Exploring CTCMath’s Family Membership {A Curriculum Review}

Every once in a while, as both a homeschooler and a curriculum reviewer, there is a product I really want to try out with my family and review for you. CTCMath is one of those products that I have been itching to get my hands, and computers, on. I’ve see it shared in groups, forums, and various places around the internet. So, when the chance came for my family to try out their 12-month Family Membership I was seriously excited.

A Tough Sell

It was early in the summer when I first saw that the 12-month Family Membership from CTCMath was coming up. I knew that the kids weren’t going to be nearly as excited as I was since they were officially on a much-deserved summer vacation.

Yet, I signed up for the free trial anyway in hopes that I could learn some things that might help ease the fears (and frustrations) and help get them excited.

When my 9-year-old happened upon me checking out the speed drills, namely the space-themed one, I knew I had him. In addition to spending some time himself working on speed drills, he also decided to have me try out the multi-operation ones as well.

Nothing like putting Mommy on the spot, kid.

But it worked. A few minutes of math disguised as fun and I had one out of four.

The youngest, only five, was easy to persuade as well. She’s at the point where anything new is still exciting and any opportunity to do school like her older siblings has her eagerly waiting to give it a try.

Time To Start The Review

As with all new reviews, I prefer to spend some time first working alone with the product. I enjoy reading through how-to guides and getting a feel for the material.

I was quickly able to set up my parent account and add in each of my four students. I learned that from the parent account I can assign tasks to be completed, assign tests, and even create custom assignments for the kids if they need extra help. Also, from the parent dashboard, you can access reports on your child’s progress and sign up to have weekly reports emailed directly to you.

Offering math for grades k-12, CTCMath had everything I needed for each of my children in one program. And with the Family Membership, I could actually set-up up to five students.

It was at this point that I needed to decide which math programs I was going to have my kids work in. The youngest was easy as kindergarten math is the lowest option. But with the older ones I was torn between starting their new grades (4, 9, and 10 respectively) or having them work in the levels they had just completed.

I settled on letting the program decide for us. Instead of jumping right in, we started with diagnostic tests from the levels that correlated with the grades that had just completed.

With a plan decided, it was time to let the kids into the program.

Diagnostic Testing

Due to the fact that it was summer, and our schedules were jam-packed, I opted for the shortest diagnostic tests I could find – 20 questions per test – and selected a wide variety of tests. This way I could get a feel for where the kids stood with this program.

And even though the kids fared fairly well, after a discussion with all of them we opted to work within the CTCMath levels that coincided with the school year they had just completed. None of them were itching to start their new year. Plus, I figured this would be a great opportunity to review.

With my 10th grader, we reviewed Algebra 1. While he had just completed Geometry, we felt it was a good chance to prepare for Algebra 2.

With my 9th grader, we reviewed pre-Algebra.

And with my 4th grader, we took the time to both review some 3rd-grade math skills as well as work on his math facts.

Assigning Tasks and Using CTCMath

The first couple of weeks with CTCMath I assigned tasks to the older kids for the entire week. This was easy enough to do from the parent dashboard. Yet, life proved I was assigning them too many tasks and more than once the kids were scrambling to finish. This was not the way I wanted to review this product, so I simply had the kids work on 2-3 lessons per week.

With the younger two, we also aimed for 2-3 lessons per week.

This was easy enough as most assignments can easily be completed in about 15 minutes. Each lesson begins with a video, typically 4-9 minutes long. Following the video, the younger kids had between 10 and 15 problems that would go along with the concept or skill taught in the video. As soon as they entered their answer they would find out if they were right or not.

At the end of the lesson, if they scored 100%, confetti would rain down the screen. This was extremely motivating for the younger kids… but also disappointing for my youngest when she did not get any. She doesn’t fully understand the concept of 100% correct versus less than 100% – yet.

For the older kids there was a second component to the lesson and this was the worksheet. After watching the video and working some problems right in the program, they then had to complete an accompanying worksheet. This extra layer added between 5 and 15 minutes to the overall lesson time.

Each week I would receive an update from CTCMath in my inbox letting me know how all of the kids were progressing. I could also log into my parent dashboard and see their progress.

What Did The Kids Think?

I’ll start with my youngest. At just five-years-old, she’s always excited for the chance to do anything that is similar to her older siblings. CTCMath was the same way. For her, this was a time to feel included in math and do something that made her feel like a big kid. It was also a chance to work on some math skills in a fun and easy way. As much as she loved the confetti at the end, she never felt disappointment if she answered a question incorrectly.

More importantly, the video lessons were direct enough that she was able to grasp the concepts. Even though we sat down together to work on her CTCMath lessons, she was able to both watch the video and complete the lesson mostly indpendently.

My 4th grader really enjoyed the short videos and lesson lengths. He also loved the speed drills, space-themed multiplication facts drills, and the red coin/blue coin game. In fact, he enjoyed his review time with CTCMath that he’s thinking of continuing on for the fourth-grade level as well.

And as with my daughter, most of the videos were easy enough for him to do alone. However there was some terminology that was different than we were used to such as trading and buy-back. This is mostly likely due to the fact that the curriculum creator, Pat Murray, is in Australia. These terms were easy enough to explain to my son.

My 9th grader is still on the fence with CTCMath. As a child who has struggled with math, she’s unsure of any program and convinced nothing will help her fully. Yet, she too enjoyed the short length of the videos and answer key provided on the worksheets. One element she would love to have seen in this program is for answers along with solution steps for the assignments. While the solutions steps are available with the worksheets, they are not for the assignment. As a student who struggles with math, the ability to see the steps really helps her to fully understand how to work a problem.

My 10th grader has a similar opinion as his sister. Overall, he liked the short, detailed videos. He enjoyed the ability to see if his answers were correct immediately, and solutions offered for the worksheet. He really liked the fact that he could complete his math from his tablet instead of being tied to a computer. But like his sister, solutions for the lessons would be a great improvement.

And while both of my oldest enjoyed the fact that each lesson and assignment only focused on one concept, they also wondered how this would fare over the course of an entire year.

My Thoughts On CTCMath

CTCMath is an excellent math program overall. The lessons are thorough, the assignments allow the student ample opportunity to practice the skill being taught, and both the student and the parent can move freely throughout the program.

Parents can either chose to assign tasks from the parent dashboard or allow their students the freedom to choose what lesson to work on next. Diagnostic testing allows for the opportunity to check to student retention. And the question banks allows parents to create customized lessons either for review or for extra practice.

And by offering everything from elementary to middle school to high school math, you could easily cover math for your entire family with just one product. In fact, the 12-month Family Membership will cover up to five students for one price.

Yet, this is a classic case of “it’s not you, it’s me…” or in this case, us. As excited as I was for this review, I’m just feeling like there is something lacking. With each lesson focusing on one topic, I worry about student progress. Without definitive steps for each problem, I worry about my kids fully grasping the steps. And without more time with the program, I worry that my concerns may sway you.

At the end of the day though, I know that all of our issues with CTCMath are personal preferences. These are the things that we need when looking for a math program. If these aren’t items you need, then perhaps CTCMath will be a good fit for your family.

With more than 200,000 users worldwide, CTCMath clearly offers a great option for homeschool for thousands of homeschool families. And after this experience, I can see why so many families choose to use CTCMath in their homes and homeschools.

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