also nice to be able to print off the areas they have covered and passed thoroughly so I can see what we need to work on next.  This allows me to bypass parts of lessons that my children aren’t struggling with and concentrate on those areas they are struggling with.
IXL is available by subscription for $9.95 for Math only, $9.95 for Language Arts only, or $15.95 monthly for both.  A years subscription of $79 is available for either Math or Language Arts or $129.00 for both subjects for the year.  Additional subscriptions for each child are $2 a month per child, or $20 per year per child.
To read more reviews of IXL, please click the banner below!

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Math Mammoth {Crew Review}

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Math Mammoth was created by Maria Miller to help homeschooling Momma’s who were completely lost at teaching math be able to provide a better learning experience for their students.  Being an ex-math teacher, Maria was able to create an exceptional math program that is easy to use and understand by both teacher and student.  Math Mammoth provides a complete math education that makes math easy.

Last year, we used Math Mammoth’s Light Blue series for second grade.  You can read our review for that curriculum here: https://www.luvnlambertlife.com/2011/11/tos-review-math-mammoth.html.  This year, I chose to review Math Mammoth’s Light Blue series for first grade.

I chose this curriculum for two reasons: to review math fact basics with my daughter who struggles with them and to begin my youngest daughter’s education in addition and subtraction.  The first grade level of the Light Blue series worked great for both of their needs.  And since it’s easy to use, my older daughter needed little help from me to work through it.  She is able to read on her own and follow through with her work.  She was also able to help my younger daughter out along the way, when I was unable to.

I chose the Light Blue series because it’s a complete curriculum.  This allowed my daughter to completely relearn the concepts she struggles with instead of just working on reviewing facts that she didn’t completely understand the first time.  We basically started all over with Math, only this time the lessons were much easier for her to comprehend.  And though we’ve only been using the program a short time, she is definitely catching on fast.

Math Mammoth’s Light Blue Series for Grade 1 covers addition and subtraction concepts and strategies, whole number and place value relationships to 100, measurement of length, geometric basics, time and money.  Even though we are using this curriculum for a math review purpose, we have started from the beginning and worked through.  The program is not boring or overwhelming to my students, and as I’ve mentioned more than once, it’s extremely easy to use and comprehend.

Math Mammoth Light Blue series is available online for $34 for the full set of Grade 1 as a download or on CD for $39 plus shipping.  It is also purchasable as individual sectional downloads through the website.

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Math Rider {Crew Review}

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The Intelligent Math Facts Game
Have fun and build confidence!
We had so much fun with Math Rider last year that we decided to review it again this year!  Math Rider is a fun, interactive math facts game created for kids of all ages and stages learning important basic math skills.  Math Rider is a game that children will want to play again and again all the while learning in the process.
Math Rider teaches the basic skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  Children create a character who will be riding Shadow the Horse across the Land of Ray.  The Land of Ray is a beautifully designed matte-painted fantasy land that children will greatly enjoy.  
As children work through their quest they will find magical flowers, gems for elves and they even rescue a princess all while working on their math skills.  There are four quests from easy to master to complete.  Rewards change throughout the quests as children unlock and complete their missions.  

Math Rider allows for more than one child to use the system learning needed facts.  This worked well for us since we have three children learning at different levels currently.  My oldest daughter truly enjoys this program while she’s working on her math facts simply because there is a horse involved.  She is my animal lover.  My son loves the simplicity and ease of the program.  Because of it’s easy to use programming, I plan to start my 5 year old on it very soon.

Math Rider sells for $47 and includes free software updates for life.  A free 7 day full-version trial is available on the website for immediate use.  

