I had the privilege of reviewing the 12 Month Family Plan by CTC Math.
CTC Math is a comprehensive online math tutorial program. It begins with Kindergarten and goes through upper level Calculus and Trigonometry. The program is set up so that the student can work at their own pace. For the student who is struggling in math, they can stop, rewind, and listen to any lesson until they understand the given concept. For the student who excels in math, they can work ahead, complete a grade level, and move onto the next with ease.
Courses Available
- 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
- Calculus
- Algebra II
- Geometry
- Trigonometry
When purchasing the program, you have full access to all grade levels, so your student has the freedom to move up or down in the levels as needed.
Lessons
CTC Math has over 1,400 lessons, or as they call them, tutorials, in 16 levels of study. Each lesson is around 4-9 minutes in length. Concepts are presented with step-by-step instruction.
For the lower grades, the student simply enters the answer to each problem presented in a lesson and the program automatically keeps score of their progress.
There are lesson summaries so that the parent can review the lesson with their child.
In the upper grades, the student can either print out the lesson or just utilize scratch paper to work through the lesson problems. The student is able to redo a lesson up to three times in order to improve their score. The worksheets are multiple-choice and have a set of possible answers given. The answers are mixed up, and there are extra answers provided as well as incorrect answers in order to avoid student guessing.
After the lesson is complete, the student enters their answers, and the program generates your score for the lesson. There is also an option where you can enter in some answers, save your progress, and then go back and load your progress.
The student can view the solutions to the problems which is a great tool of reference for missed problems.
In the upper levels, the student can also print out a lesson summary to file in a notebook for reference purposes.
CTC Math provides a comprehensive progress report for the student. For each lesson, a student begins or finishes the program then logs their results, along with detailed information such as whether they've passed or failed, how long it took to complete the lesson, and how many times the student attempted to improve a grade with the three attempts given.
The parent also has the option of receiving weekly reports and/or newsletters. I actually found this to be very helpful. Instead of logging into each of my children's pages to view their progress, CTC Math sends me their progress via e-mail.
Speed Skills
Speed Skills are timed tests to practice various math skills. There are four levels of skills, each level more advanced than the one before it. As you move to the upper grades, the content in the levels change to include harder concepts and mixed problems. For the student that loves to be challenged, this is GREAT!! For the student that does not do well under pressure or is slow at typing, this may be somewhat overwhelming and frustrating. The Speed Tests do work great for working on those pesky addition/subtraction and multiplication/division tables.
Who used CTC Math
My 9th Grader:
Wow, wow, wow!!!!!!!!! My 15 year old who is struggling with Geometry this year is loving math again. I cannot tell you how excited I was because I never thought I would hear those words come out of her mouth. She has a smile on her face which is a wonderful change from her normal tears of frustration. Since beginning upper level mathematics, she has tried several curriculums and each one frustrated her. This program is the only one that she has been able to succeed in.
She said, "Other math curriculums make learning math so confusing. It is like math curriculums assume that everyone is good at math and will understand. This curriculum teaching math in a way that I truly understand and get!!"
*An IMPORTANT note about Geometry. Since Geometry requires sketching graphs and writing out proofs, multiple choice answers are not possible. Once the student completes the lesson, they view the detailed solutions, and from there the students grade their work and then enter in the grade received.
My 1st Grader:
My first grader really enjoyed working through the math lessons. The lessons were long enough to make sure that she was able to understand the concepts without being so long that she lost interest. Many times I would see a smile appear across her face and hear an, "Oh, I get it now!". The only problem that she faced was working to fast and then getting problems wrong. For the most part, my daughter was able to complete the lessons on her own with only minimal help.
My 3rd Grader:
My third grader does not enjoy math and struggles with it quite a bit. She was NOT excited about trying "another" math curriculum. Well, after the first lesson, she actually said, "Mom, I like this math". She was highly motivated by the printable certificates that the student is awarded at the end of a chapter. She was able to complete two or three math lessons in a sitting without a problem. I will definitely continue to use this curriculum for my daughter.
My Experience
Truth time, I am horrible at math, and I always have been. I decided to make a profile for myself and start with Algebra and see what happened. I soon felt success and accomplishment. I like that you have the option of printing out the lesson summary, worksheet, and solution pages. It is extremely easy to go between the lesson, worksheet, entering results, viewing solutions, and the lesson summary page. I actually understood and followed the teaching and was able to complete the lessons without a problem. This curriculum is AMAZING!! I will continue to use this curriculum, and I may even get through Calculus like my kiddos, LOL.
This curriculum is truly a WINNER!!! There are so many math curriculums out on the market, but not every curriculum is a good fit for every child. I will definitely continue to use this curriculum with several of my children. I would highly recommend this curriculum to educators and fellow homeschoolers. I am always excited when I find curriculums that FIT our family's needs.
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