Math Essentials Math Refresher for Adults Review

My family had the privilege of trying Math Refresher for Adults from Math Essentials for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Math Essentials was created by Richard W. Fisher, a math instructor for the Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California, for over 31 years. This company creates award winning math materials to help teach and learn mathematics. These are easy to use and easy to understand. Rick creates books, DVD’s, and a world-class online instructional program.

The Math Refresher for Adults...The Perfect Solution is a physical, softcover book by Richard W. Fisher. It is part of the Mastering Essential Math Skills series. This book goes through and gives a refresher course for anyone that needs one. It covers: Basic General Math, Geometry, Problem Solving, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra. Each lesson is short, concise, and easy to understand. Each lesson has review exercises, two sample problems, and a small section to take notes. There is a corresponding video tutorial for each lesson in the book taught by Rick Fisher. This book is perfect for those that: have forgotten the math that they were taught, struggle with math, have been away from math too long, want to teach their homeschooled kids math, want to be able to help their kids with math homework, have a math placement/competency test coming up, or are English Language Learners learning math.

General Math Main Chapters include:

• Whole Numbers
• Fractions
• Decimals
• Percents
• Geometry
• Integers
• Charts and Graphs
• Word Problems

Pre-Algebra and Algebra Chapters include:

• sets
• integers
• positive and negative numbers
• exponents
• square roots
• order of operations
• properties of numbers
• scientific notation
• ratios and proportions
• percents
• number theory
• number lines
• coordinate systems
• slope
• graphing linear equations
• equations
• algebra word problems
• probability
• statistics

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used Math Essentials Math Refresher for Adults for myself as a refresher in math; primarily in Pre-Algebra and Algebra and as a math refresher for my kids. I also used this book with a neighbor child that I am tutoring this summer to get his math skills up to where his level should be. This book is very efficient in teaching the math skills we all need to know to succeed. Math is super important to learn and apply in our lives. Math is so easy to forget if we don't keep using what we learned. Unfortunately the overuse of calculators and other technology to do the math work for us is helping make people lazy and forgetful. This book is wonderful for not only adults that have forgotten math or were not taught it well, but children/teens that need this refresher as well.

Changing improper fractions to mixed number or whole number.

For now I focused on fractions with the kid that I am tutoring math to because that was where he was having the most trouble. This book has been a great help for both me and him. He is now grasping the concepts so much better. I liked how it recommends that you write the problem out in a notebook or on a separate sheet of paper along with your work so you don't have to write in the book.

The book also says it comes with video instruction, however; finding which videos went with this book was a bit difficult since they do not have this book listed under the video section yet. After some looking into, we did find that the videos for the other books still correspond with the information in this book. The videos are to the point and easy to understand without any bells and whistles. The book goes in a great sequential order that is wonderful for relearning basics, pre-algebra, and algebra.

Math Essentials Videos

I highly recommend this book for anyone needs a refresher on math. It is a great tool to help remember the math you learned years ago...or teach struggling math learners. It is also very affordable for anyone to purchase.

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You can purchase the Math Essentials Math Refresher for Adults book for $28.95.

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LearnBop for Families Review

My family had the privilege of trying the LearnBop for Families Family Plan from LearnBop for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

LearnBop

LearnBop is a self-paced online math learning program that adapts with the student to strengthen math skills. LearnBop is associated with K-12. This online math tutor subscription offers levels from grades 3-12 (grades 3-8 plus high school Algebra 1, Algebra II, and Geometry). This is personalized math support at home or on the go. This program tutors students step-by-step, just like a person would. LearnBop is on your schedule because your student can access it from a tablet or a PC anytime with online access. As the parent/teacher you get to monitor progress of the student as well. There is a version for schools and a version for families.

