Educo Grade 4- A Review – The Delight Directed Homeschooler

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

One of the most furstrating and most questioned subject in a homeschooler’s life is math. I don’t know any of my homeschooling friends who hasn’t wondered if their child is going to make it! Math can put a stress on the parent child relationship like nothing I’ve ever seen! I know some parents that just throw their hands up and say, “Forget it!” I know we’ve had our ups and downs. I’ve out sourced and then brought it back home, tried different curriculum, used a tutor. There is just something about homeschool math that can make you lose your mind!

I’m always interested in reviews involving math curriculum… if not for my own sanity, at least for the ability to help other moms looking fo a life boat! We recently were given the chance to check out Educo Learning Center. This is a complete program for kindergarten through 8th grade. The program tutorials, practice problems, quizzes and tests for each level. The program is online, but we also received a physical workbook as a companion. We were given a one year subscription of Grade 4 to review.

The eight sections included in Math Grade 4 include:

Number Sense
Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers
Multiplication, Division, Multiples, and Factors
Fractions
Decimal Fractions
Sequences and Patterns
Measurement
Geometry

The wesbite is easy enough to navigate. When the student logs on, they are taken to the dashboard. On the left side are the sections (listed above). In the middle are the individual lessons that accompany the sections. If a student needs to take a break, they can choose to quit and come back later. I like that option. There are some programs we have reviewed in the past that don’t give the option to resume. You just have to complete the entire set at once in order to move on. We really liked that she could take a break and come back if when ready.

Each section, or chapter, has a pre-test, tutorials, lesson pages, quizzes, and a post test. The quizzes are very similar to the practice pages. The main difference is with the practice pages, students get instant feedback, but not with the quizzes. There are also activities for students that include things like number puzzles and number races. The workbook includes over 3000 different types of questions, several practice sheets on each concept, review questions, and critical thinking activities. The workbook includes the answer key as well. It does not have solutions, but has the answers. Like… not the steps to get to the answers. I don’t know if older grades would include solutions or not. I can handle grade 4, but once they get into middle school… I need it spelled out for me so I can help my kids.

As part of our experience, I also had access to the parent portal. I can log on and see progress reports. I can click to see which activities my child has completed and how much time she spends on each activity. Some of the features/ graphics make me think of back in my college days. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with them. They just look a little vintage/ old school.

You could choose to use Math from Educo Learning Center as a full math curriculum or to supplement the program you are already working with. We used it more as a supplement… two or three times per week to help reinforce concepts being learned in our core math program.

The program is aligned with common core if that is something you are looking for. The company does offer a trial period if you want to check it out before committing.