ALEKS Web-Based Instruction

I have been able to use, and let my children use, ALEKS web-based instructional system. It has been a bit of a chore for us to find time to use the system right now. Most of the trouble with usage has just been because of a very busy end of semester schedule. The ALEKS company has been gracious enough to extend the usage of their system for two additional months and I am so greatful! My children have really enjoyed the parts of the program they have tried. I have children ranging from 5th grade - 12th grade using the program, so we have tried a little bit of everything in the system. For me, one of the most useful features is the beginning assessment. This assessment gave me a great picture of where each of my children needed additional math help. I also love the feature that allows the students to move on when they master a skill. Take a look at some details of the program straight from the ALEKS web site:
What is ALEKS?

Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system that uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS offers truly individualized instruction that meets the student at her learning level and instructs her on the exact topics that she is most ready to learn. As a result, no two students will experience the same learning path while working in ALEKS.
ALEKS can provide you with the instruction and support that you need to homeschool your children in mathematics for grades 3-12. With a comprehensive course library ranging from elementary school math to complex subjects such as PreCalculus, ALEKS acts much like a human tutor to help take the stress off of homeschooling parents.

ALEKS offers highly-targeted, individualized instruction from virtually any computer with Internet access, making it a comprehensive and mobile education solution for your children. A subscription to ALEKS offers access to all courses and your child may take as many courses as needed during their subscription period.

ALEKS is a Research-Based Online Program:

Complete Curriculum Solution for Math with Access to Full Course Library
No Textbook Required
Artificial Intelligence Targets Gaps in Student Knowledge
Assessment and Individualized Learning for Grades 3-12
Master Account Includes Quizzing and Automated Reports to Monitor Learning Progress
Unlimited Online Access - PC and Mac Compatible
QuickTables - Complimentary Math Fact Mastery Program for Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction

ALEKS has been used successfully by homeschoolers, as well as by millions of students at schools and educational institutions throughout the world. Additionally, some ALEKS course products are American Council on Education (ACE) credit-recommended, meaning that your student may be eligible for college credit at participating colleges.

Student Account










Assessment: Students begin in ALEKS by taking an individualized, adaptive assessment to determine what they already know and what they are ready to learn next.

MyPie: The ALEKS Pie summarizes a student's current knowledge and offers topics that the student is ready to learn next. The darkened portion of each pie slice represents the topics that the student has mastered and the lighter portion represents what the student has yet to learn.


Input Tools: ALEKS provides a free response environment and sophisticated input tools that avoid multiple-choice and require students to demonstrate content mastery.
Learning Mode: The Learning Mode provides students with practice problems, and offers explanations of topics and procedures as needed. Once a student has demonstrated mastery in the Learning Mode, the topic is added to the ALEKS Pie, and new material that the student is now ready to learn becomes available.
Explanations: When a student is working on a particular problem, she can access an explanation of that problem by clicking on the "Explain" button. The explanation typically provides a step-by-step solution, with commentary. In some cases, an alternative or more detailed explanation is also available.
Feedback: Students receive immediate feedback and, in some cases, suggestions for correcting mistakes.
Worksheets: Students have the ability to print out 16-question worksheets for additional practice or review. These worksheets are uniquely generated based on the student's current knowledge.
ALEKS QuickTables: QuickTables is a research-based, math fact mastery program for multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.

Interactive Games: Provide additional review and built-in rewards.
Master Account Homepage: Easily manage all student accounts, monitor student progress, view customized resources, and more.
Attendance Report: Track student time spent in ALEKS per day, the topics attempted, and the topics mastered and added to the ALEKS Pie.
Student Progress Report: Track student progress made throughout the course. The blue bar represents the percent of course material that the student has mastered during an ALEKS assessment; the green bar represents the percent of new topics the student has mastered in Learning Mode since the last assessment; and the yellow bar represents the percent of topics the student has yet to learn in order to complete the course.
Quiz Results: Quizzes are automatically graded and the results are available to both the parent and student immediately. View a detailed quiz results sample report (PDF).
Pricing Information:
A subscription to ALEKS is
$19.95 per student, per month, or
only $99.95 every 6 months, or
only $179.95 every 12 months.
To see what other TOS Reviewers have to say about ALEKS go to http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783474/.
**Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for this review by ALEKS or TOS. The opinions expressed are my own.**

Math help is on the way!!!

Teaching math is not for the faint at heart! I have been teaching for a lot of years, I won't mention how many because it makes me feel really old, and I have found that the one subject that usually petrifies parents is math. I, unfortunately for my children, am a math geek. So, I was skeptical when I was asked to try out "America's Math Teacher" computer based math tutorial. **I was not given any compensation for this review. It reflects my opinions, not the opinions of TOS. Well, skeptical as I was when I first received this program, I dove in and tried it out with my kids.

I will mention from the outset that the online program is very new and is not without glitches. Rick, the owner, is very good about correcting issues as they come to his attention. So, if you do use the program and run in to a problem, contact him politely and bring the problem to his attention and he will correct is as soon as he can. It is still a work in progress.

The online program is designed to provide math tutoring, or supplementation, to children who are at a pre-algebra/algebra readiness stage up to children studying algebra. Basic math skills such as fraction concepts, decimals, percents, and statistics are included in the Basic and Advanced Math sections. Concepts move into equation solving and other algebraic skills in the Pre-algebra and Algebra sections

The worksheets provided in each area are downloadable and are well-written. My kids really don't like showing their work in math, so they were thrilled to have math worksheets that they could work on scratch paper or in their heads and just write the answers! I would like for all of the worksheets for one subject to be located in a single file so I wouldn't have to go through all of the individual downloads, but that is my personal preference. The worksheets supplement the online video lessons. A fun feature of the program is the speed drills sections. I love this because I am really big on fast mental math!

The online video lessons are very informative. They are fairly easy to follow, for an older child, but they do move quickly. So, be prepared to stop, rewind, and play over sections several times.

There is an evaluation section available which contains online quizzes over different concepts. I know there have been some glitches in this sections, but they are being corrected.

I would recommend this program for anyone whose children need extra help getting ready for and studying Algebra. I don't think it would work as a stand alone math curriculum. It would be a good supplement. There are a few free items on the site that you can check out so you can "try before you buy." I would do that for sure.

The cost seems a bit steep, at first. But, there are hours and hours of video lessons and hundreds of worksheets available. Your $195 membership would definitely pay for itself if you really took advantage of all the features of the program. You can see the program at: http://www.americasmathteacher.com/

To read other reviews about the program, go here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783008/