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*Additional photos used were from my review of this product last year: https://www.luvnlambertlife.com/2012/02/tos-review-math-rider.html

TouchMath {Crew Review}

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Laycie is turning 5 next month and with her impending birth date, comes the realization that it’s also time to start a more structured version of homeschooling with her.  As I was researching curriculum ideas, the opportunity to review TouchMath came.  Needless to say, I was estatic to be offered the TouchMath Pre-K Homeschool program for product review.
TouchMath is a multisensory mathematics program developed to be used with children in grades Pre-K through 3rd.  The TouchMath program uses TouchPoints to teach children important counting skills, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and more.  This innovative math program allows children to touch, count and repeat which reinforces the math problem with audio repetition to better establish fact mastery.
Since this program puts all of Laycie’s senses to work, I immediately knew it would be the perfect curriculum to use with her!  We began with the TouchMath Pre-K Homeschool program which covers counting, number sense, comparing, classifying, sorting, graphing, patterning, identifying and so very much more.  Since we were given this product as a review, we were gifted several of the basic manipulatives to use along with our TouchMath Pre-K lessons.  Laycie absolutely LOVED the manipulatives and I must admit that I do too!
Our absolute favorite of the manipulatives has been the 3-D Numerals.  These solid plastic pieces are vibrant in color and sturdy for even the most active child to handle.  They have the signature touch points on them to be used specifically with the TouchMath program.  But even better, they are in the shapes of the actual numerals which allows the child to see and feel the number shape, better allowing them to absorb and learn each specific numeral.  
Another favorite manipulative for us was the Texture cards.  Being able to touch the numbers and touch points with various textures helps Laycie to learn the numbers through sensory.  She loved the cute character drawings on many of the cards.  This manipulative really brought learning to life for her and coincided so well with the actual printed lessons from the Homeschool program.
The bulk and best part of the TouchMath Pre-K Homeschooling program is the actual curriculum itself though.  As great as the extra manipulatives are, they work best with the program itself, allowing the student to get the maximum sensory learning experience.  For purpose of this review, we received the full Pre-K unit download of the TouchMath program.
As I mentioned above, the TouchMath program is designed to teach counting numerals through touch.  Numerals one through five have single TouchPoints meaning each point is touched once while counting, and numerals six through nine have double TouchPoints meaning each point is touched twice while counting.  As students learn the numbers they also learn the number value by counting the TouchPoints.
The TouchMath Pre-K lessons are broken into 6 lesson modules containing around 15 workmats to be completed in while using each module.  Each lesson module focuses on a different aspect of Math.  Module one teaches counting and number sense, module two covers comparing and classifying, and so on as the modules are broken down to teach important concepts.
The workmats are blackline masters which is really nice since they don’t take a lot of ink to print out.  The programs PDF download itself is in color and black and white but does not need to be completely printed out.  It can simply be viewed on a computer and only the blackline master workmats need to be printed out for use off the computer.
The workmats are fairly simple, yet challenging enough for the Pre-K child.  Coloring skills are implemented throughout helping the child develop better writing skills and also occupational skills.  Simple activities like color one pig pink and color the group with four milk cartons.
Laycie really loved completing her workmats.  She enjoys coloring and caught on really easily with the materials, allowing her to work through fairly quickly.  I found as she worked that she knew quite a bit of the material in the lessons.  Had I begun using this product a year ago when she was 3 turning 4, we would have benefited from it greatly.  The lessons were great for me to use with her to ensure that she has learned these important early math skills though and we will continue to use this program for her math for this year and possibly into the future.
The TouchMath Homeschool program is available online.  TouchMath Pre-K Homeschool Program cost $59.95 for the program unit download.  This includes the implementation guide, workmat activity sheets, module guides, answer sheets and more.  It does not include the math manipulatives to use with the program.  The manipulatives are a wonderful addition but they are not necessary for completion of this program.  If you are interested in using the manipulatives, you can find the links to each specific one at the bottom of each product download page.  Many of the manipulatives can be used with each subsequent product download.
For more reviews of the TouchMath Homeschool program and to see other reviews of different Math grade levels with this program, please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog!


A+ Tutorsoft, Inc {Crew Review}

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A+ TutorSoft, Inc. is a fully interactive, multi-sensory Mathematics program.  This curriculum was created for use with children in grades 1-6.   The goal of the program is to provide engaging, expert instruction in order to help the student reach their top educational potential per grade level.  The program is available for homeschoolers, as well as public and private school use.

For purpose of this review, I was given access to A+ TutorSoft 2nd Grade Online Homeschool Edition.  This edition gave me access to A+ TutorSoft’s full online program for the 2nd grade level.  This includes worksheets, interactive online lessons, graded exams, progress reports, access to placement tests, 24/7 online access, answer keys and much, much more.

