TOS Crew Review: Dollar Homeschool

A Complete K-12 math curriculum, from counting to calculus.

"The Ray's math series begins at a preliterate level with counting; then takes the child through addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and so upward until calculus, teaching concepts with thorough explanations followed by ample problem sets. The Ray's series provides a very full-bodied course of mathematics" quoted from website: http://www.dollarhomeschool.com/raysarithmetic/index.html

 

 

Ray's arithmetic CD contains 12 core textbooks, teacher guides, answer keys, and several other books that are math realted, for a total of 38 books.  The books come in PDF (ADOBE - which is available online for free if you don't have it.) format so you can print what pages you need at what level you need. This is textbook format, so once you print them out, you can keep them in a 3-ring binder or something similiar for your next child to use.

 

These textbooks date back to 1865 and were used exclusively until 1915. This texts were written by the best of the best in their fields at this time. There is a Welcome file which should be read first which gives tips on where to start and how to progress through the books.  It also has some frequently asked questions.

I looked over the Ray's Primary Arithmetic to start.  The lessons begin with counting and reading numbers one to one hundred. They then progress to oral exercise, including oral word problems.   "How many are one and one?" "How many are three take away one?" As you move through the lessons word problems include: "How many birds are two birds and five birds?"  "Francis had two cents and his mother gave him one cent, how many had he then?" "Jane had ten cents: if she gave 8 cents for a book, how many cents does she have left?"

The core of the program are word problems.  The focus early on is addition and subtraction then moves onto multiplication: "If one dozen apples cost nine cents, how many cents will 8 dozen cost?" So if you don't have a strong reader at this level, most will be oral.  But it is very doable for a first/second grader to get these concepts.

The next book in the series is Ray's Intellectual Arithmetic (and the last one I am reviewing).  It begins with a review for those who may not have covered the topics in the first book or need more practice. I found the concept from this level challenging for myself.  Yes, I could do it, but wow, made me think. For example in lesson 5 (V) you are instructed to start at 8 and goto one hundred four by adding 4 (to 8) successively. (8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 68, 72, 76, 80, 84, 88, 92, 96, 100, 104- phew - done!) Fractions, measurement, interest problems, and percents are also thoroughly covered at this level, and yes, using word problems!! 

This program is advanced, so you will have to look carefully over where your children are at, and possibly back it up a little to make sure they understand all the topics covered.

 

This is a great program.  One downside I see in it is that the pages require a lot of ink.  I did run the pages on "fast draft" and they were very readable, so that is an option. This is an economical option in that pages printed can be saved for the next child. The other downside is that work most likely will have to be done on another piece of paper, such as a notebook. My children balk at this.


To Find out pricing or for more information about this product and other products offered by Dollar Homeschool Click Here.

 

 

 

TOS Crew Review: MathScore

"Developed by MIT graduates, MathScore is research-based and proven to raise test scores with students of all demographics."

MathScore is an online assessment tool for schools, parents, and homeschoolers.  This assessment and math practice covers grades 1 through Algebra. Problems range from simple to complex through all the grade levels. What makes this program special is that it has the ability to generate problems and base difficulty on ability of the student.

MathScore can be used to supplement for most math curriculums. While it does not specifically teach, it does give mini-lessons on the topic area.  Some homeschool parents have successfully used this as the foundation of their math curriculum for their children.

After a simple registration process, I started my free 2 week trial which is available to anyone on their website.  I went on as my 8th grade child and choose from a list of topics. It then generated a worksheet for me do with several problems. The object is to quickly do the problems.  You then generate a score and are encouraged to move on to the next worksheet which for my topic, had more problems to do then the previous worksheet. You are awarded "trophies" for certain levels of accomplishment.  If you are unsure of a topic you can click on "mini-lesson" and read a sample of how to do the activity. It was no means in depth just a sample overview.

This program is not fancy, but does it's job without bells and whistles.  You can view a two week trial of the program at their website without giving any credit card /payment info.

For more info - visit their website at:
http://www.mathscore.com/

TOS Crew Review: ALEKS (2)

Last year I did a review of ALEKS Math.  You can see a review of it here:  Not much has changed on the student end.  I set up two different students this time and I think it was a better fit for them.  They both enjoyed using the program, enough so that if I could afford it I would use it.  Most of the time they were able to use the program unassisted. When they weren't able to understand something my oldest son could help them get the answer by reading the helps that are available with each question.

ALEKS math asked me to revisit the program because they made some changes on the parents end.  The major updates / improvements that they made was:
1- Teacher generated quizzes.
2- Progress reports where the teacher is able to see how long they spent on a lesson, what they covered, and what they mastered in a lesson.

The parent interface is very easy to use.  There are also tutorials available if needed. I was able to see how long my child spent on a subject and if they mastered it, possibly mastered it, or probably not mastered.  You can compare what they have mastered since beginning the program and compare it to the original assessment.  Also there is an estimate of how long it takes your child to learn a concept and how long it may take to complete the level he is at.

This is a great program that uses artificial intelligence to make sure the student learns each concept before progressing to the next.  Most children should be able to use this unassisted most of the time.  This would be great for remedial, summer lessons, or test practice.  They have many scenarios for their use online.

A free trial is available.

You can find out more about ALEKS by CLICKING HERE.
You can find out about cost 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.