TOS Review: ALEKS

We recently had the opportunity to review ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system.

From the website: ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics she is most ready to learn. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that topics learned are also retained. ALEKS courses are very complete in their topic coverage and ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions.

For homeschoolers ALEKS states it provides the instruction and support you need to homeschool your children in mathematics for grades 3-12 and is accessible from virtually any computer with internet access, making it a flexible and mobile educational solution for your children. You can watch a quick 2 minute explaination for homeschoolers.

Here's how it went for us.  After creating an account, Ms. Q logged on and was taken to the assessment page.  She answered around 30 questions that tested her knowledge in various elementary level math topics.

The program then produces a pie chart listing all the areas the assessment found the student has mastered, needs to learn, and is ready to learn:

Ms. Q was then able to choose the topics she wanted to learn and the program provided instruction in the area she chose in a very matter of fact and straight forward way.

We are still on the fence about this product.  What we liked about the program: I love any product that makes my life easier.  Math has been an area  Ms. Q and I have struggled with from the very beginning, both because I really don't enjoy math and because I don't seem to be very good at teaching it.  ALEKS made life easier in that I didn't need to really teach Ms. Q the math, I just needed to be available in the event she needed some clarification.  She also really liked that she could choose the topics she wanted to learn and work on them at her own pace.  I liked that I didn't need to create a lesson plan and find resources for each topic and that I could easily see what Ms. Q worked on and how well she was progressing through each lesson.

The only thing we didn't like about the program was that although ALEKS did provide the instruction for Ms. Q for each of the topics she chose to learn, the way it was presented to her did not really keep her interest.  One of the reasons that we homeschool is because Ms. Q has a very short attention span for things that are less engaging or not hands on.  I think the only reason she was able to focus and complete most of the lessons was because her competitive nature had her determined to complete the pie chart as quickly as possible.  After a few lessons though,even that didn't seem to help.  She's just used to a much more hands on approach to math that explains the "why" to her as well as the "how."

 Subscriptions for ALEKS are available for $19.95 a month, $99.95 for 6 months of access, or $179.95 for 12 months.  For families with more than one child discount pricing is available.

We received a free two month trial. If you would like to see if ALEKS will work well with your child click here:

 

To see what other TOS Homeschool Crew members had to say, please go to the blog.

Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

TOS Review: Math Rider

Are you searching for fun and helpful ways to help your children practice their math facts?  It seems I am almost constantly these days!  Then once I find one that Ms. Q likes she looses interest in it and it becomes just another "school thing" to complain about. Well I think we found the one that will be staying around for A LONG TIME!  Math Rider is a fun math game for kids that sends them on a fictional quest while they practice their math skills.  It is targeted for elementary aged children who need practice with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts 0-12.

Math Rider combines fun, adventure, and oh yea - Math!  Your child begins by choosing which type of operation they would like to practice and then the quest begins.  The child rides a horse over hurdles while solving math problems and completing their quest.  The more accurate and quickly the child answers the faster the problems come.  After four proficient rides the quest is completed. The child can then choose another operation/quest.  Although the quest can be repeated the problems will be different offering even more practice.

The really neat part of Math Rider is that kids can see their progress and improvement.  Instead of just a number of correctly answered problems, Math Rider  gives point bonuses, time bonuses, quest progress, progressively animated rewards and a comprehensive statistics screen.

Ms. Q really liked the quests.  She started with addition and then subtraction, even though she is already pretty quick with those facts.  The game adjusts to the user, so she was able to complete those quests much faster than the one she worked on for multiplication.  One of the things she really liked is that the operations are all of one kind and not mixed.  She sometimes has a hard time with mixed operation problems, especially when trying to answer quickly so that worked out just great for her.   It was sometimes difficult to get her off the computer do something else - but I guess that's really not a problem!

If you would like to check out Math Rider for your child, you can try it for free for seven days.  If you decide to purchase Math Rider it is on sale for $37.00 through February 15, 2012.  After that the price is $47.00.

If you would like to read what other TOS Homeschool Crew reviews thought, please go HERE.

Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

TOS Review: Kinderbach

Ever since Ms. Q started her guitar lessons Little M has been asking to take music lessons too.  We kept telling him that he was still too little but as any three year old will tell you, he thinks he's big enough and we are just not fair!

Enter Kinderbach.  

Yep that's right - Piano Lessons - At Home - Online!

From their website:

Kinderbach is about establishing a music foundation for young children.  Students learn note reading, rhythm, singing, vocabulary and a variety of other skills which provides them the basis for further education.  It’s about much more than just playing the piano! 

Here's what the interactive lessons look like: 

It's a whole preschool music curriculum just perfect for 3-7 year-olds!  Little M was totally delighted with the characters and the interactive activities.  The first week we started using Kinderbach, he was so excited he literally woke me up in the morning asking me if it was time to do his piano lesson!  His enthusiasm has waned slightly (thankfully) however he is really enjoying the lessons and retaining much of the information.  I am not expecting a protege at the end of this program but  he will have some concept of music theory and a pretty good idea of how to play basic songs on the piano.  He's already mastered a few simple ones.

Kinderbach has six levels of lessons each with 10 weeks of lessons and four activities each week.  Your child can move at his or her own pace through the lessons making the curriculum customized to your child's needs.  A yearly online membership is only $7.99 per month for an entire family!  That's right you get a full music curriculum, piano lessons, and printable activities and worksheets for all your children for less than the price of a large cheese pizza.  Plus you can try sample lessons online for free and if you decide to become a member you get a 30 day money back guarantee.  You must have a piano or keyboard but nothing fancy is required.  Any keyboard with 3 to 4 octaves will work.  Oh and here's a code to save 30% off  through February 2013: TOScrew2012

Little M was right, he is big enough for music lessons.  I'm really glad that we were able to review Kinderbach, it has really been a great addition to his school day. What are you waiting for? You should totally check it out!


If you would like to read what other TOS Crew members think about Kinderbach please visit the blog.



 
Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.