The lessons in the online program are animated and to-the-point.  Interactive FlashCards are included for additional instruction.  Parent’s have access to online grading and tools to help identify weaknesses and strengths in a child’s progress.

I tried this program out with both of my older children as I wanted a feel of the program for each of my very different learners.  I found that one enjoyed the animated, interactive lessons online while the other enjoyed the lessons along with the extra worksheets to do off the computer.  I liked the fact that I was able to make the program work for both of my children and was easily able to adapt the lessons to fit both of their needs.  We often use the same program as they are both basically on the same grade level in many areas.  A+ TutorSoft provided a great basis for math to use for them both.

The program allowed me to immediately create a copy of the lessons available and the basic skills taught through the 2nd year portion of this program.  I was then able to take that sheet and break it into smaller lessons that worked for us.  My next step was to view some of the lessons myself in order to prepare to teach them off the computer.  I was also able to print worksheets to use along with these lessons with ease to give on the necessary days for offline learning.  These lessons were easily adapted.  I was able to prolong sections as needed and didn’t feel behind if we weren’t able to work on the lesson for that day.  The kids were able to pick back up with no problems as we worked on the program too.  This fit in very well with our laid back style and also with our busy days since we’ve been having several of those lately.

We did not use the exam portions of this program for this review as I do not do testing in our homeschool lessons.

A+ Tutorsoft, Inc is available online through their website.   Both the CD program and the online program are available. The cost for their 2nd Grade Online Homeschool Edition is available for $19.95 a month, $49.99 quarterly, or $124.99 per year.  Each subscription covers one parent and one child.

For more reviews of A+ TutorSoft, Inc., please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog!

*Disclaimer – This product was provided free in exchange of my honest opinion shared in a review post on my blog by A+ TutorSoft and TOS Schoolhouse Review Crew.  All opinions are my own and no money has been exchange in the process of this review.  I am including this disclaimer in accordance with FTC guidelines.


Professor B Math {Crew Review}

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Any homeschooling Mom knows that Math can be one tough subject to teach but Professor B Math does it’s best to make Math easy to teach and easy to learn.  Professor B Math is an interactive Math program, created to help educators create a strong foundation for students.  It’s structured to provide a math education that teaches math as a flowing and connected story as a process.
Professor B Math provides truth in Math too, showing students a less complicated system of learning math facts and problem solving.  This allows for a more thorough understanding of math and it’s concepts.  It also helps to expand the students mental capacity while learning math.
Professor B Math is for students in grades Pre-K through 8th.  It helps provide a thorough math education through simplifying mathematical methods and facts.  You can purchase Professor B Math products online through the website by individual book, from addition all the way to Algebra.
You can also purchase a membership to their e-Learning program on the website in three levels: Level I – Pre-k through 2nd and remediation of older learners, Level II – 3rd through 5th and remediation of older learners, and Level III – 6th through 8th and remediation of older learners.  Professor B provides a placement test so that you don’t waste money where it isn’t need and can place your child at the correct mathematical level in the e-Learning program.  You can purchase one level of Math for $20 a month, add an additional level for another $15 a month and a third level for another additional $10 a month.  Or you can purchase 3 years of use for this program for $100 by calling Professor B Math at 678-765-6655.  There is also a free trial available by calling for those who would like to try out the program before purchasing.
Each level of e-Learning provides you with an Instant Master Teacher workbook and answer key, video’s to help teach the lessons with you as the narrator, as well as a completion certificate.  Because you are the teacher, Professor B does not provide sound with the lesson videos.  The workbook contains the student lessons and printable worksheets for student usage as they learn the lessons.  The exercises are simple, yet fun.  Student concepts are slowed down in comparison to other math curriculums, yet they do throw in a few exercises that challenge the student at the same time.
I found this program to be fairly good.  It seemed a bit remedial and in workbook style educationally but was honestly a great edition to our homeschooling curriculum.  I will most likely continue to use this program as a beginning math for my pre-k’er and also as extra practice for my older students as I found it helpful for all in some way or another.
You can read more reviews of this program on the SchoolHouse Review Crew blog!



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*Disclaimer: A subscription for this product was provided to me free by Professor B Math and the TOS SchoolHouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest opinion in a review.