TOS Crew: Math Galaxy

I have been really impressed with this product. It seems so simple, but my children enjoy it and are learning from it.  We downloaded a few of their products for this review. My children's favorite has been the Whole Number Fun. They are grades 1, 2, 4, and 9. They say it is challenging but fun! They like to do lots of problems so that they can earn robots (and I believe some other things, but I am not sure what) to give them "lives" to play some of the simple (think Atari) like games. My children love them.  This supplies motivation (complete and get the answers correct) to do the math problems so they get to have fun.

You can see samples on their website of how this all works: http://www.mathgalaxy.com/

These games lack sound, but that has not been an issue for us. They do look simple, but my children really enjoy the games and doing the math problems. They will play this for hours at a time, if I let them.

These programs are available from early math through algebra.  They seem to have similar formats. These are available for $24.95 including shipping. Also available are PDF format e-books for each series that you can print out.

Lots to preview on the website - go take a look by clicking HERE.

TOS Crew Review: Critical Thinking Press - Mathematical Reasoning B

Mathematical Reasoning B is from a new line of books from Critical Thinking Press which can be used a part of a core curriculum (primary curriculum source) or as a supplement. There is not a separate teacher book or answer key for this book. The introduction to the book supplies the necessary teacher information to compete the book.

The items covered are spiral, meaning that it teaches a topic and it comes up around again shortly. Each page covers a different topic. There are 264 pages in the book, so you would want to cover at least 1 1/2 to 2 pages a day for a one year curriculum. The lessons on each page are short so that doing so would not overwhelm a young student.

Students are expected to understand semi-concrete ideas. Meaning that they do have a basic concept of the addition concepts without the need of tangible objects. They state, however, if they do need it, you should supply the necessary hands on materials.


The beginning addition lessons start with adding objects in boxes, followed by adding using a number line, then basic addition is covered without any helps. Counting is reviewed by filling in missing numbers on a page. Geometry, counting money, number words, number patterns, following the directions, fractions, subtraction, measurement, data processing and probability (long for bar graphs,) and word problems are all covered at the first grade level. Also, because this is from Critical Thinking Press, you can expect to find critical thinking problems sprinkles throughout the book.

My 6 year old son enjoyed the colorful pages and short lessons. With the short lessons, he was eager to do several pages at a time. He was able to understand concepts with little directions. He did have a little trouble with the reading of number words, but that was only a couple of pages in the beginning.

The authors of the book state that the activities in the book are written to the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

To find out more visit:
http://www.criticalthinking.com/index.jsp

For Mathematical Reasoning click here.

TOS Crew Review: Math Mammoth

Maria Miller is the author of this math supplement or curriculum, depending on what product you choose. Mammoth Math has 4 different types of curriculum to chose from for grades 1 to 8 (through Algebra 1.)

"The Blue Series" (grades 1 to 5) The blue series has explanations and problems. They are divided up by topics and are self teaching. Titles in this series are: Addition 1, Add and Subtract 2a and b, Fractions, Multiplication, Geometry. To see more topics covered click here.

"The Light Blue Series" (grades 1 to 4) can be used as a complete math curriculum. Both parent and student can understand the explanations, so it is essentially self teaching. This is organized by grade.

"The Golden Series" (grades 3 to 8)is organized by grade and is the problems only. They contain one topic per page.

"The Green Series" (grades 3 to 8)is organized by topic and contain the problems only. The topics are from the Golden Series.

The curriculum I reviewed were from the Blue Series. I wanted supplemental work for my son in varied subject matter, that would be mostly self teaching. The ones we are working with are: Multiplication 1, Division 1, Fraction 1, and Geometry 1.

What I liked about the workbooks is that they went from the simple to the more complex. There are not to many problems on the page and my son was able to work on them with little explanation. Three out of four books had over 100 pages each. They are also done in more then one color, to help with explanations and understanding.

For example, Multiplication 1 starts out real simple with the concept of multiplication using pictures, compares it to addition, does multiplication with a number line, and gradually progresses to word problems. There are also worksheets to help memorize the math facts, that give many helpful hints and strategies.

I was very pleased with the ease of use, the inexpensive cost of the product, and how professionally done the product is, that I will return to purchase more when we are done with these. These have really helped my son retain information that he has learned.

On her website you can request samples of the product. She sends you extensive (280 pages!) worksheet samples from different areas so you can get a feel for what you are looking for. There is enough here for you to try them out with your children before deciding what to purchase, you can also ask her, if you are not sure.

Click here to visit this website.

TOS CREW Review: Math Tutor DVD

Looking for a math tutor for your homeschool? Want one for about $3 an hour? This might be what you are looking for! Math Tutor DVD is a series of DVDs from "Basic Math" to "Calculus" and Physics. They take the student with the expectation of zero knowledge and work step by step to more advanced topics. These are meant for use as a supplement to any math curriculum you are using. I have noticed several Worksheet Cds when looking through their website. These Cds provide worksheets and solutions written out step by step to go along with each section of the video. The DVD videos range from 6 hours to 11 hours in length. There is a menu screen so you can go directly to the section of video you want to cover.


The first video we previewed was "The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor." This video is 8 hours long with 15 sections and builds on grade 1 to 7 basic math. The word problems are more simple in the beginning and progressively get more difficult.The early segments of the video could easily be used by 3rd to 5th grade students needing help with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division word problems. The teacher uses a white board for the demonstration of the problems. The video was easy to understand and enjoyable as well.

Concepts covered include word problems with basic math and then introduces word problems with decimals, fractions, percents and ratios. The skills taught on this video help children tackle word problems more effectively which also helps to build reasoning and logic skills.

The second video we previewed was "The Algebra 2 Tutor." This DVD has 6 hours of video with 15 sections. This DVD was previewed by the men in my family that have done advanced math. They said he was interesting to listen to, the videos were very simple to follow, and understand, and kept their attention. My 17 year old said they were done very well. Examples of things covered on this video are the quadratic formula, simplifying radical expressions, and graphing inequalities.

The videos are basic - there are no bells and whistles. You learn by actually working through the problems. There are no lectures either. There are currently 17 videos to choose from. All videos are guaranteed to raise math grades. If they don't you can return them for a full refund.

To Visit Math Tutor DVD Click Here.