Math Tutor Help with LearnBop

LearnBop has come up with a new way to practice math using their LearnBop for Families subscription. For the past several weeks, 2 of my children have had a chance to review grade 7 and Algebra I.

 LearnBop is an online math tutor program that tailors itself to students as they work through the program. It has been available to schools for awhile  but recently they opened it up to homeschool families (up to 4 children). It should be noted that it aligns with Common Core. You can purchase a monthly or yearly subscription. It is geared for students in grades 3-18 and also offers Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. The goal behind this program is to help children that may be struggling in math or to help fill in the gaps of concepts that they might be missing. The student can use this program on both a computer and iPad.
Each student is given a separate account. When they first login, they take what is called a "warm up". They are given a series of math questions to answer. They aren't told if these are right or wrong as the program is assessing what they know and where there may be a gap in something they need to learn. From there, the program then establishes the building blocks that they need to learn before moving on to the next concept.

From there, the student just follows the instructions that are laid out for them. This includes watching a video that shows them how to complete the steps to learn a math concept. Then they have to complete what is called "bops" which are a series of questions they have to complete. If they answer a question wrong, the program then breaks that math problem down into smaller steps and shows them how to complete it correctly. The student needs to get a 90% in order to obtain mastery to move on to the next concept. 

While working on completing the different tasks and bops, occasionally the student is given achievement awards to help keep them motivated. The student can also see where they are at on their when they first log in to their home page. It shows them how much they have completed, how much time they've spent on it and what concepts they have mastered.

Along with being able to set up individual student accounts, there is a separate login for parents to be able to see their child's progress. You can see exactly the progress each child has made. There is a road map for each child that states how many completed units are done on each road map, how much time they have spent on the program, what concept they are currently working on as well as the achievements they've been awarded.

I originally started Sarah & Erik in the level of math they just completed this year, grade 7 and Algebra I. We discovered the program was teaching them lessons a completely different way then they have learned. Because of this, the program interpreted that they didn't understand the concepts. We tried to go back a level but it was the same thing. They both use math videos for their regular math curriculum so it wasn't that they weren't used to being taught online. I just think the concepts were presented in a totally different way then they are used to. I tried it out myself and found some of the steps challenging. I think we need more time to try using this program to understand better their way of presenting the math concepts to better grasp it and we plan to continue to try to use it.
With that said, it is a well laid out math tutoring program. I like that when the student gets a problem wrong, they break the steps down to help them better understand how to solve it correctly rather than just check the problem off as wrong and move on. A student won't be able to learn why they got something wrong if it isn't explained to them so LearnBop nailed it with this important feature. I also like how this program customizes itself to each student to help fill in gaps that might be missing.
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