Adaptive Math Curriculum Online (A Homeschool Crew Review)

I'm not a math person.  Throw science or literature at me and I'm happy but math was always the bane of my existence in school.  Unfortunately, things haven't changed much for me and unfortunately, this means that I might not be the best at teaching math to my kids.  Sure, I teach the curriculum but I'm not the best to judge whether or not I'm teaching them in such a way that they understand or if we've missed something that maybe should have been covered but wasn't.

For the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to review the Adaptive Math Curriculum Online from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.).  By quickly identifying and then eliminating the gaps that students may have with their math knowledge, this program seems to have been designed for math haters like myself who need that extra piece of mind to know that our kids are getting the best math foundation possible.

What Is it?

Adaptive Math Curriculum Online is a one-year subscription that is designed to identify gaps in your student's math knowledge and then automatically creates an individual lesson plan with videos and online worksheets to help fill those gaps.  This is accomplished by first selecting the students targeted grade level.  The program then gives the student an assessment quiz based on that targeted grade level, with questions progressively getting harder as they answer each question correctly.  The results of this assessment quiz then allows for the program to create a lesson plan based on what material proved difficult for the student to answer.  This program is geared for students Grades 1st through 6th, as well as for Pre-Algebra and can be purchased as either a single student subscription or a family subscription for up to 10 students.

How We Used It

Both Garrett and Ashleigh are considered 4th Grade and that was the targeted grade that I placed them both in.  For the 4th Grade level, there are 17 different math concepts that were available.  For each of these concepts, the student starts by taking the assessment test for that skill.  The 17 categories for 4th Grade are:

Number Sense
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Rounding and Estimating
Decimal Numbers
Fractions
The Number Line & Number Comparison
Graphs
Time
Money
Measurements
Geometry
Elementary Algebra
Probability and Statistics
Word Problems

Out of the gate, we realized that Ashleigh and Garrett had some gaps in their learning.  While they are doing great with mathematical functions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, there were some things that I honestly thought they knew.  When they both took the assessment test, I realized that neither of them knew simple things such as ordinal vs cardinal numbers.  Both kids ended up using the program as a refresher course to relearn and get a true understanding of these forgotten concepts.

When students take these assessment tests, they are given a time limit for the test (if I remember correctly, it was 30 minutes).  However, tests may or may not last that long.  The first time the kids took the assessment for number sense, they were finished within about 3 minutes, long enough for the program to recognize where they needed to start reviewing.

Lessons are selected from the expandable menu on the left-hand side of the screen.  This will bring the student to video/audio lesson that teaches the selected concept.  After viewing the lesson, students can either test themselves on the concept with the Interactive Q&A section which gives the student on average 10 questions about the concept or if they are still unsure of the concept, they can choose to rewatch the video.

Also available for additional practice are Interactive Worksheets for each lesson.  These are multiple choice questions that focus on the material taught in the lesson.  These make for great practice to help students get prepared for retaking the assessment after they complete the lessons. 

Following completion of all the lessons in the section, the student can then take the assessment test.  The goal is for the student to be able to take the assessment on the concept and reach the "Goal" line.

Ashleigh's Original Assessment

The assessment placement test can be taken as many times as necessary for the students to pass and move on to the next concept.   The program will tell the student when they have completed enough to complete the goal and that concept will be removed from the expandable menu on the student's dashboard, allowing them to focus on the next concept.  

Much Better Performance

As a homeschool parent, this program can be somewhat discouraging, especially when you realize that it's simple concepts that either weren't learned or just weren't taught.  On the other side of that coin, it's reassuring that this program can find those weaknesses and help the student learn those concepts where I have failed.   It's a great program and works well to accomplish what it's designed to do - find those gaps and fill them in. 

For more information about the Adaptive Math Curriculum Online as well as the Family Math Package offered by A+ Interactive Math, be sure to click the banner below to read other Crew member's reviews.  You can also find more information by visiting their website or their social media sites.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APlusTutorSoft
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/aplustutorsoft   
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aplustutorsoft