I was excited to have the opportunity to review A+ Interactive Math newest product, aptly named math mini courses. Mini-Courses have been created to help fill the gaps of a student’s maths education. Each Mini-Course focuses on one area of maths and there are many to choose from:
- Counting and Identifying Numbers
- Place Value and Number Combinations
- Naming, Comparing, and Arranging Numbers
- Early Elementary Fractions
- Early Elementary Addition
- Early Elementary Subtraction
- Elementary and Middle School Multiplication
- Elementary and Middle School Division
- Tables, Charts, and Graphs
- Elementary Geometry
- Elementary Algebra
- Advanced Geometry
- Advanced Fractions
- Decimal Numbers
- Percentages
- Time
- Money
- Number Types and Conversions
- Ratio, Proportions, Probability, and Statistics
- Measurements and Conversions
We had access to the following two courses:
- Counting and Identifying Numbers (1st-3rd) – 15 lessons
- Place Value and Number Combinations (1st-3rd) – 15 lessons
My aim was to use it with my five-year old who had completed her reception age maths (age 4-5) and was not quite ready to move on to year 1 (age 5-6). We thought the counting and identifying numbers would be perfect for her. Unfortunately they were far too advanced for her, so I brought in my maths strong year 2 (age 6-7) daughter and we completed approximately one lesson per week alongside her normal maths program, fitting it in whenever she had time in her day.
How A+ Interactive Math Mini Courses Work
I will focus my review on ‘Counting and Identifying Numbers’ as this is the course A7 spent her time on. Once the parent logs in and enrolls the child, they are sent to this dashboard:
Here the child chooses to watch the video attached to the lesson he will be completing:
The lessons included in this mini course were as follows:
If a parent wishes to teach their child, there are some lesson pdfs to help them:
These lessons are exactly the same as the interactive ones but obviously require no screen.
Once he has finished watching, he has the option of completing some interactive questions:
After which the child can work through their worksheet or if they feel they have grasped it they can move straight on to the test:
The worksheets are printable pdfs:
The tests are also printable:
The second course we had access to was Place Value and Number Combinations. This course was set up in much the same way as the first and included the following lessons:
How We Used A+ Interactive Maths
As previously mentioned, we had hoped to use it with my five-year old, but it was much too hard for her, so I had a rethink and A7 agreed to use it. She loves maths and it was easy for her to incorporate the program into her own maths she was already doing, completing one lesson over the course of a week. We watched the video together and A7 did the interactive questions herself. Throughout the week she slowly worked through the questions on the print-out and the test.
Pros and Cons of A+ Interactive Maths
Pros:
- Comprehensive course covering everything your child needs to know, within the subject area of the mini course chosen.
- Useful for a parent who feels inadequate teaching maths to their child, as the short videos do the teaching for you
- Encourages student independence, as the student interactive lessons and questions are aimed very much at the student
- Extra printable worksheets to really consolidate the lesson
- If you have a child who loves the computer this is a great option
Cons
- It seemed to me that in order for the course to record A7’s lesson completion and her results I needed to add them manually, and even then they did not always save. I do understand that the mini courses are a newly offered product and as such very possibly had a few issues which needed ironing out.
- The video screen is small and I couldn’t figure out a way to make it full screen.
- The audio wasn’t always clear. The speaker sometimes sounded like she was under water.
All in all, I would have to say this program is not for us. A7 found the small size and audio quality of the video difficult and this prevented her from fully enjoying what was on offer.
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