Review of A+ TutorSoft Interactive 2nd Grade Math Program

Review of A+ TutorSoft

Interactive 2^nd Grade Math Program

 

 

Recently I was offered the opportunity A+ TutorSoft Math for 2^nd Grade. This software may be by far, one of the most exceptional and outstanding visual math programs available to homeschoolers!

The company, which has a mission statement to become “Partners for Better Education” by being the 1st Choice in providing quality MATH educational products that are feature rich and easy to use at the “Lowest Total Cost” is well on their way.

This software is intended to be used as a Multi-Sensory Interactive Software which is obtained through:

Standard Edition Features include:

•           Highly animated, concise and to-the-point lessons with all three learning modalities (Audio, Visuals and Text) to increase understanding of concepts.

•           Interactive Review helps identify and close learning gaps immediately as it automatically re-teaches concepts  with audio, visuals and text. It enhances student learning by allowing them to practice problem solving with real-time feedback and step-by-step instructions

•           Curriculum Book provides easy access to lessons in eBook format.

•           Printable worksheets and exams allow students flexibility to practice problem solving in a more “traditional way”        with pen & paper.

•           Worksheets Solution Guide provides step-by-step solutions to each printable worksheet.

•           Exams Solution Guide provides step-by-step solutions to each printable exam.

•           Reference sheets provide easy access to facts and formulas.

•           Recommended Lesson Plan
Premium Edition Features include:

•           Parental controls that allow parents to lock solution guides

•           Progress tracking and reporting

•           Weekly Certificate of Accomplishments

Installing the program is simple (if you follow the directions)! I will admit that I was stumped at first with the install CD. However, once I went back through the actual “directions” I was able to easily install and set up the software for my school.  Setup is a snap with only a few details needed to be on your way.

I was able to quickly set up for five children and allow them to get started with the exciting videos before moving on to the worksheets, practice questions and finally the exams. They were able to move around in the software pretty easily.

You will love the Parental Control Page which allows parents the choice of making the answer keys and solution guides available to the student. I set them to be hidden on a couple and available on the others. None of the students clicked on them during their lessons so for us it wasn’t an issue.

 

The students LOVED the Certificate of Accomplishments! Imagine getting a blue ribbon for doing your homework! Thankfully, the system tracks all assignments completed by students. The parent has to enter the scores for all the assignments before the system will generate a “Weekly Progress Report” in a bright cheerful child friendly format to present for a job well done!

 

My students liked that they could go into the Lesson Plan and “check off” that they had completed the assignment. They simply clicked on the box indicating they were finished and then they clicked on the date box (it defaults to the current date). What is a real blessing with this software is that it maintains all of the completed assignments in one place. No more searching for Math papers to record in your spreadsheet or Teacher book!

 

 

 

Make sure you actually read the End User License Agreement before you install the software. There are a couple of points that you will need to make note of:

~ You may NOT transfer or resell the Software and this license to another party.

~ The software is intended to be installed on a single machine OR more for use by the family members in the same household.

~ Technical support for the software is provided for a period of 1 (one) year from the date of original installation.

~ You may renew the license for a small fee if you wish to receive technical support and updates for the software beyond the original 1 (one) year period.

 

Each edition is offered in a Standard and a Premium format. You can view and compare them easily on their site under the link Compare Standard and Premium

Standard Edition Features includes:

 

Multimedia Lessons:
Our Multimedia Lessons use all three learning modalities: audio, visual, and text as this has been shown to increase understanding of the material. As well, animated Multimedia Lessons help students avoid fatigue and boredom and prevents developing a dislike for MATH, which can happen if traditional methods are the only methods being used to teach MATH.

Interactive Q & A:
After the student views the Multimedia Lesson, they click on the Interactive Q&A button to practice problem-solving. Here they have ample opportunity to practice problem solving in a more enjoyable format. The student has all the time needed to select their answer and then they get immediate feedback.

When the student is incorrect, the system automatically launches into the step-by-step explanation. This creates a learning environment for greater comprehension and understanding because you can see where comprehension is low and immediately remediate with the step-by-step explanation

Full Curriculum Book (electronic version on CD):
Our Full Curriculum Book contains chapters with concise and “to-the-point” explanations covering all the appropriate grade level content

Worksheets PACK: 
Printable worksheets for each lesson allow students to practice problem solving for greater understanding of the appropriate grade level content

Worksheets Solution Guide (Teacher’s Guide): 
Worksheets Solution Guide helps students understand the detailed steps involved in problem solving with step-by-step solutions for each problem in the Worksheets PACK

Exams PACK: 
Printable exams allow students opportunity to practice taking exams and parent-teachers can use it towards a grade if desired. Several “ready-go-print” exams are available and each exam covers a logical group on several key topics for the appropriate grade level.

Exams Solution Guide (Teacher’s Guide): 
Exams Solution Guide helps students understand the detailed steps involved in problem solving with step-by-step solutions for each problem in the Exam PACK.

Recommended Lesson Plan:
Provides recommendations in regards to the pace, timeline, and ordering of the material.

Reference Sheets:
Printable Reference sheets provide easy access to facts, formulas, and diagrams.

 

Premium Edition has the following items in addition to what is included with the Standard Edition:

 

Progress Tracking:

• Parents can keep a record of student’s scores for every interactive lesson, worksheet and exam for up to 5 students.
• The MATH software automatically calculates scores for each assignment type (Interactive lesson, worksheet and exam) based on the data entered by the parents

Progress Reports:

• Allows parents and students to view report for each completed assignment individually as well as the cumulative report
• Built-in security feature only allows parents to manage student assignment scores but will allow students to view reports for each completed assignment individually as well as cumulative progress report

Parental Control:

• Allows parents to hide the “answer keys” and “solution guides” from a student and make it available once student has completed the assignment and needs to review the work with step-by-step solution guide. Parents can select each student and hide/unhide the “answer keys” and “solution guides” for the selected student or all students.
• This gives better control to parents to ensure the student is able to work on problems on Worksheets and Exams without any assistance and allow them to check their work once it’s completed to identify the areas of strengths and weaknesses.

Weekly Certificate of Accomplishments:

• The system tracks all assignments completed by students once parents have entered their assignments scores and generates a “Weekly Progress Report” in a very child-friendly format for child’s review. This provides encouragement to your students as they see their weekly accomplishments in a very well formatted “certificate-like” format. Students feel good as they are reminded by our MATH software system of their great work and accomplishments. Students can print and keep copy of the weekly certificate for their record or go back and look at any previous week’s “Weekly Progress Report” in an electronic format on their computer screen.

 

One of the best things about this software is that the students can learn on their own, at their own pace. The concepts are presented in a no fuss manner. There are not a ton of graphics and other “ distractions” for my students to get caught up in while learning.

If there is a downside to the program, it would have to be that the lessons are not interactive in grading. That said, at the primary levels, I believe that the students need both the visual and the hands on to learn concepts. So while it may make my life easier as a parent to not have to enter the grades, at the 2^nd Grade my students still need that personal interaction to review their lessons.

This software definitely gets a thumbs up from my students!

You can follow A Plus Tutorsoft on:

Twitter:  @AplusTutorSoft and on Facebook:  APlus TutorSoft

To learn more about this program, visit aplustutorsoft.com. If you have used this homeschool math software in your home school, please share your experiences in the comments below to help others learn more about this math curriculum.