I Excel.....in.....?

Math?  Really?  Hopefully.

We had another opportunity to review an on-line math curriculum.  It is IXL.  Get it?  I....X.....L?

This time we had A-man and L-Girl give this program a try.



This on-line curriculum goes all the way from Pre-K to Algebra.  They have it divided by grade level, but if your child isn't a cookie cutter child and doesn't necessarily fit into their grade level, you can hide that information and just have them work on what they need to without having the pressure that they may not be working on the "right" grade level.

A-man worked in the first grade level which teaches 151 skills.



L-Girl worked in the 4th grade level with teaches over 200 skills.



A-man was really motivated by earning the rewards.



 L-girl not so much.  I mean, I don't think she was upset by getting them, but they are not a motivating factor in her desire to do the work.

Here is what the awards/sticker page looked like for A-man....

You've earned	26 medals
You've answered	1,101 questions
You've practiced for	3 hr 19 min
You've mastered	18 skills
You've revealed	16 prizes
Till your next win	899 questions 2 skill

Lili enjoyed working in this program.  She really thought the problems were pretty easy overall.  So, I had her "shop around" in other grade ranges to see how she did.  That is a nice feature that with this membership, you have access to all grade levels....so, if your kids need an ego boost, they can work on lower grade levels.  Or, if your kids want to challenge themselves, they can see what the older grades are all about....even Algebra. 

	The program seemed really easy for the kids to log in and find work to do on their own.  I loved that IXL sent me a weekly report that showed me everything they had done....how much time they spent working on things....how many problems they worked.....and their Smart Score (from needs improvement all the way up to mastered).  Without the weekly report, I probably would have forgotten to check on my own what the kids had accomplished. I can go to the site and log on to see if there are trouble spots and lots and lots of statistics like how much a cumulative score increased or the performance statistics and how they either increased or decreased.  There are lots of pie charts and graphs to show you the results, if you like that sort of thing.
	We used IXL in addition to our regular  math curriculum, but I think it would stand up quite well as a stand alone program too....if you didn't mind all of the work being done on the computer.  I don't love that option, so I will continue to use it as an "extra". IXL could also be a good option for people who worry about their kids forgetting too much of their math over the summer break.  It is something that can be done quickly and easily throughout the day without supervision from you.

You can gain full access to IXL for up to 3 children for just $9.95 a month or for $79 a year.  If I wanted more of my kids to use this program, I could add them into the account for just $2.00 more per month or $20.00 per year.

If my kids aren't in the age range that you are interested in, go take a look at what other crew members kid's did and see what they thought. 



Disclaimer:  We received access to IXL.com for free in exchange for an honest review.

A Few Random Things....

It is VBS week here, so I am gone half of the day and in an exhausted stupor the other half of the day.

But, here are some random things from what has been going on around here.

S-girl lost her first tooth.

L-girl made matching dresses for her and her little sisters.  D-man and A-girl were on their first mission trip....so she took the job as oldest sibling very seriously and did a GREAT job!

V-girl has decided that she is too big for naps.....so, instead she does this at the dinner table....again.

Rainman and L-girl (really mostly L-girl....see her down there past Rainman's legs?) ripped off the truly disgusting carpet on our basements steps and I am happy to report that the wood is in great shape...so I should be able to paint them with something really cute.

As his Father's Day gift, Rainman's office went from this.....

To this.....

And, last  but not least....

I was recently cutting D-man's and A-man's hair (I am actually getting pretty good at it).  Anyway, in the middle of A-man's cut, I was interrupted so I needed to step away....this is what I came back to....

Can you see it there.....under his arm?  He grabbed a wad of hair from the floor and stuck it under his arm. 

That boy cracks me up!

Algebra Via MyMathLab

In my on-going quest to make my kids better at math (especially Algebra), I sign up for every possible opportunity to review a math project.  Yeah, my kids love me!  ;)

We got a chance to use a product from Pearson, called MyMathLab.


