CTCMath Online Curriculum {Review}
Disclaimer: I received a FREE CTCMath 12 Month Family Membership in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
CTCMath is an online Kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum with over 1,400 video lessons, worksheets, and tests. They offer 12 Month Family Memberships which allows families unlimited access to all the lessons for each grade, as well as comprehensive reports, user-friendly parent and student dashboards, and so much more.
About CTCMath 12 Month Family Memberships
CTCMath was founded by Pat Murray, a long time high school teacher with a passion to help students of all abilities reach their full potential. This passion is the basis of CTCMath, an interactive and individualized program that provides instruction in an easy to follow and concise platform.
When first getting started with CTCMath, there are placement tests for K-8th grades to find just the right spot for your child to start. Once you’ve decided on a starting point, the lessons follow a very similar pattern.
1- View the Lesson
All of CTCMath’s over 1,400 video lessons are presented in an easy to follow, step-by-step method which makes the experience comfortable for the student. The audio of the lessons is clear and very easy to follow- in fact, the teacher has a beautiful Australian accent which is very calm and steady. This allows the student’s focus to be on the material being presented and not on trying to figure out what is being spoken.
If, however, the student has any trouble with the video lesson, there are PDF downloads available that are a summary of the information being taught. I found this to be a great addition to the program and I believe printing out these PDFs and keeping them in a notebook could be a valuable resource for students to refer back to as needed. This would be especially important in the upper-level math lessons.
2- Answer the Questions
After the video lesson is complete (usually within 2-6 minutes), the student moves on to the question and answer portion of the lesson. There are two choices for this part of the lesson. The student can use the interactive question option or a worksheet option. The interactive question option is a seamless experience for the student. The questions are easy to read with clear answer options and the whole experience is very user friendly.
Immediately upon answering a question, the student knows if they have answered correctly, and if not the correct answer is displayed for them. The percentage of correct answers is displayed above the questions at all times so the student can track how they are doing during this section.
After questions are answered, a PDF of the step by step directions to correctly working the problem becomes available for the student to refer to if needed. This is a wonderful help for those students who struggle with math concepts.
At the end of the question and answer section, the grade is given to the student in a clear manner, so the student can see if they did well enough to move on. Once a lesson is successfully completed, the student has the ability to answer additional questions, move on to the next lesson, or view a report of lessons completed.
CTCMath Student Dashboard
The student dashboard is a very clean, user-friendly area which gives the student control over their lessons. Upon beginning, the student has the ability to change the settings on their dashboard to colors they would prefer seeing. They can change the background and accent color to truly make a unique look that they prefer.
From their dashboard, they have the ability to choose a lesson, view tasks that have been assigned, and see the results of previously completed lessons. This allows the student to proceed independently and have a feeling of accomplishment and control over their learning.
CTCMath Parent Dashboard
Adding Students
The parent dashboard has a similar, very clean, and user-friendly appearance. From the parent dashboard, there are many options that you can choose. The first step is to add your students. Adding students is very simple and gives you control over assigning their usernames, passwords, the passing grade percentage, and the number of attempts a student has for each question before the solutions are available.
Assigning Tasks
From the parent dashboard, you can also assign tasks to specific students that will show up on their individual student dashboard when they log in. This gives the parent the ability to direct their student’s learning and make sure the students are keeping the pace they need to complete their lessons in a timely manner.
The ability to schedule tasks on specific dates allows the parents to plan a week, a month, or a larger time period ahead of time. Parents can also designate whether tasks should be completed in order or if students can pick and choose which ones to do first.
One very helpful option available is the ability to hide the level of lessons and tests from the student. I know for students who struggle with learning, knowing they are years behind in a subject can be very frustrating. Having this option to hide the level of lessons can be very helpful for some situations.
Checklists
Another very helpful option on the parent dashboard is the checklists. For each level of math, there are downloadable PDF checklists that have a place for tracking the grades students receive for each lesson and test.
This is especially useful for parents who must present written information regarding homeschooling records to an auditor or homeschool association. This is also a great way to visually track how each student is doing overall and is a great help when preparing report cards and portfolios.
In addition, there are several individualized reports you can view and print to track your student’s progress.
My Thoughts
I have used and reviewed many online education programs over the years. I have to say, hands down, this is the most user-friendly platform that I have come across. The layout is very clean and clear and the options available to both the parents and the students are exactly what is needed.
There was no learning curve whatsoever for using this platform. Once I logged into the parent dashboard and set up my students, they were good to start moving through the program.
The lessons themselves are presented in a simple, concise manner with clear instructions and no fluff. The information is presented, sample problems are completed and then the lesson ends. The short, easy to follow manner of the lessons allows students to grasp the information presented easily and quickly, giving them a sense of accomplishment and mastery.
The clean and clear question and answer portion is interactive, engaging, and yet not distracting with crazy cartoons or unnecessary animations. It is just enough to keep the student’s attention without overdoing it.
I know we will be using CTCMath as a part of our homeschool for years to come.
