A+ TutorSoft, Inc.

Hello, welcome, glad you made it over here :) It feels like a good day to talk about Math.  This month, our family has been giving A+ TutorSoft, Inc. a whirl, specifically the 2nd grade online version of A+ Interactive MATH .

So if you will now please open your textbooks up to page. . . oh, wait a second! I said ONLINE program didn't I? Sorry about that. Back to the current century. Gotta love the ease of an online program, especially a math program that not only offers instruction on the basics, but includes colorful characters, practice sheets that may be customized by the teacher (that's you! :)), printable certificates of completion, and more! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

From the beginning. . .


The setup of this program was quite simple, thanks to the helpful folks at A+ TutorSoft, Inc.
There are 2 ways to log in, one as parent, and one as student. You can take a placement test to see which level best fits your student. As I briefly mentioned above, we worked at the 2nd grade level.

This program works well with children of varying abilities and learning styles. That appealed to me, as Math has been a little sticky for my girl, and I liked the idea of having lessons taught from  a few different angles (see what I did there? A little Math humor for ya).

A drop down menu on the left of the screen allows you to select the exact lesson you want to work on - addition, subtraction, time, money, etc. . . Clicking on a + sign in front of one of those titles will display further choices. For example,  if I wanted to work on addition, I clicked on the + sign, and then chose what kind of addition:

- Addition using objects
- Addition using regrouping
- Addition with carrying numbers

And so on. There are a LOT of choices. It's pretty awesome.

The lessons begin with the "teacher" explaining the lesson, with colorful characters providing the visuals. You then have the option of some interactive practice. This consists of a group of questions that your student will complete using the technique just learned. A cartoon frog will be the spot where the answers are submitted- on its tummy to be precise- and then your child will click on "Submit".
At the end of the session, you have the option of printing out a certificate of completion, which keeps track of your little learner's scores.

To provide further help, instruction, and progress, there are quizzes, exams, worksheets and more. There is SO much available here! When I tell you that there are worksheets available, I mean that you'll find them for skip counting, fractions, multiplication, division, estimating, and on and on they go. It's all here! Wow.

If you find that you have a question or issue, you'll find the support team friendly and helpful.

Now, for our family's thoughts.


We have mixed results here. As for me, I think this is a great program. I thought the teaching times were very helpful, with good visuals. From the teacher side of things, I just love all of the worksheets, and the vast amount of material covered. I like having the progress reports to see what, if any, improvement we need.
There is a also a good support system if I find that I am in need. I think this is a great value overall.

My daughter has a slightly different opinion. This was a program that she struggled with. There were a couple of aspects that caused frustration. The biggest was the way the math problems are laid out, which happens to be horizontally. She has a hard time figuring the problems in this way. Vertically is just a better way for her to get the problems done, at least for now.
My solution for this was for her to keep a notebook at the computer so she could work out the problems that way.

The teaching sections went a little faster than she would have preferred, and often left her feeling confused.

The last issue is the way that answers are submitted. I mentioned that they are put on the frog's stomach, and then you click "Submit". Often, my girlie would click "Next" instead - it was just kind of instinctual - and that caused a few wrong answers, as  a new problem came up.


What she DID like, a LOT, were the printable certificates of completion, which she carried throughout the house.
She also did well with the worksheets, because they present the math problems vertically.

Overall, I think this is a great online program to try out, whether you have a student who is struggling or not. Check them out and see what you think :)





A+ TutorSoft, Inc.

A+ Interactive Math - Online Homeschool Edition, 2nd Grade

Price:   Monthly, $19.99  Quarterly, $49.99  Full Year $124.99 
As an extra incentive to give A+ a try, you can receive 50% off of your purchase by using the coupon code SPOFFER50
This offer is good now through the end of March.


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