We had the opportunity try out an online math program through LearnBop, and we received a year subscription to LearnBop for families so I was able to have multiple children use it, but they also offer a single student plan as well.
What is LearnBop? It is an online math program for children in grades 3-12. Although they do have a road map for younger ages that includes some early concepts, so I was able to have my 2nd grader work on it as well. This is a math program that will walk your child through problems step-by-step if they get it wrong. It doesn't just give the answer! As the child works through each math concept they have to master it through "bops" before it is completed. If they try to go ahead it is suggested they complete the current unit before moving on. It is nice that you have the ability to move through and change units if desired though.
Here's how it works... Once an account is made for you or any of your children you then do a warm-up for the level chosen. The questions can seem hard, but I told my boys to do their best, and just guess if they didn't know. After the warm-up the child is then taken to their dashboard where they see what their road map looks like. The first thing for them to start with is laid out in a nice little box. It has videos they can/should watch first that teach the concept, some are required, some are optional. I encouraged my boys to at least watch the first one, then they could try the bop if they felt they understood the concept. When they finish the videos it shows a little check mark next to it so they know they've watched it. Then they can complete the "bops" for that subject (usually 5).
How do I switch between users? It is really simple. I made a student account for all 3 of my older children, and there is a drop down menu where I click on their name to log in for them, and it asks if I want to switch over from mine to theirs. I also have an account which means I can do it too. Yes, I tried out the Algebra 1 a few times. It gave me a feel for how the program worked, and I have to say it's intense. It keeps you moving, and can be awesome or very frustrating. More on that later.
What did my kids think? Mostly they didn't like this program. They would get very frustrated when they got something wrong, worked through the steps to see why, and then still get it wrong because of the way the problem was worded (I have noticed the wording of these is sometimes very different than how we usually think). It was a good challenge for them sometimes, but mostly I had to help them a lot in understanding what the question was asking or how to proceed.
What did I think? I really liked it as a homeschool Mom. I enjoyed working through some of it, and it was very easy to follow. I think it was a great way to get the kids thinking more about math through word problems because that is pretty much what the "bops" consist of. The fact that my kids didn't like it isn't necessarily a reflection of this program. I really like the step-by-step approach to fixing mistakes, but I can see how it could get tedious. I was thinking it would be nice to opt out of the steps, but I just looked and you can! You get 2 tries to restart the problem. Maybe I should show my boys that feature.
I wish I had more pictures to show of this program in action, but never got around to taking any. If you'd like to see more reviews about this program click on the banner below. I saw a lot of other great reviews with some more detailed pictures.
Thanks for your review.
ReplyDelete