Of course you want your children to excel in math, who doesn’t? It’s a vital part of everyday life. But sometimes it can be difficult for a parent to explain the concept to their own children. Especially when the processes and terminology keep changing. Now you don’t have to worry, CTC Math is here to help.
We were already familiar with CTC Math’s 12 Month Family Plan with a USA curriculum as we reviewed it just over a year ago. With a Family Plan you can enroll up to 10 children (or adults – if you want to keep one step ahead of your children or brush up on your own skills) and they will have complete access to all areas of the online curriculum.
Over the past year Kallista has often asked to do CTC Math on our Android tablet (there are both flash and non-flash versions available to use) while Tristan was working on the PC. Kallista was the driving force for us to try CTC Math again as she was very keen to continue it. However, once Tristan saw Kallista using it again on a regular basis, he then asked for his own account and has been using it 3 to 5 times a week also.
Last Year Tristan was working his way through the Kindergarten level. This year he is swiftly working his way through the 2nd Grade! It’s awesome to see progress like that! Kallista has started the Kindergarten level again as she was really a bit too young to fully grasp all of the concepts last year-18 months before she’d have been of Kindergarten age. The last year made all the difference, the children now can be a lot more independent while using this program.
CTC Math has curriculum from Kindergarten right up to 6th grade and beyond in Calculus, Geometry, and Trigonometry. Within each grade you’ll see the main streams to be learned, then you’ll see these filtered down by topic, and then again by assignments.
This screen shows your child what they’ve already accomplished, as well as their grade. You can set the passing grade for each of your children. There are then 4 levels at which they will receive a printable certificate. Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Platinum is for achieving 100% on all of the assignments in one topic. When a child receives a certificate, an email will be sent to you almost as fast as your child runs across the house with excitement to tell you about their accomplishment.
The visual layout of the screens lets the children see how they are doing, and the certificates encourage them to keep trying, even when they don’t understand a concept the first time they watch the video lesson and try the questions. They can watch the video as many times as they need to, and do the questions as many times as it takes for them to get a good understanding of the content.
The videos are narrated by a gentleman with an Australian accent that we have come to be familiar with. He speaks clearly and is encouraging. Each video is only a couple of minutes long so that the children don’t become fidgety. This also means that if one of the children is having a rough day, it’s okay to only do a lesson and then be done in about 10 minutes. However, my children usually will spend about 30 minutes or so going through the videos and working on the questions. If they haven’t done so well, I never have to ask them to try it again…they do that on their own, usually right away so that they can increase their grade and work towards a higher certificate level.
At the bottom of the children’s screens, there is also an icon for ‘Speed Skills.’ This is where Tristan and Kallista can answer as many questions as they can in 60 seconds. Then they can play again to try to beat their previous scores. I’m thinking this will be a great tool for Tristan to become more swift with his recall and keyboard skills. Trying to answer program questions is one thing, but competing against himself will give him a new challenge!
You will also receive weekly emails that outline how much time your children have spent on CTC Math over the last week, which lessons they’ve been working on, how they’ve done on them, as well as an overall performance rating so even if you don’t go into the parent’s account you will be able to keep abreast of how your children are progressing.
In the parent’s area you’ll be able see at a glance all of the lessons completed as well as the overall efficiency score (average) for each student. You can also click through for further details such as a results report summary or even more detail. You’ll also be able to see all of the certificates earned and be able to print them out from here if you haven’t already from your emails.
A year ago I liked this program, but I wasn’t hyped about it. Now, a year later, we’re all much more enthusiastic about it as we’ve seen the results. When Tristan was frustrated with a math concept elsewhere, CTC Math was the place he’d return to for a fresh explanation in a way he could understand.
To read more reviews about CTC Math by the Schoolhouse Review Crew, click on the graphic below and follow the instructions. You will find 100 honest reviews by the Crew. If you’d like to know more or would like to follow CTC Math, you can connect with them through their website or Facebook.
