Schoolhouse Review: A + Interactive Math Mini-Courses #hsreviews

I've mentioned before that math has been my nemesis in the homeschool world for quite some time and I'm always excited when we get the opportunity to review math programs.  I especially like the ability to review math programs that help my kiddos hone in on basic math skills.  A + Interactive Math offers a plethora of great products that really do help students "get" math and the new Math Mini-Courses are PERFECT tools to focus on trouble spots or teach specific skillsets,  For us, the Multiplication and Division Mini-Courses were just what the Princess needed to practice as we prepare to move into higher maths.

The Math Mini-Courses are online interactive math lessons.  Students begin by signing in to the website and clicking to launch their particular lessons.  Currently, there are twenty courses available for 1st - 8th graders ranging from Counting and Identifying Numbers, Time, and Early Elementary Addition to Advanced Fractions, Advanced Geometry, and Percentages.  Truly, there is something here to help students of all abilities and what I particularly like is that students are not stuck in a box based on their grade in school.  If you child has a problem area or just finds certain mathematical operations fun to do, you can choose the exact Mini-Course to meet their need.  This is personalized learning at its best.

After initially logging in and launching lessons, the Princess spent a few minutes orientating herself to the website and checked out how it all works.  The Multiplication Mini-Course contains only 13 lessons so she did not feel overwhelmed at all by the work.  A bite-size chunk of math is much easier to deal with for her than a huge book of problems to be answered.  I am especially fond of ah-ha moments as she works and appreciated immensely that the Multiplication Course began with a short introduction and then explained how addition and multiplication go together.  It was a good review for her to see how objects can be multiplied together and to learn a few tricks of the trade when multiplying numbers.  For years she has had a total "hate" relationship with math of all varieties so I was not at all sure how she would do when I asked her to begin this review.  The interactive nature is a HUGE PLUS for her.

Because these are "mini" courses, she's not intimidated by the work.  Each lesson begins with her watching a brief multimedia presentation and there are interactive review questions interspersed throughout.  As she watches the video, she is able to click and offer answers for immediate feedback.  (She has also learned to pay close attention as she goes through the lessons and not get too click-happy trying to speed through and "finish" because answers are scored automatically.)  PDFs are available with the entire contents of each lesson if students would like to read over what they've been taught and worksheets can be printed for each lesson for additional practice.  There are also two tests for the Multiplication Mini-Course that make it easy for me to make sure she has mastered the work.

I find this program easy to use and understand and I like that I can check the progress being made on the Parent Dashboard.  It tells me when she works on a lesson and how many questions she answers correctly.  I can check her status at any time and help to hold her accountable to doing her best at all times.

Although she still finds math to be frustrating, she has shown marked improvement while utilizing this Mini-Course.  Her confidence is growing as she works larger and larger multiplication problems.  The small steps from basic math facts to 3- and 4-digit multiplication are proving to be beneficial.

As we continue to work through gaps in math education here at Long Leaf Academy, the Princess will soon be moving into the Division Mini-Course.  The Division course is comprised of 15 lessons that follow the same basic format as the multiplication lessons.  Students are introduced to division and the components that make up a division problem.  They spend two lessons understanding how division relates to subtraction and multiplication and then spend time learning about remainders and division tricks for dividing numbers by 1 or 0 and using a division bracket.  Finally, students learn how to work simple division problems and then progress to division of 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers.

Just like the Multiplication Mini-Course, the Division Mini-Course offers pdfs for all lessons, worksheets, and tests.  Students can use these online or can download and print for a notebook if they choose.   The multimedia lessons are engaging with bright colors, sounds, and movements.  I know my Princess is going to enjoy them as much as she has enjoyed multiplication.

There are quite a few FREEBIES offered by A+ Interactive Math, and these offer a ton of help to any homeschool family.  You can check out the placement test and family math packages and see how they each fit with your family.  You can gain access to free worksheets, multimedia lessons, and ebooks, as well.  You will find out even more information by visiting the following Social Media sites:

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I was given the opportunity to review the Math Mini-Courses by A + Interactive Math as a member of the Schoolhouse ReviewCrew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Schoolhouse ReviewCrew thought of this and other products as well (or just click on the banner below.)

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