CTCMath {TOS Review}

 
We have been using CTCMath for a few years and it by far is our favorite program. In fact my fifteen year old won't use anything else for his main curriculum. So when we were offered a Homeschool Membership we were all excited. So much so Jam did a happy dance. Yes, you heard right. He did a happy dance when I told him we had been accepted on a MATH review.

I have reviewed this before and loved it, and this time was no different. The family homeschool plan covers 2 or more students for a year and is currently on sale for $118.80 which is an amazing price to cover everyone in your household.

The program has content from kindergarten to Trigonometry. The program is broken down like this;

Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade
Basic Math and Pre-Algebra
Elementary Measurement
Elementary Geometry
Algebra I
Pre-Calculus
Algebra II
Geometry
Trigonometry

Captain has worked through Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade. Boo has been working on some placement tests as she was working on a different Pre-Algebra course last year and Jam is finishing up Algebra I.

When I asked the kids what they liked about it they all came up with similar answers as well as a few individual ones.

Jam (15) - I love the videos. I love that I can work at my own pace. Sometimes this means that I can cover a couple of sections in a day or sometimes only half a section. It's great to have control over my work. I like that I can watch a video and then print off a worksheet so if we go somewhere I can do my math on the road and I'm not stuck to my lap-top. Then when I get home I can just use the answer key to add my answers. I then file my worksheet in a folder. I was really impressed with the amount of work I completed last year. I had a ring-binder and labeled it 'High School Math' when I filed it a few weeks ago I had to relabel it '9th grade' as it was stuffed full. So this year I have just labelled my folder '10th grade'.

Boo (13) - I have used two other online math programs and this is by far my favorite. It's user friendly and easy for me to work through. I am currently working through the sections and completing tests to see how much I know before redoing the section. Each main section has a diagnostic test before the general lessons. You can take either a short test, standard test or a comprehensive test. I have been working through the comprehensive tests as then I can feel confident that I understand the content before moving on to the next topic. I asked my Mom if I could do this as I didn't want to repeat work if it's a topic I have already covered. However, since some programs are different I may have missed a topic or learned it in a different way. Doing this makes me feel confident in my math knowledge. I love the videos the guy who talks has a really cool Australian accent and it's easy to understand him.

Captain (7) - Really likes this program. He can work on it by myself but likes it when I am with him. He worked on some money when he was doing CTC for Kindergarten and hefound it hard to read the coins as they were really small. During this review he worked on the 2nd grade money section. The coins were a lot bigger and easier to read. They are also the right color so he recognized them as real money.

When he completes a section it shows a completed worksheet that we can print out or just save. Captain likes to print them but I don't think it's needed as the program keeps track of his scores too. However you could print them if you needed to keep things for a transcript. From what I have noticed you can work directly on the computer until the end of 6th grade after that you have to print like Jam mentioned above. Which I like because it helps for record keeping as the child gets older.

So each of my children have their own account with a user name and login, and then I have my parent account. The parent account is great to get an overview of each student in one place. I am sent an email each time a student finishes a section and what level they complete it at, but if I want to check their overall % or when they last logged in then that's when I sign in to the my parent account.

I can see when each child logged in and what they viewed. I can see how many lessons they have completed and what their grade is. I can even go back and print out reports for previous grades. So for example I can go back to Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade and print off a comprehensive list with his grade in each subject, how many attempts it took him and the date he passed it. So even if you don't want to print off each test you can still have excellent records! Plus this can be downloaded as a PDF or emailed to you as one!

As well as the individual subjects you can also download the results of the diagnostic tests. This is an excellent record keeping feature too. Especially if you are wanting to 'test out' of the material. Then there is an award section. At the end of each subject the child is awarded a completion certificate. This depends on how well the child did they are 'Platinum', 'Gold', 'Silver', and 'Bronze'. These are found here and so again don't need to be printed out to be recorded.

One of the last things I love about the parents account is the option to add 'tasks' for the child to complete. I went to the area and snipped it so you can see how easy it is. You choose a task date and then a title, describe for the student and then choose your options. You can add lessons or diagnostic tests and then who needs to do it. This would work best if you don't need your child to work through the whole program. I haven't used this feature much as I expect my children to work through every section. However, I love that it's an option here. Especially if you have multiple children.

As you can tell we love this program. My kids love the program. It grades my kids math for me (I mean this is just AWESOME). However, most of all my kids are learning math with smiles on their faces and there is not many programs that manage that in my house.

Click on the link below to see what others in the crew think!



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