CTCMath 2017 ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

We've been using our CTCMath Family Membership for our main, and only, math during this review period.  This program is and has been our favorite math for Malachi and Xavier since 2014, I think when I first reviewed it for the Crew.  I even kept it in 2015 when I had to purchase it since I wasn't a Crew mate on that voyage.  I've even gotten other mamas hooked on CTCMath for homeschoolers.  I'm happy to have it again this year, because this is definitely one full math curriculum that fits the punks.

Pat Murray, a homeschool father of ten, originally created CTCMath as an online tutoring program for Australian students.  The punks love his soothing and unique voice (probably way better than my frustrated sighs).  No matter how many times they watch the same video, Mr. Murray never raises his voice or speaks through his teeth with an aggravated tone.  *ahem*

I have to laugh, though, because recently some new video lessons have been added and are decidedly *not* voiced by Pat Murray.  It only took a few seconds for me to notice the difference and the boys weren't long behind me.  They have deemed the new guy to be acceptable, though, even though he didn't end his video with, "Good luck with your questions."  They are so enthralled by the Australian accents, that Merrick even does his math the same.  I get such a giggle listening to him count.

awards

Each lesson is a short video.  And I do mean quite short.  It's generally just long enough to get the concept across, no over explaining.  If they think they understand, they can move right on to the questions.  Assuming they do well on them, they can move on to the next part of the topic.  If they have *not* done well, they can go back to it in a day or so, view the video and give the questions another try.  Once they've completed each component, the part they really like happens.  They earn an award.  They actually can watch the progress of the "medal" as they work through each topic.  When it's complete, they can print a certificate.

I remember last year, Malachi was determined to get a gold medal in multiplication.  His early scores were very low and he kept practicing and practicing until he went from a 30% to 100% in twelve attempts and earned a gold medal for multiplication with a 95%.  He was so proud of himself and I was proud and impressed by the effort he made in a subject he does not love.

email summary

Every now and then, I find out from the reports that one of the boys is working in the wrong grade!  Now, they aren't all exactly on the single grade across the board, but for the most part, I know where they belong!  I'm using tasks to fill in gaps and, sometimes, they stay in the lower assigned grade for all of their work.  The email report is pretty much a summary of the records kept for each student in the account. 


Here are the many parts of the parent section.

First, at the Parent Login, I can access each student account as well as maintain and edit my own parent information.  Tasks (active, recently expired, and upcoming tasks) can be see here.  Activities, awards, and recent weekly reports (up to three months) are available on this page.

detailed report

Then I can hop over to any of the student accounts on the right.  I can see everything those yahoos are doing on their math.  BWA HA HA HA!  *ahem*  You can edit or delete your student, though I'm not sure why you'd want to delete your punks.  Here are individual student's reports and more.  Simply select the grade level or course you want to see the information for.



There are detailed reports.  This area shows the sections that are complete, the grades and percentages, attempts, and dates complete.

summary report

The next tab is for the summary report.  This report is sort of like a checklist in that it shows the segments, how much of each lesson is complete and left to do, average grade, and if you choose to use diagnostic tests, you'll see that there also.





Diagnostic tests also have a tab of their own with completion dates and scores.

diagnostic tests

tasks

The tasks tab is very similar to the detailed report, but only shows the tasks you've assigned your student.  It also includes information about the completion and timeliness of the tasks.  Below the section on the screen shot, all the "courses" (grades thru 6th and higher levels of math), all the "streams" (numbers, measurement, geometry, statistics, etc,.), and then each topic in that section.  Each of these drop down menus is easy to use to assign the lessons.

The award tab shows all awards earned from platinum through gold, silver, and bronze.  These are only awarded once the entire section has been completed.  As Mal did last year, they can keep working to bring those award levels up, too!  (This page is shown above.)

quick finish

Speed skill information is there, but we haven't used that.  (There are four levels of speed skills as well as a couple of games.)  And the last tab is history.  There are two history reports.  The Quick Finish report shows sections that are incomplete.  The CTCMath program remembers where students leave off on an assignment and will keep their place for them.  When they go to finish up, it takes off right at that spot.

The history timeline is just that.  I can see who logged in and when, what lesson did they view, attempt, and what score they received.

timeline

kindergarten checklist

You can download a checklist of every single section by grade (thru sixth) or course at the middle/high school levels.  This photo is page one of the three page kindergarten checklist.  If you're a paper and pen kind of mama, you might prefer this printout to record your child's progress.

I can print out the actual lesson question pages when the boys first finish an assignment.  I have to have paperwork to submit to the state in my portfolio, or to show the teacher who evaluates them at the end of the year.  The reports are handy for my personal reference, but the assignments have to be turned in to show exactly what they're learning.  If they score well, at or above grade level, I have them print it right then.  The print out sheets are only available while you are still on the page.

assignment printout

I had to share so many pictures (which you can click on to see larger), because I just couldn't convey the amazing amount of feedback material available to you as a parent and teacher.  But really, the best part of *all* of this, is the lessons.  I have never found other math lessons that help the punks nearly as much as CTC.  It's virtually painless for us all.

One of my favorite things about CTCMath is that *you* are in control of placement.  You can access the entire website and place your child in a level that is not overwhelming or too easy for them.  There's no need to test them, work through sections they already know, or ask administrators to move your child.  You *can* have them complete a diagnostic test of each section though, choosing short, standard, or comprehensive tests of 20, 30, or 40 questions, respectively.  If they do well, move them up a grade for that section, or viceversa.

Through the years, we've tried using CTCMath on various devices with some successes and some failures.  This year, we just stuck with the laptops and the three main browsers we had available.  I rarely experience any trouble, but when I do I just hit the page refresh.  When we go back to the questions, the system has remembered right where they left off.

Occasionally, a student may need a lesson explained differently than the video shows.  If they don't understand the video lesson, there is no teacher's manual or second video option.  Mom and Dad will need to come in then and explain it in a different way that maybe is more easily understood by that particular child.  Sometimes, math manipulatives can be a helpful addition to the CTCMath program.  It's also wise during some lessons to have a scrap of paper handy.  One of the punks fought against using paper for figuring at first.  When he finally took my advice, he found several sections much easier.

I love that the boys are getting some independent learning in.  Even Merrick needs minimal help.  I get him logged in, he watches the short lesson video, and goes to his questions.  All of that can be on his own *except* some questions are sometimes not read to him.  If there is no little speaker icon, I will read the questions to him.  It seems a bit random which questions don't have a speaker, because he will have ten questions to answer and seven of them can be read to him and the rest can't.  So, there will be times when Mom or Dad are needed and that's OK.

I've been so appreciative of this math in our homeschool.  So many things have been improved over the years that we've used CTCMath.  Tasks were added, additional lessons are being added.  It really has just gotten better every year.  If you think you might enjoy CTCMath for your family, you can get a free trial or purchase the homeschool version (homeschoolers get a discount on the full program!) for 60% off + 6 bonus months.  The six bonus months offer expires on November 15, 2017




Find CTCMath on social media.
CTCMath (US and Canda)
Facebook:
Twitter
Periscope
Pinterest
Youtube