As we near the end of the school year, we start to get a clearer picture of where a student may be having a gap in learning. I’ve found with my boys, math is an area where we at times get to a place where they are having difficulty understanding a concept. That’s when we slow down and do whatever it takes for it to click for them. Recently, our family has been reviewing Math Mini-Courses from A+ Interactive Math, and so far have been pleased with its ability to help close those gaps.
A+ Interactive Math
Math Mini-Courses is an affordable way to help close the learning gaps when it comes to math by offering an in-depth review of the concepts. The concepts do vary from basic to a more advanced level.
Math Mini-Courses offers a total of 20 Math Mini-Courses including
• Place Value and Number Combinations
• Addition
• Subtraction
• Money
• Multiplication
• Division
• Algebra (Elementary)
• Advanced Fractions
• Geometry
• Ratio, Proportions, Probability and Statistics
Working through the program
This program is done completely online but there are worksheets and test available for printing, which we felt was an awesome addition. When you log-in after purchase, you easily click on the course you want to begin and click the “launch” button. 
Once you launch, it then opens up a screen to the different options available.
From this point, you simply click which part you want to access. We always start with the video lessons in this section. Once you click this button, it takes you to the screen where you can select what lesson you want to begin. 
When your lesson has been selected, the video starts. It goes at a slower pace in order to make sure your child understands the concept. As the video comes to an end, you can then go into an Interactive Q&A. 
How we used it:
As part of our review, we were given access to:
• Early Elementary Subtraction (15 lessons)
• Money (18 lessons)
-
- Money: 18 Lessons
-
- Subtraction: 15 Lessons
Using A+ Interactive Math
We use this daily along with our current math curriculum. Each lesson starts out with us first watching the video and then do the interactive questions. 
I love that in this program not only can we watch the video on the screen, but I also have the option to print the lesson out via PDF as well as additional worksheets and tests. I print out each lesson as we complete it and place it in 3-ring binder. This allows us to go back and review at any time in case we did hit a snag during a worksheet. This is what the lessons look like if you decide to print:
Lessons are done step by step to ensure that your students are understanding the concept. Don’t let this program fool you though. The above lesson screen may look easy, but it was one of the first lessons we did. It starts out slow and easy which is what you want if you are trying to fill in any gaps. As the lessons continue though, the math does get more advanced. I have been using this program with my youngest since we have been doing 1st-grade subtraction and money for some time. Obviously, we weren’t able to cover the entire program since we aren’t up to subtracting 3-digit numbers yet, but I can totally see how this would be very beneficial for an older child in the 2nd-5th grade that may still be struggling with the basics.
As with the subtraction, the Money starts out slow and easy to help get them more familiar with their coins. With the Money, we start out by learning the values of nickles, dimes, quarters, pennies, etc. 
Over the entire course you’ll also learn to budget, calculating commission and even interest rates. Once again, the beginning part of this program was amazing for my 1st grader since he wasn’t 100% with his money, but over time it advances to higher grades. If you do have an older student that is struggling, the way these lessons are broken down is pretty amazing. It’s a step-by-step layout on how to work the problems, and given the fact that you can print these lessons out via PDF as I mentioned earlier is perfect.
Do we love this program?
I found this to be a fantastic program overall when it comes to filling in the gap. You work at your own pace and like other programs, there is no need to zoom through the lessons since the end goal is filling in those gaps. The lessons that we have been able to cover with my little guy is totally giving him more confidence and he is really learning it.
There were only a couple of cons that I had with this program.
I do wish that the mini-courses were divided out a little differently. Maybe a smaller age range. I feel that way, a younger child would be able to complete the entire course.
The videos will not open to full-screen. The photo you see above with the video, is as big as it gets. This was a little bothersome, but not a big deal. It would be nice to make it full screen and to block out the other text around it.
Interactive question and answer part goes a little slow. There were times when my little guy would get restless waiting on it to put all the multiple choice up. The program slowly puts up the question and pauses between each multiple choice answer. Not only that, but if the answer was A, you can’t select A until every one of the answer choices is on the screen. This made it a slow go from time to time.
Would I purchase this program?
Depending on the math gap we were having, I would certainly purchase this program. Math gaps aren’t something I take lightly. Remember when I mentioned my youngest daughter? She still has problems with the basics because she didn’t get that solid foundation when she was younger. Math builds up, so anytime there is a gap, it’s worth stopping and addressing. Earlier this year, we had a math gap with our 3rd grader when it came to multiplication. We stopped everything and started back at the start. Now he’s got it, but I could see how this program would have benefited him as well.
CONNECT:
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest
