Math Tutor DVD
This time I’m going to review two DVDs I received from Math Tutor DVD as part of the TOS homeschool review crew. The DVDs are called “The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor” and “Young Minds Numbers and Counting.”
I never knew any of these kinds of DVDs existed. The word problem DVD is 8 hours of video on a 2 DVD set. The instruction is given by one man who walks you through all the types of word problems that you would encounter in elementary and Junior High (basically addition, subtraction, multiplying, dividing, fractions, percents, ratios and proportion).
He provides calm and simple instruction. He emphasizes being able to read and understand what the problems is asking for. The only thing I would like to see is more visuals here. He does draw some pictures after he talks for a while. I think it would hold the student’s attention better if he started drawing right away and then talking about the drawing. When he talks about the subtraction terms to look for in a problem, it would be better if he wrote these on the board right away.
My 8 year old son watched these and commented that this was “interesting and OK.” He seems to understand word problems anyways. If you want your child to watch videos of how to do word problems, then The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor is for you. It sells for $26.99. For a limited time you get a free hour of live online tutoring which is a $35 value through tutor.com.
Sometimes students understand concepts better when someone else other than the parent explains them. They might understand them better as a video program too.
I was able to review a second DVD from this company called Young Minds Numbers and Counting. I wish I had this DVD when my children were younger! They use wonderful photographs (mostly of animals) to teach children how to count. There is classical music playing in the background too.
The children see pictures and numbers up through the number 10. For example, they will see 2 dump trucks and the video will count out and show the numbers one and two on the dump trucks. This video is very enjoyable to watch. You can view a sample video here.
There are also puzzles that teach counting with beautiful pictures, connect the dots, and guess the animals. My son enjoyed watching the connect the dots and seeing the finished picture. My son and my 14 year old daughter REALLY enjoyed the “guess the animal” game on the DVD. They show a close up of an animal and gradually zoom out so that you can see the whole picture. It’s fun to see them try to guess the animal before they see the whole picture.
If you want a fun and interesting way to teach children how to count with vivid pictures, then Young Minds Numbers and Counting is for you! It is $24.99. We loved it even though my children were well beyond the age recommended for this DVD.
As with all their DVDs, they come with a money back guarantee.
As a member of the Homeschool Crew, I was given this product to review. I was not paid for this post and do not have to return the product to the vendor. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the blog owner (me).
