Math seems to be the theme of the week in the way of reviews. Today, I will be telling you about a wonderful math tutoring/instruction resource; America’s Math Teacher.
This online program was started by Rick Fisher, a math teacher in California. He teaches 5th and 6th grade students and they succeed amazingly in higher math courses due to a strong foundation in Mr. Fisher provides. America’s Math Teacher was formed after Mr. Fisher saw how weak most students were in basic math.
Here are the features you can find at www.americasmathteacher.com:
*You can chose from one of four levels for you students – Basic Math Skills, Advanced Math Skills, Pre-Algebra and Algebra. Under each of these levels, the video sessions are broken up in an easy to follow scope and sequence. Your student can begin at the top and work his way through or pick the topics where review or extra work is needed. Mr. Fisher presents the material in a pleasant, easy going manner. He encourages the students to have paper and pencil to work the problems along with him. He clearly walks them through the material step by step. It is in essence a video tutoring session.
*America’s Math Teacher also offers written exercises that can be printed off for the student to use for extra review and practice. Thankfully, for busy moms like me, answer keys are provided as well.
*Evaluation Center – Not sure at which level you want to place your child? No worries. America’s Math Teacher has provided an online evaluation that will help you place your child at the right level. It would also be a valuable resource to evaluate how much your child has learned while using America’s Math Teacher.
*Speed Drills – There are online speed drills for addition, subtraction and multiplication. This was a favorite of one of my daughters. She loved the speed drills. They are a very fun way to firm up the basic math facts.
If you go to America’s Math Teacher you can try out the video lesson, written exercises and speed drills for free! Be careful of those speed drills, you might not be able to stop!
During the time of this review, America’s Math Teacher was still preparing the program for its launch date in late August. During the beginning of the review period, some resources had not been added yet and there was a glitch now and then. However, the support staff was amazing at getting things up and running quickly.
I had three different students using this program and their thoughts on were mixed. Two used it as a review/practice for weak spots in their math. They both seemed to enjoy Mr. Fisher’s presentation of the material. The speed drills were a favorite and we will continue to use those. My third student used the Pre-Algebra videos as a teaching resource. She was just getting ready to begin Pre-Algebra and I thought it would be a good way to get her started. For us, it was not a good thing. She felt overwhelmed with the information, the screen seemed cluttered with all the writing and she walked away confused.
Seeing the difference in what my children gained from this program, I would say that it is supplemental program. In the video sessions there is a sense of the information already being known and that there is just a need for review and practice. I will add that we are not a video instruction family so it was a big change in presentation of material. Thankfully, you can try it for free and see for yourself!
The cost of this program is $195 a year. Unlimited use, all your children from 4th/5th grade and up can use it. That includes all the features; videos, written exercises, answer keys etc.
There is also a school/institutional program that can be as low as $1 per student.
Head on over to America’s Math Teacher and check it out! You can also go to Math Essentials, the parent program to America’s Math Teacher, for even more math resources for your homeschool.
As always, make sure you head over to the Homeschool Crew Blog to see what others are saying about America’s Math Teacher!
**Disclaimer – I received this product to review as a member of TOS Review Crew. No compensation was made and the thoughts shared in this post are my own.