LearnBop Dashboard

LearnBop for Families is a brand-new math offering for homeschoolers, but the content has been available to schools for some time. There are two different plans for LearnBop for Families. The Family Plan is for up to 4 students and the Single Student Plan is for just one student. You can either subscribe month to month or prepaid for 12 months total.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I received the LearnBop for Families Family Plan prepaid twelve month subscription for up to 4 students. When I logged on I set up my three oldest kids' accounts. Delbin is 15 and Jaedan is 14 and I set them both up for HS-Algebra I. For the review though, I am going to be only focusing on Teela, my oldest girl, who is 8 years old. First they each got to choose a character for their avatar. These characters each have a different "math power". Delbin chose the Codebreaker with the math power of Cryptography. Jaedan chose the Pirate Navigator with the math power of Celestial Navigation. Teela also chose the Pirate Navigator (only female version) one which has the math power of Celestial Navigation. I had Teela's account set on Grade 3 which I got to choose at the beginning. This is the lowest grade level that can be chosen.

Teela is currently in second grade going into third. She wasn't too thrilled to be doing math because it is her least favorite subject, but we set up a reward system so that she would do the work and I think it payed off. She was of course learning stuff in math that we hadn't really touched on yet, but she was learning it and gaining understanding of the concepts. I wished LearnBop had a second grade as well so Teela could review all the math concepts we learned this year before moving on to third grade, but they don't.

LearnBop starts everyone off with a warm-up to place them better. This doesn't tell your student how well they did or how many they missed, but is a sort of assessment to see what concepts they know. After the warm-up the students are introduced to the first unit.

The units in grade three start in multiplication and division and end in computing fluently. There are 13 total units in grade 3. The student has to get at least 90% mastery on each concept within the units to complete them and earn achievement awards.

Teela working on math problems and watching video lessons in LearnBop.

LearnBop has the student watch three videos before solving mastery practice problems called "bops" and if they don't get the concepts by then there are extra video lessons that they can watch. After watching these they go onto solving "bops". If they get the question right the percentage score goes up and if the student gets it wrong they are given the chance to answer questions that will help them master the question they failed.

I get to monitor progress and statistics by looking at the Dashboard. This shows me the roadmap, current unit, active concept, recent progress, and achievement awards. The page also shows a "growth mindset" which is a saying or quote to motivate the student. The teacher/parent can also go to another student's account from here as well.

Teela showed a lot of progress the three days a week we used this so far. She has grown immensely in comprehension and has more confidence in her abilities solving math problems on her own. LearnBop has taught her that she can gain a deeper understanding in math and enjoy it too.

LearnBop for Families is perfect for homeschooling families or families that have a need of extra math help. This is great for math tutoring in Basic Math, Geometry, Algebra, Pre-algebra, Trigonometry, Math Problems, Fractions, Decimals, etc.


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Purchase LearnBop for Families. Single Student Plan: Subscription (month to month) $14.95, Prepaid (12 months prepaid) $149.95 (Two Months Free!). Family Plan — Up to 4 Students: Subscription (month to month) $19.95, Prepaid (12 months prepaid) $199.95.

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SimplyFun Shape Whiz Board Game Review

My family had the privilege of trying SimplyFun Shape Whiz for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

SimplyFun is a company that is dedicated to providing fun products that also teach important skills. These award winning educational games help families spend more quality time together and create meaningful relationships. SimplyFun has games for all ages and and stages, even ones especially for special needs and autism.

My family loves all types of games; whether it be board games, card games, video games, relay races, competitions, etc. We love testing our skill, wit, speed, and strategy. Games are great opportunities to get together with family and friends and have a great time. They help us learn how to: take turns, think ahead, make choices, have consequences for our actions, cooperate, work as a team, and be a good sport. We love family game night because it strengthens family ties & bonds, and builds memories. We also love educational games for homeschool and we always like getting new games to add to our collection because it means a chance to try something different.

My family got the opportunity to try a SimplyFun game called, Shape Whiz. Shape Whiz is a fast paced card game that teaches 2D geometry, shape measurement, and math symbols. It is for 2 to 4 players and is geared towards ages 10 and up. With this board game for kids you learn about all kinds of Geometry: signs and symbols, angles, curves, sides, line of symmetry, parallel lines, polygon, same or equivalent, approximate area, area of a rectangle, area of a square, area of a triangle, area of a parallelogram, area of a trapezoid, area of a circle, approximate perimeter or circumference, perimeter of a polygon, circumference of a circle, and Pythagorean Theorem.

