College Common Sense

Have you ever worried about how your kids are going to pay for college and the whole process of finding scholarships, grants and loans? The Going to College and Paying for it Online Video and Workbook from College Common Sense helps people with children of ALL ages navigate the system at an affordable price. The website is a valuable resource with lots of free information for anyone to use.

Denise Ames, financial counselor at a university in Texas, has developed  Going to College and Paying for it Online to help families through this process.  She asserts that it is never really too early to begin this process and recommends you begin this process early.  She has even heard of someone as young as 6 years old getting a scholarship!

Going to College and Paying for it Online Video and Workbook contains a printable pdf workbook with accompanying six videos.  All you need is the internet, a spiral notebook and a 3 ring binder. (I think it makes more sense to use loose leaf paper and just keep it all in one binder.)

I. Introduction (2 pages-no video)

In the introduction you are introduced to the 4 different groups the workbook is written for: parents and students of elementary students (A), middle school students (B), high school students (C) and college aged students (D).  Each activity throughout the workbook is marked with the letter(s) so you know if the activity applies to you or not.

Here, those in middle school and up would complete the activity

She believes it is important not to wait until the last minute but to spend time (years) preparing.  She recommends watching the DVD and reviewing the workbook yearly and working with your child once at least once a month until they are high school age when they should work on this once a week. 

I admit this seems a bit overkill.  I guess I am a procrastinator at heart so I just know I would never spend this much time and effort on this (especially for anyone younger than a junior in high school) when going to college may or may not be something my children want to do.  I only expect my children to go to college if it will prepare them for a specific job they are interested in. 

II. The Big Picture (9 pages)

In this section, you get an overview of what financial aid is, steps for going to college, the difference between tuition and the cost of attending and gives a rule of thumb for how much money is too much when it comes to loans.

There are 2 full pages of Campus Visit Tips and another page of 20 questions to ask before you apply to a college or university.  There is a also a list of 12 Ways NOT to Choose a College (ex. your boyfriend is going there or the college brochure showed all these fun students sitting under trees.  That one made me laugh because I've seen brochures like that and they are enticing! :)  )

Next, you will learn how to evaluate colleges in a non-biased atmosphere. She gives a website link and a pretty extensive list of things to search for.

III. How Financial Aid Works (5 pages)

In this section she tells you what the goal of the financial aid office is, how to get started with the FAFSA, the difference between school and student controlled aid and how the whole financial aid process works.  She includes a worksheet for recording your PIN that you get from the federal government for your FAFSA and a great worksheet for figuring out if you can afford a specific school.

IV. All About the Free Money (6 pages)

This section is all about scholarships; sources for them, types of scholarships and how to know if you should try for a scholarship. She gives ideas for how to find scholarships to apply for.  At this point, she begins to have students create an All About Me spiral notebook and start listing possible places to look for scholarships.

V. The System that Works (7 pages)

In this section, students begin to build a binder with the intention of finding one good scholarship a month to work on.  There is a step by step process for doing this and suggestions for other things to add to your binder such as reference letters and essays the student has written.  There is also essay writing information to help the student with that.

"Everyone benefits from a win-win situation.  They want to give money and you want to receive it. That is your goal."

VI. You in the Process (4 pages)

Much of this is for the senior in high school.  It is an overview with some suggestions and some "life" advice. The last page is for all levels giving lots of ideas to pursue and put down in the spiral notebook.

VII. Put it All Together (3 pages)

This is a final wrap-up with more life advice talking to the student about the future and choices. A portion of this is also written to the parents.

My opinion:

The workbook is good, but the videos are very low tech. I had a hard time paying attention to the videos. The camera is either on "slides" of text with a colored background or on Denise (and she is looking to the side rather than at the camera).  I've included two screen shots here to give you an idea:

Many of the slides do not use proper capitalization and punctuation.  I am not sure of the reason for this, but I was bothered by it. 

While I am not a fan of the video portion of this, a lot of the workbook has very valuable information with a nice step-by-step process for anyone looking for assistance in this area. Chapters 3-5 are my favorites and contain everything you need to know about financial aid.

The workbook is divided up on the website so you have to download the parts separately  I would prefer to have one file to download rather than 7 different ones to have to open and print individually. The pages in the workbook are not numbered so if they come out of the printer and fall out on the floor...well, let's just say it isn't fun putting them in order..  Also, the pdf lesson numbers are off by 1 from the video lesson numbers.

