The crazy life of the ClarkClan. Living a life of grace through Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Pearson Homeschool—Algebra II

Pearson Homeschool logo

MyMathLabAlgebra2

MyMathLabParentAccessKit

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • MyMathLab Algebra II Student Access Kit
  • MyLab Parent Access Kit (Parent Access Kit can be used for multiple programs)
  • Available from Pearson Homeschool
  • $49.97 MyMathLab Student Kit 18 month Access
  • $30 MyLab Parent Kit 18 month Access

Key features and benefits:

    • Ready to use out-of-the-box or choose to create your own lessons and assignments
    • Fully interactive eText
    • Robust multimedia library with videos and animations to improve understanding
    • Personalized learning based on quiz and test results
    • Easy-to-create online homework, quizzes, and tests that are automatically-graded
    • Immediate feedback for all your child’s work

ClarkClan Experiences

Math. This is the subject that I get the most questions on when people hear I homeschool all the way through high school.

“How are you going to be able to teach upper level math?”

Believe me, if I had to teach it, my kids would be in poor shape, I am no math teacher. But I have found there are very good resources for teaching math in a way my kids can understand and progress.

Pearson Homeschool’s MyMathLab Algebra II is one of those excellent resources. It is an online, complete Algebra II program.  You, as the parent, set up an account using the Parent Access Kit. Then your student sets up their MyMathLab and begins their class.

I will say that the student side of things is easier to understand than the teacher side. I followed the instructions provided in the Parent Access Kit and then became very confused while trying to set up the class for Sarah. I eventually figured it out, but it was not very intuitive for me. I still have to stop and think about how to access Sarah’s information when I am checking on her progress. While this has been a little frustrating for me, using the program has been easier  on Sarah’s end.

Sarah had no trouble setting up her side of the program.  The Algebra II course is scheduled out and all the student has to do is start with Unit 1 Lesson 1. Despite being an all on-line program, this is not just a multiple choice answer program. There are special tools built into the program to correctly write all answers.

We used this course  as scheduled . As I mentioned before, I am not a math teacher. So having  program  that was complete and scheduled was great for me. There is a way for a parent to switch assignments around and customize the program, but I felt no need to do this. Another great feature is that the program is self-graded. I just need to go into my “grade book” on the Parent Access and I can see what grade Sarah has made on each assignment, as well as how much time she has spent doing each lesson.

How has this program worked for Sarah? Very well. She currently has a 92% average in the class and is just finishing Unit 2. She averages about an hour a day with the program. Most days she finishes a lesson, but occasionally she does not understand something. When this happens, I always tell her to take a break, and come back to it the next day. This seems to work best for her as fresh eyes usually help the concept ‘click’. If she does not understand a concept using the e-text. there are videos that can be watched. There are over 3,000 videos featuring teacher Elayn Martin-Gay.

I asked Sarah what she liked and disliked about the course. She stated, “I like Pearson Math because it lets me work at my own pace and will give me help with any problem so I can figure it out.” Her dislike was that she found the teacher on the video to have an annoying habit of emphasizing some of her words, which in turn made Sarah feel like she was being talked down to. But, she did say that it is growing on her and not bothering her as much now. 

One of the features that I liked about the program, was that the default was that Sarah had to have 90 or above on homework, quizzes, and  tests  to continue. Sarah says she thinks this is so you cannot skip ahead or do things out of order. Extra points were also obtained by watching videos.

Overall, we are very pleased with this program. We will continue using Pearson Homeschool MyMathLab Algebra II. Pearson Homeschool offers many educational choices besides the program we reviewed. They offer Elementary level and High School level courses both online and textbook based. Make sure to visit their website to see all they offer.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewed a variety of Pearson Homeschooling programs. Click on the banner below to access all the reviews.

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Disclaimer:  As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received MyMathLab Algebra II 18 month student access and MyLab Parent Access, for free from Pearson Homeschool  in exchange for my honest review of their product.  All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.

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