Oh, Bostonian, you beat me to it. I meant to post about TenMarks as well. Our district has a link for all the students to sign up for it for the summer since it is free for the summer. I signed up my kids a few weeks ago. Keep in mind you should input their math grade rather than their school grade. For example, DD is an incoming 6th grader who is scheduled for Pre-Algebra so she registered as an a 7th grader (standard grade for Pre-Algebra here) to get review topics from 6th grade math plus some challenge topics from 7th grade math (elementary math/Pre-Algebra). Although we had to input our school when we registerd, it does allow (even encourage) you to change the "grade" at will if the assessment results warrant it. Of course, this would wipe out all the previous assignments but no big deal if it was an obvious bad fit. The alternative is simply to customize your own program since the parent can add/delete topics/assignments at will. Actually, it encourages you to do so to get a more accurate fit. Basically, it provides an assessment, and the result determines which topics/assignments to do. DD has about 40+ topics. I believe the program is designed to be completed with just one hour a week (for 3 assignments)over three months, so essentially thirteen hours of work. Keep in mind that it can be much shorter for a fast kid and much longer for a slow kid. DS, who is mathy, can complete an assignment in 5-15 minutes (occasionally a bit shorter and occasionally a bit longer). Obviously, you can spend as much time as you want by adding more topics.
According to my kids, it is better than Aleks, mostly because it is more fun. According to my DD, it teaches better than ALEKS since you can access the instruction and hints at will. My assessment would be that it is not particularly worthwhile for a mathy kid like DS, who is better off with competition type math or discrete math topics not taught in school. It is pretty good for DD who is not mathy but bright enough to breeze through standard GT curriculum. I am finding it useful mostly for my cognitively impaired oldest, who has completed Algebra I, II and Geometry, but hasn't done school math in a while and can use review and opportunities to exercise his brain. This program, like most others, are geared toward the average students but can work for garden variety GT students. In that market, it is probably better than Study Island as well.
Last edited by Quantum2003; 07/14/14 01:57 PM.