I would recommend this for anyone not familiar with financial aid and really wants to devote time to this for anyone with kids in junior high and up.  Personally, I just don't think it's necessary to start any earlier (but if you have young children and you're interested than go for it.) While I didn't enjoy the videos, going through the workbook has allowed me to re-familiarize myself with the financial aid process and learn a lot about how to obtain scholarships.  This is mostly directed to the student, but I chose to go through this mostly myself with my sophomore student sometimes watching as well.  I've watched all of the videos and read/highlighted the workbook so that I feel equipped to lead my children through this process when they are ready to begin.

Here is a short video introduction where you can see Denise and hear some of her story:



She has a few other videos on her channel including one on building a scholarship binder.

I do highly recommend checking out the College Common Sense website because it is packed with free information to get you started. I also recommend signing up for the free newsletter and/or to receive free weekly lesson plans. She offers so much free information to get you started. Her blog is another great place to find free information.

Purchase Going to College and Paying for it Online Video and Workbook for $25 for 12 months access.  You can also purchase a DVD and workbook for $50 plus $5 shipping.

You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger

See what others are saying about College Common Sense's Going to College and Paying for it Online Video and Workbook  on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

A+ Interactive Math

For the last several weeks we have been using the 4th grade version of A+ Interactive Math by A+ Tutorsoft, Inc. This is an interactive online math program that is also available on CD.

A+ Interactive Math is a comprehensive math program with audio and visual teaching but also has a printable textbook option. (I love options.)  We tried out both. Emma logs on and watches a video lesson which is then followed by an Interactive Question and Answer session.   If she enters her answers on the computer there is an automatic grading system which I can check at any time by logging into the parent section of the account.  If done on paper, I can correct it and add the scores manually.  The automatic scores and manual scores are found on separate pages.  I would prefer for them to be integrated, but it is easy enough to keep track of scores using what is available.

This is a screen shot of a lesson in action.
The chapters and lessons are found on the left and can be opened with a click of the mouse.
The audio/visual lesson can be played, paused, stopped etc. at the bottom of the screen.
Students can click on the Interactive Q & A button at any time to practice what they are learning.

As mentioned in the caption above, there is an interactive question and answer button that can be clicked during the lesson (preferably after they have actually watched the lesson) that contains multiple choice questions.  Students are required to see/hear ALL of the choices before being allowed to select one. This can be frustrating to the student if they know the answer and they have to wait for all of the other answers to be read.   If the student chooses the wrong answer they will see a sad face with a thumbs down and be told the answer is incorrect. Immediately after that they are shown the correct answer and given a full explanation.   Correct answers get a thumbs up, a verbal affirmation and smiley face. (Explanations are also available for correct answers.)  I like the immediate feedback.


Once the lesson has been completed the student can move on to doing a worksheet.  Multiple choice worksheets can be printed or completed right on the computer.

The 4th grade program has 16 chapters:

1. Number Sense Review

2. Addition

3. Subtraction

4. Multiplication

5. Division

6. Decimals

7. Fractions and Fraction Operations

8. Number Conversions and Mixed Fractions Operations

9. The Number Line and Number Comparisons

10. Algebra

11. Geometry

12. Time and Money

13. Measurements and Conversions

14. Probability

15. Displaying Data Using Graphs

16. Word Problems and Problem Solving

In the parent section of the program, there is a 32 week lesson plan available.  As you can see below, each week there is a suggested list of lessons, worksheets, tests etc. to cover.  There is a white box at the end of each section but no way to check it off.  It can be printed, but with the dark background I didn't want to use all that ink.  We chose not to use the suggested outline.  I let Emma work at her own pace. The lessons take a little longer than we are used to but, I think this is probably more appropriate for her age level (even if she doesn't think so!) The suggested outline would be handy for those that want to follow a prescribed schedule.

clip of the lesson plans

Through my parent account, I am able to view the scores for the worksheets and exams Emma has completed. 

clip of worksheet report

A nice summary is also available for viewing.  All of these reports can be printed for your records.

I would love to see e-mail reports that could be sent to me on a weekly basis.

A+ Interactive Math also offers a 9-page color reference sheet to be printed for the student.  (very handy), a printable curriculum book, and printable answer keys for tests and worksheets. Parents also can control whether or not their student can access the answers to the problems.

