High School Math Live (Updated)

 

Disclaimer:  I received this complimentary product through the 

Homeschool Review Crew.

Update 8/1/2022

(Originally published 6/6/22)

I have been with the Homeschool Review Crew a division of  The Old Schoolhouse® since the end of 2013. I truly have lost count of the number of reviews that I have done. For the most part I have had very positive experiences with vendors. Every once in awhile there is a curriculum or product that I review that I do not particularly care for or just doesn't work for us. That doesn't mean that the curriculum or product is bad. I always say, "What doesn't work for one family may be the perfect fit for another family." That is the beauty of homeschooling. I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences through blogging. 

The reason that I am updating this particular review is because for the first time since 2013 I have experienced a very upsetting turn of events. I should start by saying that when a product or curriculum becomes available for review Crew Members fill out a form rating their interest level. I put a high interest level for reviewing High School Math Live. Based on various factors Crew Team Leaders assign Crew Members to a given review. After researching their curriculum online I thought it could possibly be a great fit. My daughter really struggles with math and several of the helps in place drew me in. Well, fast forward to several weeks ago. My daughter went to sign in to her account to work on a lesson and she was unable to sign in. I thought that was odd. I got on my computer and tried to sign in and was also unable to sign in. It said that my email was not found. The same for my daughter. I tried to contact the teacher that was assigned to my daughter and she never responded back. I contacted the Crew Leadership with my problem and they tried to help me by reaching out to High School Math Live and they too received no response back. We were supposed to have access to High School Math Live for one year.  

What is so very upsetting is this happened to my daughter that REALLY STRUGGLES IN MATH! She had been working through this curriculum over the summer. It grieved me to have to tell her that we were going to have to start all over with a new curriculum. She broke down and cried. Once I find something else it will be the THIRD Pre-Algebra curriculum that she will have started. I feel so bad for her. She did not deserve this. 

I can no longer recommend High School Math Live. For an online curriculum to unenroll a student and sideline an established customer without explanation is bad business. I was completely blindsided. The cohesiveness of our homeschool plan was totally thrown off and we pretty much lost a whole summer of hard work, learning a new curriculum, and many tears. 

 High School Math Live offers students At My Pace Courses (AMP) for Pre-Algebra through Calculus. Each level is divided into AMP course A (semester 1) and AMP course B (semester 2). Each semester must be purchased separately. In order to receive full credit for a course your student much complete both semester and complete the final exam within a 12 month period. High School Math Live courses are accredited by Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The AMP courses offered are: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus w/Trig, and Calculus. My daughter is working through the AMP Pre--Algebra. 

If you are trying to decide if an At My Pace Course is right for your child ask yourself:

• Does your child work well independently?
• Is your child highly motivated? Loop
• Does your child need to repeat a semester or maybe even a year of a subject?
• Is your student seeking to gain more than one math credit in a given academic year?
• Does your family schedule or your student's schedule need to be flexible?
• Are live classes just not an option?
• Does your child have the mathematical aptitude to work through a course at a faster than normal rate?
• Does your child need to work at a slower pace because they are struggling in math?

These are just a few of the reasons that parents or students may choose an AMP course. 

So how does the High School Math Live AMP courses work? The AMP recorded lectures are taught by credentialed teachers. Each lesson (lecture) is approximately 35-40 minutes. The book used is Glencoe Mathematics Pre-Algebra. Each lesson has the following sections:

• What You'll Learn
• How (Explaining the New Concept)
• Examples
• Key Concepts
• Check for Understanding (Examples Problems to Work Through)
• Practice and Apply (Student Problems)
• Maintain Your Skills (Review Problems)

The below photo is a schedule that your student can follow. The days column relate to live classes so your student can disregard that. High School Math Live also offers live classes. The lessons are listed such as, 2.5 Dividing Integers, and then there is a column for homework assignments. The page numbers and problems that the student is to complete are listed. 

Each AMP course, which is a semester, has approximately 35 lessons, 35 homework assignments, 17 assessments, and a cumulative final exam. The assigned teacher will send your child's quizzes and tests to your email. You will give your child their assessments and then send them back to your child's teacher via Notes. 

The teacher will explain the new concepts and work through practice problems. The student is able to stop and restart the video in order to work problems along with the teacher to ensure that they are understanding the new concept. They can also stop and back up the video if they did not grasp the concept the first time. Odd numbered problems are assigned so that students can check their answers in the back of the book. If even numbered problems are assigned the answers to those problems will be provided. After completing the assigned problems in a lesson the student should check their answers or you as a parent could do so. Have your child rework the problems that they got wrong before moving on to the next lesson.

The student also has 2.5 hours of tutoring available to them with their assigned teacher for each course purchased. Tutoring sessions meet in a live interactive classroom setting. At the beginning of any given course your student will be assigned a teacher. Your students teacher will email you, the parent your child's quizzes and tests. After your child completes a quiz or test your child will upload them to Notes and your child's teacher will grade the quiz or test and send it back to your child. The teacher will often make notes to your child. If your child struggled your child's teacher may ask your child to make corrections and then adjust their grade after they resubmit their quiz or test. Your child's teacher may ask your child to meet for a tutoring session to go over the quiz or test and then take an alternate form of the quiz or test for a grade. 

The entire teachers guide is included. I have one small issue with this. There are times when you cannot see all of the problems or answers because they are in the curve of the book. 

What is good about having access to the entire teachers book is that if your child is struggling you can have them work the even numbered problems and then in OneNote easily access the answers by clicking in the left hand boxes the chapter and lesson number. 

For all of the lessons there are some problems that are worked out on the OneNote board. 

All problems are worked out and the answers are given for both the study guides and practice tests for each chapter. They suggest that the student choose to either complete the study guide or the practice test before taking the test. 

Here is a completed test. You can see off to the right hand side the teacher wrote notes. The teacher used colored pen to grade. My daughter was given the opportunity to make corrections and raise her final grade. 

Your child will be assigned their own unique OneNote notebook link. This link will remain the same for the semester or year. There is a grade book that lists all of your students grades. Tests count for 60% of the grade and quizzes 40%. The grading scale is:

• A - 90 - 100
• B - 80 - 89
• C - 70 -79
• D - 65 - 69
• F - 64 and below 

My daughter really struggles with math. After browsing the High School Math Live website I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, my daughter found the teacher lectures to be confusing once she gets to the actual problems and tries to apply the concepts taught. I decided to explain the lessons to her myself and she still found it to be confusing. So, I really do not think that it is the fault of the teacher. For some reason my daughter is just really having a hard time grasping concepts and then applying them. I think that High School Math Live AMP courses are a great choice for math, especially if you as a parent are looking for a curriculum that is student driven. There are so many tools built into the courses to help make students successful and help parents keep up with their child's grades. Be sure to read the experiences my Fellow Review Crew Members had as their children worked through various levels of the At My Pace Courses.