Online Math Help with CTC Math (Review)

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As much as I love math, there are times when it is a challenge to teach the boys. After all, I get it and try using my language skills to communicate the concepts or procedures to them. N

ow I know that there are times when they just need someone else to explain it and it can click. 

With the online math help available with the 12 Month Family Plan from CTC Math, some of those troublesome concepts are starting to solidify in their brains without me banging my head in frustration.

 

 

How CTC Math Delivers Online Math Help

Homeschooling can be a challenge and math is one of the subjects which can evoke terror in a homeschool parent.  Even those of us who went through calculus at the college level can find it difficult to recall it all when guiding our students through their lessons. 

CTC Math brings the tutor to your house via the internet. 

A subscription gives you access to ALL levels (kindergarten through pre-calculus) for one student or a family.
 

Once your student is logged into their account, they have to first select the particular grade level / math course they want to do.  Then, the list of topics appears from which to pick. 

Once into a particular topic, the student watches a tutorial video where the concepts and procedures are explained in 4 to 9 minutes by teacher Pat Murray. 

Finally, the student can complete the interactive questions or worksheet to see if they’ve ‘got’ the material or need more work. 

Results are stored in the system and a child can go back and try again to hit whatever minimum the parent has set for a passing grade. (In our case, I have the default of 90%.)

 

Our Family’s Experience with Using CTC Math for Online Math Help

For the most part, the boys have just logged into the system and worked through whichever concepts they selected.

I can see if they’ve really done anything while logged into the system or just said they did their work. 

It won’t tell me how long they spent.

But, I can look on the parent dashboard and see:

what topic they did,
which date they did it
and what their ‘grade’ is for it.

The students can also see how they are progressing when on a topic page:

One of the features the boys have not used, but I want to start implementing is the one page summary for each tutorial topic.  I am planning to have the printed sheets go into a binder so they have them at their fingertips when something is forgotten.

The other thing that they have not tried is to go into a particular topic and take the diagnostic test (standard or comprehensive) to see what they already know. I can see this as being a powerful tool to let them find the gaps more quickly and not be compelled to spend time looking at all of the subtopics within a given topic.

What the Boys Think about It

As for how the boys are liking it, they do. 

My eldest (high school) likes it better than other avenues we’ve taken for getting math help.  He told me that some of the concepts he reviewed with CTC Math made more sense than when I tried to explain it to him. 

Unlike some options (like a private tutor or remote tutor help from our state), CTC Math is available around the clock so the boys can do the work on their schedule.

While you can get an optimal experience with this program on a computer, there is the ability to use a tablet as well. 

We’ve tested it on an iPad with great results and I noticed at little note that CTC Math is converting content to run on all modern HTML5 platforms, including iPads and iPhones. 

Being able to have a child work on math while on the road with an internet connection is a definite plus in my book.

J enjoys slowly working on kindergarten math (as a preschooler) on the iPad.

Final Takeaway on CTCMath

Overall, I’d say this is a fantastic resource for homeschool families (or even non-homeschooled families with kids that need a bit of extra help with math.) 

The multisensory approach (using effective graphics and animation with Pat’s voice) coupled with the chance to practice the new skills is poised to help students achieve math mastery in short order. 

This math junkie is more than happy to turn over the reigns and see the boys succeed with everyone having less frustration in the process.

Newer Reviews of CTCMath

The developers are constantly updating and improving the platform.

Here are other reviews we’ve done so far:

CTC Math: Your Core Curriculum or Supplementation Solution (2015)
Get Math Help for Your Struggling Student Now (2016)
Get Math Help on Your Schedule with CTCMath (2017)
CTCMath For Full Curriculum or Supplementation (2019)

 

Don’t just take our word for it!  See how other homeschool families have used CTC Math for Online Math Help.

 

Is math a challenging subject for you to teach your children?

What ways do you help a child learn math?