First of all, I have to say, thank you so much to TOS and to Professor B Math for allowing us the opportunity to try this program. Secondly, it's truly amazing! I didn't know what we were getting into when we started this, because it is unusual and totally different from what we'd already been doing. I am only reviewing Level 1 because that is the only level we used while using the product.
Level 1 covers: Pre-k though 2nd graders and remediation of older learners. Introduction to Addition/Subtraction Facts - Counting to One Hundred - Lower Addition and Subtraction - Higher Addition and Subtraction - Place Value Fractional Parts & Order - Time - Money
COST: $20 per month for one level and is pay as you go. No commitment. But there is a yearly subscription available too!
"We have a new price change on our yearly subscription. Our program can now be purchase for $100 for 3 years access to each level. Our IT department is working on changing the site. However, if the customers call 678-765-6655 we will be able take their order and honor the new price."
Professor B Math is an online math skills learning program. Professor B. "structured the content of arithmetic as a developmental, contextual flow (like a story). This allows children's minds to assimilate its content more quickly (in the same natural way they assimilate stories rapidly) without any gaps in their knowledge."
HISTORY of Professor B.
"The key to the success of Professor B methodology is Professor Everard Barrett’s identification of the universal gift for learning mathematics and his original strategies for activating it in virtually children."
This is fascinating:
"In numerous instances, contemporary math education, in spite of claims to the contrary ("we adhere to NCTM standards"), provides no alternative to children, during their impressionable years, besides memorization of facts and "steps" for getting answers. It presents a curriculum that fails to deliver an enormous number of arithmetical connections. This unnatural way of forcing children to function in a desperate and futile attempt to "learn" mathematics is precisely the training necessary for transforming the vast majority of children into non-thinkers and, consequently, poor problem solvers (see the article on our website entitled, "Memorization Is a Nuisance to Elementary Mathematics Education"). If the "honor students" they produce can only do the mechanical "steps" to get the answers, but are not exposed to the reasons why they work, then the honor status is an illusion. Where is the mathematics? It's in the structured meanings and understandings that are bypassed by steps (for getting answers). Conditioned by these mechanical procedures, these students will "pay the piper" when faced with high school or college mathematics which challenges them to structure meanings and understandings. A few recover; the vast majority falters."
HOW TO:
To get started you just log in and choose the level you'd like to bee in (get it! :)). There is also a placement test available free of charge HERE.
You and your child(ren) sit together in front of the screen and you, as the parent, say the prompts. There is no sound/audio with this program. I like that part a lot! There are no distractions and your child is paying attention to your voice and the screen at the same time. Of course, my child wanted to know why the bee didn't say anything. Ha ha.
Your child will begin to learn numbers and recognize them using their hands (and pictures of hands counting). It's quite hard for me to explain because it feels so outside the box! They are basically learning to count by recognizing how many fingers are raised on the hands on the screen. They're not counting them as one, two, three, etc., but as what the numbers represent. The fingers/hands are then transferred to the actual numeral on the screen and the child repeats these until he recognizes them.
WHY?
It's quite an amazing thing to see...my seven year old was working with me and from across the room I see my four year old moving her fingers and saying the numbers...then I quizzed her (in a friendly way) and she knew all the numbers. So even the littles can soak it up...that is the whole point of this program.
A child can learn to count and add and subtract very easily.
POSSIBLE CONS:
One downside we had was that is got a bit repetitive...so what I did to combat that is to move the next section. Each section has to be practiced for a few minutes a day, for a week or more to really groove it into the child's mind. This program is also totally online, so if you lose internet access or are away from home you will not be able to access it. There are some printables you can use, if you would like to have something to work from offline. (There are workbooks/text books available for purchase that teach the same skills).
Pro and Con for Some:
The parent MUST work with the child, so if you need something to engage your child while working with another child...then this wouldn't work for that.
PROS:
I like immensely that this program is presented as a learning tool and not as a game.
Simplicity. All you do is log in and choose where to start. Make sure and remember what section you were in last...that way you and your student don't have to repeat or start again. The IT folks are working on solving this little snah-foo.
Children as young as three can begin this program...and they will understand it.
This is an awesome math workout for HOMESCHOOLERS!
The kids love it and it is fascinating. I don't think my daughters even noticed they were learning! My little one just recognized all the numbers without adding in her head...pretty awesome!
There are math text books available on the Professor B. site that will help teach/learn these same math concepts.
I am very excited to continue this program and I know we'll see even more amazing things in the future! I will keep you updated for sure! Of course, I don't even understand how it works, since I'm so bad at math myself...I'm hoping it may even help me wrap my brain around math!
Thank you again to Professor B. and Everard Barrett for allowing us to review this program.
Click HERE to read more reviews from the TOS Crew.
***Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Crew, Different Dog received this product for free in exchange for our honest opinion on the product. All opinions are our own. Ruff!
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