Review of CTC Math

Last year when I reviewed CTC Math, I loved it so much that I immediately bought an 18-month subscription to add to my existing 12-month subscription that I had been given in exchange for my honest review. Fast forward to this year when CTC Math again showed up on the Crew's Upcoming Vendor's list. I was so happy to get a second opportunity to tell you how much we are STILL enjoying this wonderful math program! Their 12 Month Family Plan is an amazing deal for what you get in exchange! What I tell people about CTC Math is that they love large families, because the price is the same whether you have two children, or ten, and $118.80 for an entire year of math for all of your children is pretty much an unbeatable deal.

So, what is CTC Math? Well, you can read last year's review here, but I'll certainly begin at the beginning! 
First, one of CTC Math's best features is the ability to do it on any device:

iPad, Kindle Fire, computer...all will work with CTC Math! I love that, because all of my kids can do math at the same time.  

When you first log on as a student, this is what you see:

You have access to all levels of math, regardless of which level you begin at. In theory, then, Mary-Catherine could work on Trig! Given her trouble with division, I wouldn't recommend it, though. Because Mary-Catherine is at the end of 4th grade (in math), she decided to work through CTC Math by doing the diagnostic tests at the beginning of each section - another of my favorite features. 

If you take the diagnostic test for each section and pass it at a certain level, you can feel confident that you know the material in that section. Mary-Catherine knows just about all of 4th grade...except for long division. These tests are a great way to target weak spots! In the past, however, we have used CTC Math as a full math curriculum, and it works perfectly in that capacity as well. 

In 5-7 minute videos (and many are less than even five minutes), Pat Murray, father of 10 children (five girls and five boys!), teaches a concept and follows it with interactive questions and answers. Although it is recommended that you use CTC as a supplement in the upper grades, I have found that it can stand as a curriculum there, too, at least for gifted kids who get math quickly and want a no-frills approach to math - one that explains the concept and gets in and out.

CTC also provides great summary reports. Here is a quick overview of a few of Mary-Catherine's diagnostic tests:

An an example of a detailed report:

In terms of what a lesson looks like, here's an example (imagine Mr. Murray's soothing Australian accent talking this problem through):

After the lesson is taught, there are questions, like this one:

Finally, you can view or print the lesson summary:

A couple of details: you can actually customize the look of the program, hence MC's beautiful purple background! Also, there are reward certificates and such to be had at various levels, but my kids are not at all into such things, and, thus, I didn't utilize them at all. Definitely check out the other reviews linked below to see how they work, though.

My other three kids dabbled with CTC Math this time around, but it was Mary-Catherine who used it consistently every single day. She really loves it. If you need any kind of endorsement from my end, I have a subscription to CTC Math through 2017! I actually don't see myself ever letting it go as long as I am homeschooling. Even as a supplement, it is just that good. It is hard to panic about math with Mr. Murray talking you through it. I know that Therese (13) has found it very helpful when she hits a wall in Algebra (which she HAS to finish in the next month!). Nicky (12), unbeknownst to me, started Geometry on CTC (which is where he will be as soon as he finishes Algebra in the next couple of months), and gleefully informed me, "I can do this - this is easy!" Mr. Murray really does make you feel that you can do it. What more can you ask for in a math teacher?

We love CTC Math at our house. To see what other Crew members think, click the banner below.