MyMathLab Algebra 2 ~ Schoolhouse Crew Review

General Background Information

When I first saw that the Pearson Homeschool materials were being offered for review, I was instantly taken back to my elementary school days. It appeared to be very textbook-oriented, and I immediately had a negative attitude toward it (just being transparent, here.) It wasn't because it was a textbook (I happened to LOVE textbooks as a kid), but Dawson has not done well with textbooks in the past.

Dawson and I were having our typical end-of-the-year discussion about his math curriculum. We have attempted to use some tried-and-true-highly-recommended-and-often-used math curriculums that just did not work for him. But, at the end of the year he is always convinced that his current math curriculum is "too easy" with not enough problems, and so he wants to explore some other opportunities. I, on the other hand, don't want to spend hundreds more dollars on math curriculums that he hates. (And, quite honestly, I think the reason why he thinks his current math curriculum is "too easy" is because he actually understands what he is doing.)

This review came at the perfect time. We have looked extensively at the materials and Dawson has said that he really wants to give it a try next year. So, that's what we are going to do. (Honestly, the fact that he wants to give it a try is a winning initial endorsement! Way to go, Pearson! It was attractive enough to interest my teenager who really dislikes math.)

The Review

The materials I received were a Parent Access Kit and a Student Access Kit for MyMathLab Algebra 2. It only took a few minutes to follow the specific instructions to set up the class.

Once the class was created, I spent a great deal of time perusing the site and getting familiar with the way the program works.

Dawson spent time going through the first lessons, watching some tutorials and animations, and reading the eTextbook material. As we want this to be our curriculum for next year, when he starts school in mid-August, he did not do very many assignments. Instead, I wanted him to get a feel for how the program worked and the different items available in the media library. Again, he said he wants to give it a shot next year, so that is a positive endorsement from him.

What I liked:

• I can set up my own calendar with assignments and due dates. If the "boxed" curriculum is not working for us, I can adjust his daily assignments to fit our needs. Dawson can just open up his calendar to see what he needs to do that day.
• There are many ways for Dawson to learn the material. There is an eTextbook, tutorials, animations, Power Point presentations, chapter test study tutorials, and more. This will be great for Dawson. If he is having trouble learning it one way, he will have opportunities to look at the concepts from different angles.
• There is immediate feedback. So if a question is missed, he will know why.
• He has to earn a 90% on each concept before he can move onto the next one.

This is a sample screenshot of the "page" Dawson works off of, including the calendar.

What I didn't like:

• This will involve a lot of me, I am afraid. I am used to him doing an assignment a day, reading the material himself, and self-teaching. The material, to me, looks difficult for me to help him with since I am not a math scholar.
• There are a LOT of questions for each concept, and I am afraid that after about one week Dawson is going to tell me that there is just too much to do in one day.
• I don't think it will work for Dawson's way of learning. He learns better in real-world situations and with short assignments (more of a Charlotte Mason way of learning.)

All this being said, we are going to give it a real shot. I am hoping that once he and I get into the materials, in more depth, that we will be able to work out a feasible daily schedule for him and still cover enough concepts for us to feel as though he has hit all necessary objectives for an Algebra 2 course. The website recommends that each unit be covered in a 3-week time span in order to cover all 10 units in 36 weeks. That might be doable, but will just require me to take the time to figure out how much he needs to do each day. (Might be more planning than my brain can handle. We'll see.)

Each of the Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 Student Access Kits are $49.97. The Parent Access Kit is an additional $30.00.

You can go HERE to read more about the products and Pearson Homeschool.

{Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I was provided this product free in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}

You can also see what other's thought of MyMathLab Algebra 2, and many other Pearson Homeschool products that were reviewed by going HERE.