Sometimes we are blessed with the opportunity to review curricula we have reviewed in the past and see it in a whole new way. That has been the case with CTCMath! Now that the kids are at different ages and stages (and our youngest is now at school age) we found that CTCMath is actually what we’ve been looking for! We have been using the CTCMath Homeschool Membership with all three of our children for 3rd Grade and Kindergarten, and it’s been a good fit for all!
CTCMath is an online homeschool Math program for grades K-12 and quickly became our predominant math curriculum for all three of our children. CTCMath is a comprehensive tutorial program that walks kids through video lessons that are followed by questions. Kids can watch the videos as many times as needed. They are generally fairly short. I don’t think we’ve had one yet that was much more than 5 minutes. This is perfect for our kids’ short attention spans and concentration challenges, yet they really are absorbing what they’re learning.
Students can complete the CTCMath lessons in a short amount of time. They can likely complete more than one lesson in a day without feeling overwhlemed. We, personally, still started with just one lesson a day about 4-5 days per week. I have kept it to one lesson a day for our youngest (Kindergarten) because it does take a bit longer as I sit with him to do the lessons. Our older two children, though, have been completing two lessons a day and still are generally done within 30 minutes.
The homeschool math videos teach topics step-by-step along with showing examples of the problems. What I love is not only do they show the example questions, but they explain how to solve them. The videos present the solutions slowly so many times the kids can answer the questions first. They feel like they’ve gotten some practice before they’ve even started the questions!
The questions in the lesson are directly related to what they are learning. Although there is some reading involved, there is an option to click on the speaker and have the question read to you. This helps our oldest son (who has a reading delay). It also helps our youngest learn how to work independently. As I mentioned, I do sit with him, but I love that he’s trying to navigate it on his own. This speaker feature makes that possible!
After they have finished all the questions, it will then show the questions they got incorrect and reveal the correct answer. I, personally, take this opportunity to go over those questions with them and help them work out the correct answer. CTCMath gives them percentage based scores when completed.
They are able to answer the set of questions again (though the questions will be different) to improve their score. If they choose this option, it then takes the averages of the scores. It does offer a reward system for those that average a 95% or higher will get a gold medal, next is the silver medal and so on. There are printable certificates you can display!
Unfortunately, our printer hasn’t been working, but here are examples of the certificates they earned in the past:
Additionally, CTCMath offers Diagnostics Tests. These tests basically present questions covering all the topics in the lesson. Since we were starting at a completely new point, this helped me determine where they would start. If they completed the Diagnostic Test with a 95% or higher I gave them the option to skip ahead to the next topic until they weren’t confident they already know the material. I (and they) really appreciated this because they didn’t have to start from the beginning!
With the CTCMath Homeschool Membership, families with more than one child can choose the Family Plan for 2 or more children. Each child gets their own individual login so they can be at various grade levels. You can access all of the homeschool math lessons and questions online. A child can pick up right where they left off when they log in again!
CTCMath also has a login specifically for parents. Parents can see all of their students and get a thorough view of their progress. In the parent dashboard I can see all of their recent activity, view detailed reports, view summary reports, and view any certificates earned. Although I can see this information in their individual accounts, it’s so convenient to see the information for all of them at once. Plus, I have the option set to get regular emails with report information! There is also an additional option to Add Tasks, but I, personally didn’t explore this feature.
CTCMath Homeschool Math Review
Overall, I think CTCMath is a good online homeschool Math program. It teaches lessons in a way that keeps kids’ attention. It has great features like the parents’ area and the option to read the questions to you. CTCMath teaches in a way that is similar to how I teach it. Plus they get to learn at their own pace. I get to help them with challenges, but also get to give them a little independent time. They have made some great changes since our last review. It’s definitely a good fit for our family!
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Many members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review CTCMath with their families. With different ages and grade ranges their experiences may differ. Click on the banner below to read their reviews!
I don’t currently have children but I’ve always debated whether or not I would home school my kids if the opportunity presented itself. I think this would be a great tool for parents who might be intimidated by teaching math to their children. Great review, thanks!
This sounds fantastic! Math has never really been “my thing”, so I like that there are options like this out there for homeschoolers. I like the way it teaches too. It seems like it would make it a lot easier for kids to understand!
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