Math is one of those subjects that for me, personally, can be difficult to teach at times. Math is something that needs to be explained in a way that is understood by the student, in order to grasp the concepts needed to advance through math levels. Sometimes, a little extra help is needed. What choice do homeschoolers have? How about a tutor on DVD?
The first DVD is Young Minds Numbers & Counting. Now, this is a bit young for the ages of my children, so I decided to watch the DVD myself and tell you what I think about it for young students.
Young Minds Numbers & Counting teaches children to count from 1 to 10. This DVD plays classical music selections in the background. The music plays, while a young child narrates during a display of photos and videos of animals, insects, and various other objects. The photos and videos are of high quality and sound. Children can watch and count along with the narrator. I believe this DVD to be engaging, and should be able to hold a young child's interest while teaching counting from 1 to 10. This is something I would have loved to have had for my children back in the days when they were just learning their numbers. The photos of the animals and objects are outstanding, to say the least, and I feel the background music to be soothing, not distracting. A vast display of interesting objects will easily hold a young child's attention span.
Here's what is covered on this DVD:
- Learn to recognize the numbers 1-10
- Associate the number with physical objects
- Count from 1-10
- Animal names and sounds
- Fruits and vegetables
- Names of colors
- Names of machines, such as cars, airplanes, etc.
The DVD also includes the following bonus features:
- Repeat Play ~ for children to watch the video again
- Guess the Animal ~ verbal clues are given while showing a little bit of the animal at one time
- Connect the Dots ~ watch the narrator count and connect the dots to form a picture
- Picture puzzles ~ count along while putting puzzle pieces together to form a picture using more stunning photos.
This DVD has won several awards, including parenting and toy awards.
I highly recommend this DVD for your young child or preschool student.
If you'd like, you can read view screenshots, as well as a sample of the video here.
At the time of this post, this DVD is available for $19.99 on their website.
The second DVD I received from Math Tutor DVD is The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor. This is an 8-hour total 2-DVD set, and covers 15 topics taught generally in grades 1 through 7.
Included on the DVDs are:
Disc 1
- Adding whole numbers
- Subtracting whole numbers
- Multiplying whole numbers
- Dividing whole numbers
- Adding decimals
- Subtracting decimals
- Multiplying decimals
- Dividing decimals
Disc 2
- Adding fractions
- Subtracting fractions
- Multiplying fractions
- Dividing fractions
- Percents, part 1
- Percents, part 2
- Ratio and proportion
The instructor stands in front of the whiteboard, and works problems step by step with the student. The great thing about a DVD, is the student can pause, rewind, and replay until they get the concept down. The instructor explains how important it is to learn how to do word problems, as they are used in everyday math. He also emphasizes how key words can give the student an idea on what steps they will take to compute the word problem. The word problems are displayed in text on the screen while the instructor reads along. He also gives plenty of tips along the way to avoid making mistakes while working the problems. He uses numbers on the board as well as drawings to demonstrate, while talking the student through the problems. I thought he did an excellent job of being very through in explaining the concepts covered. Another thing that I like about this DVD is that it can be used for a broad range of ages, and with the DVD Menu, the student can work directly on sections where they need the extra help. I really like this kind of "tutor"!
If you'd like, you can view screenshots of this DVD here.
I also recommend this DVD, I think it is a good buy for the concepts covered as thoroughly as they are with plenty of practice. I like how the instructor starts right away working the problems with the student.
At the time of this post, this DVD is available for $26.99 on their website.
Math Tutor DVD offers a wide variety of Math DVDs. To learn more, please visit their website. To read my Crewmates thoughts on these products, please visit the TOS Crew Page for Math Tutor DVD.
*The author’s review and opinion is entirely her own. This product was provided to the author for free as a member of the 2009-2010 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. No further compensation was received.*
0 comments:
Post a Comment