We’ve had the opportunity to review CTC Math, an online Math Tutoring Program, as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. We were given a 12 Month Family Plan for free in exchange for our thorough review of this excellent online math tutoring program.
We’ve been using another homeschool math curriculum for 3 years now and we really do love this program. I believe Super Hero has received an excellent foundation and confidence in math, so I wasn’t necessarily looking to add any math supplementation to our homeschool. However, our core math curriculum does not always cover all that is supposed to cover per grade level according to common core standards. Not that that matters to us really, but since Super Hero has been taking the IOWA test at the end of each school year, I thought CTC Math would be just the aide he needed to help him fill in any holes he might have had.
Our Experience
CTC Math’s an excellent, very complete, online tutoring program. It offers an extensive collection of math concepts from Kindergarten all the way to High School. The lessons are delivered via video demonstrations and explanations. The videos are short, 2 to 5 minutes on average, with a format that allows the child to easily pause, rewind or fast-forward at any moment. Also, there aren’t any distractions such as beeping sounds or other “cute” effects I’ve seen on many math-tutoring videos on YouTube. The presentation is clean, with only the graphics needed for the demonstration, an animation if appropriate, and the instructor’s voiceover. Relevant worksheets accompany each video lesson, which the child can do as many times as necessary. There’s a bank of questions that shuffle, if the child doesn’t score the minimum required. This way, the child is not stuck doing the same exercises over and over again.
After completing the worksheet, the system will keep score and grant medals or status reports: bronze, silver, gold or platinum for this particular topic. Receiving accolades was quite fun for Super Hero, he really got a kick out of that. I think most kids will enjoy this!
Super Hero found the program very easy to follow. The fact is that CTC Math is very well organized, you’re able to see everything it contains at just one glance. As you get more specific, the menu opens up to offer you further subheadings. We could follow it completely sequentially had we needed to do that, but since we were looking to fill in any gaps that might have been lurking, he just went straight to those topics needing some reinforcement.
Aside from the student portal, there’s also a parent section from which you can control or monitor your child’s lessons or progress. CTC Math also emails you weekly a summary of what the child has done that particular week.
Tutoring vs Curriculum?
I believe this program offers sound math tutoring, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to use it. I do feel, though, that in order to cement Math (or any subject for that matter) learning and understanding, repetition is required. And though CTC Math offers great explanations with practice exercises, once the child is done with that particular topic, there will be no more such repetition. So then, CTC Math has done well to name themselves “The most complete Math tutor“, and I do agree.
In a Nutshell
I think CTC Math is a very thorough tutoring program. It is very well structured, lessons are organized in a very intuitive fashion, and it’s very easy to navigate and find any topic you want quickly. I appreciate the ease of navigation, to me, this can make or break a deal. Few things are more frustrating that having to go through endless links and pages to get to the wanted material. Also, having unlimited access to ALL math topics beginning from Kindergarten to High School is a great plus. So many programs offer subscriptions to just one specific grade or level, and as homeschoolers, who don’t always fall into just one category or level, this is a very valuable feature.
If you decide to give CTC Math a try, make sure you take advantage of the special 60% discount available to homeschoolers. Single membership plans begin at $11.97 per month, or $78.80 per year; and family plans (2 or more students) start at $15.97 per month, or $118.80 per year. A really good value, particularly the family plans if you have many children!
If you are interested in learning more about the CTC Math Tutoring program, you might like to check out the reviews from all the Crew members. Also, you can visit CTC Math on Facebook.
Many students struggle with the math subjects an homeschool online tutoring for math would help many of the students to overcome from the hurdles of learning math.
Hey Patricia,
Indeed a very nice post!!
Knowledge of math concepts is certainly important in order for a tutor to be effective. Offering instruction in advanced math courses like geometry, pre-algebra, algebra, algebra II and statistics is important. Mastery of the material is necessary when illustrating difficult mathematics concepts and terminology.
It’s good to know that you’ve had experience using this math tutoring program and that you really like it. I like the fact that they can pause, rewind and fast-forward any math lesson. My kids tend to learn really well through digital and visual means. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ll be sure to give it a try!
I found CTC Math to be a very good tutorial or supplemental math program. The instructor’s explanations are very clear and the visuals excellent. I do use another program as our Math spine curriculum.
So what math curriculum do you use? I have two boys, with very different math skills. I have tried a few different online programs and a few different books, and still haven’t found the “one”.
Hi Cera, We used CTC as supplement and RightStart Math as the spine. It offers nice video tutorials. Since we’ve finished RS, we are now following Math Mammoth as the spine. MM offers a structured math curriculum. We tried several programs and finally settled on MM. I’m loving it! My son likes it, too, though he’d prefer less exercises. Yet, it’s very flexible, you could go up or down in the number of exercises if you wish. I prefer to keep the bar high for him, so I keep it all as is -he’s a mathy kid, so he can do it! We’re about 3/4 done with 6th grade, and I already bought 7th grade (Educents was having a terrific sale. See here: http://goo.gl/sFLAeB) I’m very, very pleased with MM. Hope this helps!! 🙂