(Has anyone else seen this same "mom" in a lot of ads for homeschoolers?)
From their website:

MyMathLab is a series of online courses that accompany Pearson’s textbooks in mathematics and statistics. Since 2001, MyMathLab--along with MyStatLab and MathXL, have helped over 9 million students succeed at more than 1,900 colleges and universities. MyMathLab engages students in active learning—it’s modular, self-paced, accessible anywhere with Web access, and adaptable to each student’s learning style—and instructors can easily customize MyMathLab to better meet their students’ needs.

There are a lot of features to this program: homework assignments, testing, immediate feedback for the students, to name a few.

Also, when you join MyMathLab, you gain access to a community.  A community that is filled with over 10,000 math instructors.  They also have on-line chat help available 24/7....just in case you have a night owl that cannot sleep until they have completed some Algebra!  According to their website:

 A typical course in Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 is completed over an entire school year – or approximately 36 weeks. However, this course is set up so that it can be delivered based on your desired timeline. If your child works for 90 minutes per day and 5 days per week, the material could be covered in approximately 18 weeks. There are 10 units included in the course; you should determine how much time to spend each week per unit in order to complete the course by your desired deadline. To complete all 10 units in 36 weeks, approximately three weeks per unit is needed. 

So, you can buzz through it really quickly....or you can take it easy, and move at your own pace, because you have access on-line for 18 months.

How we used it:

I think I have told you before that we aren't really using a "real" curriculum this year for D-man's Algebra.  We got a used college level Algebra textbook that we have been using.  I say "we" loosely because I haven't had anything to do with his math this year.  He has basically surpassed my skill level....but not Rainman's.  Although with MyMathLab, neither of us would need to be an expert to "teach" this course.

As a parent, I could (if I wanted to) edit his assignments, or add tests or quizzes.  Or, I could (like I actually did ) do nothing, and just let him run with it alone.
They have all kinds of math, business math, statistics, calculus, ....even up through college levels.  Here are the list of titles they have available.  Here is a just a sampling of the Algebra titles they offer.

I asked both D-man and Rainman to use this program and see what they thought.  D-man fit it into his regular lesson plan and did some of his math time with his existing textbook and some with the MyMathLab. 

He doesn't really like to do school on the computer...he much prefers actual textbooks (he is his mother's son)....but, he said he liked it and liked that it told him right away when he got stuff wrong.  As he described it, he just "read the textbook, then worked the problems.  That's it."

He didn't love that he couldn't move on until he had gotten a score of 90%. But, I guess I support that requirement, because then you don't run into my problem of having to move onto new stuff before you really understand things.....Mr. Anlauf....I am talking to you.


Rainman, who I thought wouldn't like it, because it was sort of new-fangled technology, actually really liked it.  He said that the Algebra 1 level of MyMathLab was very similar to what was covered in the college level textbook that we had been using.  He did not read the on-line textbook, but watched the instructor videos, which he said were just like college lectures.  As he described it, he just "watched the videos, then worked the problems.  That's it."  (Hmmm....I guess D-man has a bit of both of us in his DNA!)

Overall, both D-man and Rainman thought this was a really strong upper level math program.  They both said that it was a little hard to navigate the site at first, but once they nosed around a bit, they figured things out.  (All of that probably could have been avoided if they watched the Getting Started video that was available.....but that is just me talking. )  ;)

Pearson has a lot of stuff available from elementary social studies to reading programs to science.  Just go to their site and search by grade level to see what they have to offer.  They are also working on Advanced Placement (AP) courses. 

MyMathLab Algebra 1 is available for $49.97 and the parent kit is available for  an additional $30.00.

The Schoolhouse Review Team tried out a lot of different Pearson products this time, so go take a look and see how they liked theirs.


Disclaimer:  We received student and parental access to MyMathLab Algebra 1 for free, in exchange for an honest review.