Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Does it sound daunting to teach your children middle and high school math? I have just had the opportunity to look over what TabletClass Math offers. I was given access to their homeschool Pre-Algebra curriculum, and spent some time checking it out. We did not actually use it, because Mr. Sweetie, the oldest child I have in school right now, was just finishing up his 7th grade math curriculum, and I didn’t want to try getting him to jump into another course just when he was ready to be done for the year!
This course will work well for students who have completed at least Grade 6. In the Parent Portal I found a page which suggests pacing for various levels of ability. If a younger child (under 12) will be working through this Pre-Algebra course, the suggestion is given to take 11-14 months to complete it; however, most 12-15 year olds should be able to do it in 9 months (one school year). If a student has a basic knowledge of how numbers work, and knows his addition/subtraction/multiplication/division facts, he is ready to use it. The first chapter gives a review of number operations, exponents, and order of operations, and then moves into a quick introduction to algebraic concepts. It is very easy to navigate from one chapter/lesson to another by clicking the titles in the navigation bar to the left of the screen. I was able to go forward and back, anywhere I wanted to check out.
Each lesson begins with a reminder to watch the lesson video, take notes, do the worksheet of practice problems and check them, and then watch the solution videos. The lesson videos seem to be between 10 and 20 minutes long, and the solution videos tend to be about five minutes each. There is a solution video for each type of exercises that are given for practice on the downloadable worksheet, which has the answers at the end. The lessons are taught by John Zimmerman. He scrolls down his screen as he goes from one concept to another, and shows exactly how he works out each type of problem. I found his voice easy to listen to, and one that would not bother any of my children.
Each of the 16 chapters is divided into 4 or 5 lessons. These are followed by an extra practice page, chapter review notes and then a quiz. This multiple-choice quiz can either be downloaded and printed, or filled out online. There is an answer key in another tab. These 16 chapters cover everything needed for a homeschool pre-algebra curriculum:
- Introduction to Algebra Terms and Concepts
- Real Numbers and Simplifying Variable Expressions
- Fractions and Decimals
- Solving Equations
- Inequalities
- Graphing Linear Equations
- Writing the Equations of Lines
- Introduction to Systems
- Absolute Value
- Powers and Exponents
- Polynomials
- Rational Expressions
- Area and Volume
- Right Triangle Theorems and Formulas
- Data, Measurement and Probability
The Parent Portal is a separate purchase from the Pre-Algebra course. It is a one-time purchase, however, and can be used every time you have a child using this Pre-Algebra program. There are many helpful, downloadable resources included here. I already mentioned the pacing guide above, which is very helpful for planning lessons and setting up a schedule. There are also detailed tests for each chapter, with separate keys. The quizzes included in the student lessons are good, but being multiple-choice, they won’t show mastery as well as the tests. There is also a final exam. All downloadable resources are in pdf format.
My conclusion? If I was looking for a homeschool pre-algebra curriculum, I would definitely consider TabletClass Math. This appears to be a course that has been thoroughly thought through and is well designed. For children who do well with video lectures, it will work well. If you are needing something like this, definitely have a look and watch some of the sample videos. Also, click on the image below to read other families’ reviews of this program.
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