This program begins by selecting a grade your child has just completed. The child then begins completing tests from various math subjects. The program then pulls up customized lessons for each section based on how your child does on the test. The lesson includes an instructional video followed by interactive practice questions. There is an online worksheet, I did not make her do the worksheet unless she was answering the interactive questions incorrectly.
After she worked through the lessons assigned, she then re-took the test for that section.
You do not have to take all of the tests before beginning the lessons. Just one section test, and you can start working through the lessons for that section.
After working through the lessons for the first section she chose to focus on, my student passed the test on the first re-take. If she had not, I would have gone back and had her complete the online worksheets that we skipped.
The video’s in the program are very straightforward, my daughter had no problem understanding any of the concepts presented.
You know your child has some skills gaps and you want to focus on filling those in.
You want a program where you have no math work to grade (who doesn’t?).
You know your child needs more time with the materials learned this year.
You want an easy-to-use, work on what your student needs, one short lesson a day, program to strengthen your student’s math skills over the summer.
I also had my 2nd and 3rd grader take one of the sections tests, and work through just a few lessons. They are still finishing their math books for this school years, so I am waiting to have them keep working on the tests until they are done with those. I do plan to use this with them over the summer, a lesson only takes about 10 minutes to complete so I think it is perfect for summer. The test takes a little longer, around 15-20 minutes, so I will probably just pick one day a week for test day until they work through all the tests. My sixth grader normally completes two or three lessons a day.
I would say this program is not a good fit for you if:
You want something really flashy, exciting, full of bells and whistles. This is on a computer, but it does not play like a game.
You don’t want your kid tested on things their math book did not cover.
A+ TutorSoft has worked hard to make sure it not only meets all state standards but also exceeds them. My daughter certainly had not been introduced to all of the different graphing information they tested for. However, she adores graphing and enjoyed learning the content.
Since the math programs we normally use are not aligned to state standards, there is a bit of difference in some of the details covered at different grade levels.
If you child needs to work on a skill some of the first video lessons may be easy concepts which they already know. I was a bit disappointed when a few of the lessons seemed to be too easy for my daughter. I think this is because she missed some harder questions in the same subject area. She probably got some harder fraction comparison’s wrong. The program was then teaching her whole number comparisons, which she certainly knows well already. I do not know if this is on purpose, to make sure the child understands the basic concepts, or if the test questions just pull up a whole unit if one type of problem is missed.
I will say that I have tried other programs with claimed to be adaptive, targeting only the students’ needs, and have not been happy with any of them. A+ Adaptive Math Curriculum certainly is the best one I have tried. My daughter is enjoying it and will continue to use it through the end of the school year and perhaps the summer. I do love the concept of not having to grade everything myself.
If you do not need an adaptive math package, A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) also has other options available for purchase. The Family Math Package may be a great option for you. This is a one price package you can use for your whole family and covers grades 1-Algebra. You have access to all the video lessons and can assign a grade level to your students. The interactive questions and online worksheets are all still graded by the program (Yay!) For more details on the Family Math Package and to see what other reveiws think of the program, visit the Homeschool Review Crew Blog.