As I said earlier, I like options.  Emma has used both the printable tests and worksheets and the online version.  I like being able to let her just go on the computer to do her math without my help, but I also like being able to print work for her so we can take it with us when we are on the go which we have done.  One of my favorite parts of this program is that we can choose the way we want to do this and it can be some of both. We don't have to choose just one way.

Here is a clip of a worksheet from an addition lesson:

One thing I would like to see is a larger font and more room for doing work on the printable worksheets.  I don't think it should be necessary to copy each problem in order to work it which really is necessary for younger children that don't write this small.

Here is an overview video.  The narrator of this video is the same teacher in the program.

Overall, I am very happy with this program for Emma.We plan to continue using A+ Interactive Math in place of what we were using prior to receiving this.

I would recommend trying A+ Interactive Math with their free one month trial subscription that you can sign up for at the A+ Tutorsoft website (top right corner...try the online version or download the CD version).

A+ Tutorsoft offers interactive math for Grades 1-6 as well as Pre-Algebra and Algebra.

The regular price for a subscription to A+ Interactive Math is $19.95 (monthly), $49.99 (quarterly), or a full year for $124.99  However, until the end of MARCH you can use coupon code: SPOFFER50 for 50% OFF!

 See what others are saying about A+ Interactive Math on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog. (Online and CD versions are both being reviewed.)

ALEKS

I have a confession to make. I did not want to review ALEKS. We have reviewed quite a few computer things and my kids really don't care much for math so I just didn't want to try it.  Well, was I ever wrong on this one!

ALEKS ( Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system for grades 3 and up. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics they are most ready to learn. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that topics learned are also retained. ALEKS courses are very complete in their topic coverage and ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions.

You start out by choosing a course (there are MANY to choose from). The student then takes an online assessment and they are ready to begin. I made an account for myself, my 16 year old daughter that struggles greatly in math, my 14 year old daughter that has always done well in math but was having some Algebra struggles, my 6th grade son and my 3rd grade daughter.

Watch this short video for a quick overview:

The Master Screen which allows you to edit your account, view your child's progress, create quizzes,
see how long your student as spent on ALEKS and more

Quick Tables is a math facts practice portion of ALEKS for grades 3 and up.  Once they practice enough they get math games to play to further help their skills of the 4 basic operations.  Watch this video for more information:

The green boxes show which facts the student has mastered.

The ALEKS pie that I love.  Mouse over a piece of pie to see available topics to learn about.

The first week I just could not get enough of it.  I was a poor math student in high school and then ended up majoring in math in college.  It just sort of clicked with me later.  So, for me it was great fun to do the math and watch my "pie" fill up. I think ALEKS is especially good for students that enjoy checklists.  The pie serves as a checklist and is a real motivator.

So, what do the kids think?  Well, my 16 year old daughter has tried everything in math and has never liked ONE thing we have tried until now.  When it came up that we had a free 2 month trial she said, "We only get this for 2 months?" I nearly fell off my chair!  She has spent a lot of time using ALEKS and I am delighted.  My 14 year old also likes it. As to my 6th grade son, he says he doesn't like it but he works on it without me telling him to so it can't be that bad.  My 3rd grade daughter likes it and would like to continue.  Frankly, I don't think we can afford it for all of them, but if money was no object I would be signed up already.

One of the things I really love about ALEKS is that it keeps track of everything for me and sends me a report each week so I can see how each child is progressing and I only have to help when they can't figure it out for themselves (which hasn't happened much to be honest.)

a sample attendance report
you can see how long the student has spent each day the topics they worked on
and the topics that were mastered

A student can access an explanation of a problem by clicking on the "Explain" button.
The explanation typically provides a step-by-step solution, with commentary.
These pages can also be printed.

I am very impressed with the way you enter answers into this program.  They avoid multiple choice questions and have an easy system for entering complex answers.  Overall, I give ALEKS 2 big thumbs up!


A subscription to ALEKS for an individual student is:
$19.95 per month
$99.95 for 6 months- Six months for the cost of five
$179.95 for 12 months- Best Deal: You save $59.45

They also offer family discounts.  Homeschoolers that have never tried ALEKS before can request a free 2 month trial.  I think this would also be a great review tool for a student to use at the end of the year to see if they've learned everything they need to know before moving on.  I did the entire Readiness for College Math course in a couple of days. (with great pleasure) Please be sure to add all of your children at once for your free trial.  You will not be able to add additional children later on.

Read what others are saying about ALEKS on the TOS crew blog.


Disclaimer: I received a free 2 month trial of ALEKS in exhange for an honest review.