Contents of Shape Whiz

Included in the game's box are 80 Shape Cards, 40 Whiz Cards, and an instruction booklet on the rules of how to play. The Shape Cards have two different sets; 45 total simple shapes (9 blue shapes in 5 sizes) and 35 total complex shapes (7 green shapes in 5 sizes). These have a shape on a grid on the front and shape properties on the back. Whiz Cards tell you a geometry clue and question for helping you to find the correct Shape Card. Whiz Cards are double sided. The instruction booklet has nice color diagrams and helps you with the game play. The main points it goes through and tells us are: what's in the box, game objective, game set up, game play, game end, principles of geometry, and credits.

Shape Whiz Game Objective

The objective of the game and layout is fairly simple. You can play Shape Whiz one of two different ways. You can use both the green and blue shape cards for advanced play or just the blue shape cards for a simpler version of the game. Each player gets a stack of shape cards and puts down three of them in front of them facing up so that you can see the shape of each. Then a Whiz Card from the deck is played in the center of the table. The objective of the game is to race your opponent(s) to find the correct shape from all the available shape cards facing up that matches the geometry clue or question on the Whiz Card in play. Everyone playing must accept that the shape card picked first is a match or flip the card over to check the shape properties on the back to make sure that it is. The first person that gets rid of their Personal Shape Card Stack wins. The games are supposed to be only take about 10-15 minutes.

The above math error we found in the Shape Whiz instruction booklet and the correct math in Google.**

My boys are just the right ages for this game since they are 13 and 14. They have touched on all of these geometry concepts in their math books, but needed some review. Before we started we reviewed all of the instruction booklet. We went over everything including the geometry principles. Right away we found a error within the booklet. On page 7 of the rules booklet, down at the bottom, it says, "Circumference of a Circle: C = 2 * π * r² (π ≈ 3.14)". It is supposed to say Circumference of a Circle: C = 2 * π * r (π ≈ 3.14). **

Also we thought that when it comes to the shapes with curves, the rules for if a shape has sides and how many were a little arbitrary. The game refers to circles and tear drop shapes as having no sides and a half circle/oval as having two. Some mathematicians say that a circle has infinitely many infinitesimal sides. The question, "How many sides does a circle have?", is too ambiguous to have a definite answer. "Side" is a term that, in my honest opinion, should only be reserved for polygons, a plane figure with at least three straight sides and angles. But the booklet does spell out their definition of the words angles, curves, different length sides, line of symmetry, parallel lines, polygon, same or equivalent, and side. Their definition of a side is "a line between two points", so if you go with that definition for the game you are good to go, just remember that some of their definitions don't always apply for some geometry.

Shape Whiz card game in play

My boys are always pretty competitive with each other. At first, arguments broke out over who was first putting their card down and whose card was correct. The shape properties on the back of the Shape Cards were confusing to them sometimes. My boys were over thinking everything which made the game drag out a lot longer than it was supposed to. They were also having trouble reading the greater than and less than symbols out loud correctly. Frustration levels were pretty high and I had to jump in the middle of the game sometimes to play referee. Once they got the hang of how to play better they did calm down and have a better game.

I wish I could say that this game was perfect. I wanted so much to give it a better review, but the math in it is a little flawed. I know that it is hard to please everyone when you are a company. Shape Whiz is a product that still has a lot of potential to be great in my opinion. It just needs a bit of reworking.

UPDATE: **I did contact SimplyFun and they have given me a new PDF copy of instructions with the circumference error fixed. Those of you that already have the game can get a new PDF version from the company or just fix the error in your own booklet.

BUY IT
If you do decide to purchase Shape Whiz, you can for $24. If Homeschooling you can join SimplyFun's program for Homeschoolers. Save 15% on every purchase for a year for just $19, receive 2 FREE games when you join and get access to other great benefits and specials.

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