I love math. Unfortunately, this love of math has not been passed down to my children. It has been a struggle, during our years of homeschooling, to make math not only enjoyable but also practical. When we received The Algebra 1 Tutor: Volume 1 and Fractions Thru Algebra Companion Worksheet CD (we received the companion worksheet cd as the digital download product) from ScienceandMath.com to use for purpose of review, I was really excited to implement this curriculum with my children. Jason Gibson is the creator of the educational Science and Math videos available through his company, ScienceandMath.com. His mission, to summarize, is to instill a love of Science and Math in students. Jason strives to make his videos useful instead of just factual. Because of his unique approach, my kids are seeing some new sides to their math practice.
We have been using The Algebra 1 Tutor: Volume 1. This is the first time my kids have worked with a math curriculum where I hear the words “Math is easy” come out of their mouths! In Volume 1, students reinforce number theory and basic equation solving. There are ten sections in the videos. These are contained in three 
disks and take seven hours of viewing time total. My kids have been able to work through The Algebra 1 Tutor: Volume 1 with virtually no help from me. It has been so fun to watch them! When I received the curriculum, to make things easier, I printed all of the worksheets (we actually received them as a download rather than a cd). I did this for both of my kids and just placed them in a binder for each. Each set of worksheets coincides with a section on the dvd and complete solutions to each problem are provided after each set of worksheets. By already having the worksheets printed, my kids were able to put on the video segment for each day, watch as many times as needed to understand the concepts being presented, and complete the worksheets. They could check themselves and see where they made errors without having to wait. This is really a simple system to work with. The video segments are long enough to be effective yet short enough to hold interest. Watching the videos is like watching a teacher present a lesson, complete with a whiteboard. It is as if students have been invited into a classroom. The Fractions Thru Algebra Companion Worksheet CD contains 21 worksheets (sets of worksheets) that are used to help students achieve mastery. There are over 500 pages available – this includes both the activity sheets and the solutions. Both The Algebra 1 Tutor DVD and the Fractions Thru Algebra Companion Worksheet CD are designed for students in grades 7-12.
The Algebra 1 Tutor DVD is available through ScienceandMath.com for $26.99. It is also available as a direct download from ScienceandMath.com for $23.99. The Fractions Thru Algebra Companion Worksheet CD is also available through the website for $24.99 or can be purchased as a download for $21.99. Sample pages are available to preview so you can ‘try before you buy’.
My kids have really been enjoying The Algebra 1 Tutor: Volume 1. They like the 
down to earth nature of the videos and the practical nature of the instruction. They also like being able to know exactly how much they need to do each day to progress. Because of the user-friendly layout of this program, I can assign lessons and worksheets easily and the kids can repeat sections when they need more help or reinforcement. This is truly a program designed for mastery. There is a volume 2 available which takes students through the more complex topics in Algebra 1 and prepares them to enter the world of more advanced mathematics.
All in all, The Algebra 1 Tutor: Volume 1 and The Fractions Thru Algebra Companion Worksheet CD have been a hit in our homeschool. I highly recommend this for families in search of an innovative math curriculum that is simple to use and very thorough.
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My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using The Algebra 1 Tutor and The Fractions Thru Algebra Companion Worksheet CD as well as other products from ScienceandMath.com. To read their reviews, click on the graphic below.
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