Professor B Math

I first heard of Professor B math several years ago but didn't really know too much about it.  I was happy to have the chance to review this for the Schoolhouse Review Team. Professor B claims a student can learn 3 years of math in one year.  I think this would be a great way to catch a student up that might be behind where they "should" be.  We tested Level 1 of Professor B.

Professor B Math is an online math program available in 3 levels.  The lessons have no audio and are "taught" by Professor B (shown below).  The parent must read the lessons to the child.  It requires no prep time whatsoever but you do have to do the entire lesson with the child. There is no busy work involved though the lessons have a lot of repetition.  A pdf workbook is also provided but not every lesson has pages to work.

Professor B has three levels and covers the following topics:

LEVEL I

Pre-K though 2nd grade 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

LEVEL II 

3rd grade through 5th grade and remediation of older learners.

Multiplication/Division Facts and Problem Solving 

Introduction to Fractions 

Fractional Equivalence 

Addition and Subtraction Fractions

LEVEL III 

6th through 8th grades and remediation of older learners.

Multiplication/Division of Fractions

Decimals 

Percents

There is a free placement test on the Shop Our Products section of the website. You will also find sample lessons there. Professor B runs on java and is presented in a power-point style.

Once you log in to the e-learning section of the website you come to this screen where you can access the lessons and the workbook, It also gives instructions for how to use the program.



The first lessons use combinations of fingers to teach how many.  Later objects are also used for counting.

I love the way Professor B teaches place value.  It really makes sense.

Here are two partial worksheet samples from Level 1.

A worksheet to be done orally

A sample written worksheet

A printable certificate is available for each level

What We Like:
I like the way Professor B teaches math.  Descriptions are thorough and often different from other math programs.
There is no teacher prep involved.
No busy work.


What We Don't Like:
The pages are slow loading (see the sample lessons for an idea of what I mean). I don't like waiting.
The lessons can be too long causing the child to lose interest.
I have to read as if I am the bee and it doesn't feel natural to me. (There is no audio at all in Professor B. Read why here.)
The font is small.
There are times when you can clearly tell that this is designed for a classroom.
It doesn't keep track of which lessons you used so you need to come up with a way to remember where you are (more difficult when using with more than one student.)
The website can be confusing especially when first starting out.

Will We Continue to Use this?

Ellie (4) absolutely loves Professor B and I think it has been very helpful for Connor (11 with Down syndrome) so yes, despite the lengthy list of things I don't care for, the benefits outweigh my personal dislike for some parts of Professor B.

Pricing is as follows:
1 level $20 a month
2 levels $35 a month
3 levels $45 a month

If you purchase by the month it will be set up with automatic renewal and be charged to your credit card until you cancel. You can also purchase one year for $220 per level and receive a free mug and t-shirt. You can call to get a free 30 day trial. 678-765-6655

Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to see what other crew members think of Professor B. Feel free to ask questions in the comment section and I will answer if I can.

 Professor B also sells a textbook version of arithmetic and algebra, t-shirts and mugs.







disclaimer:  I received a one year subscription to Professor B (all 3 levels) in exchange for an honest review.

IXL.com

IXL  is a web-based math practice tool.  Students have access to unlimited math problems and over 1,000 topics from preschool right up through Algebra. IXL also offers a reports component that you can use monitor student progress closely. A detailed user guide is available that tells you how to best use IXL and directions for implementing some of the options available such as hiding the left navigation panel, grade levels and/or timer.

We first used ixl.com about a year ago.  IXL is short for I excel.  Did you already know that?  I had no idea until I started this review.  I just never put it together myself.  :)  Without purchasing ixl you can do 20 problems per day and this is what we did at the end of last school year.  I even considered purchasing it but ended up doing something else.

I mainly had my 4 year old and 9 year old daughters giving this one a try.  Ellie (4) does like this, but has a short attention span with it and only wants to do it for a few minutes (she is only 4 after all.)  Emma (9) doesn't like it (it IS math you know.)  I personally think it makes a great supplement for math practice for any child.  For younger children I think you could easily use this as your complete curriculum.  For older children I think it would be best used as a supplement because it is practice. No teaching is given. Explanations are given after incorrect answers if you click for them. (An example is shown below.)

You can go on to the next problem by clicking OK or click on  "Explanation"  and a
box like the one below will come up.

If important to you, IXL is fully aligned to each of the 50 state's standards and you are able to monitor your child's progress toward those standards if you wish.  (This is not something I do, but thought my readers might like to know.)

IXL provides a multitude of different reports so you can monitor your child's progress.  Using charts and graphs such as the one above you can find out exactly how your child is doing, what they've spent time working on (and how long), what they have mastered and what they need work on. Reports are emailed to you each week so you don't even have to think about it. :)

Under settings you can hide grade levels (they show as letters instead), skill menus and the timer if you wish.
This can be less distracting for your children. (We kept ours on.)

Membership benefits:

• Complete coverage of math curriculum from pre-K to algebra. 
• Unlimited questions in over 2,000 skills.
• Fun and colorful practice formats.
• Questions that adapt to your child's ability, increasing in difficulty as they improve.
• Immediate feedback and question-specific explanations to solidify understanding of each concept.
• Audio for all pre-K through first-grade skills.
• Weekly e-mail updates on your child's progress.
• Informative, detailed reports pointing out successes and trouble spots.Awards and certificates for you and your children to print out as they reach important milestones.

One of my favorite features of IXL is the awards tab.  Each grade level has a page as shown above and they earn "prizes" to fill up the board as they go. If you have a child that is motivated by this sort of thing (I would be) it will be wonderful for you.  (My kids don't seem to be motivated by it unfortunately.)  To the right of the chart they will see the details of what awards they've earned, how many questions they have answered, how long they have practiced for, how many topics they have mastered, the prizes they have revealed and what they have to do to get their next award.

In the first three levels there are sound icons that students can click on to have the problems read to them.  You can see it just before the sentence, "Which picture shows 2 dots?" below.

The one capability this program is missing is the ability to assign certain problems or even set it so students can only see their own grade level.

Don't forget you can try IXL.com free.  (20 problems a day)  IXL is completely online.  There is nothing to download.  You just sign in and go.

You can purchase IXL math subscriptions for $9.95 a month or $79 a year (which is only $6.58 a month).  Extra children are just $2 more a month or $20 more a year for a subscription.

IXL supports the following Operating Systems and browsers:

It is recommended that you have at least 256MB of installed RAM, and you should set your display to a resolution of 1024x768 with 32-bit color depth. You will need an internet connection as well as Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Reader (both available free).

See what others are saying about IXL on the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog.







disclaimer:  I received 6 month IXL.com subscriptions for 3 children in exchange for an honest review.