Math is a subject that can be really dry and boring, but it doesn’t have to be!  Over the past several weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to review the GPALOVEMATH program from GPA LEARN.  It is a web-based program to teach kids in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade math in a fun, interactive, and rewarding way.

GPALOVEMATH

This online program can be used on many devices and through several browsers.  Currently supported are: Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac computers, Apple iPad, and Samsung Galaxy Tab 4.  Their supported browsers are Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari 6 & 7.

We exclusively used on our computers with the Chrome browser.  We never experienced any glitches or issues at all, which is amazing for any web-based program and really boosted my confidence in it from the get-go.  I love when a program is on top of this, because it is imperative that it works all the time so that my kids can work truly independently.  Call me a tech nerd (you should meet my husband!), but I really do get giddy over smooth, reliable web-based content. 🙂

I signed all three of my older kids up for the program.  They recently made it possible for each user account/child to have access to all levels of the program.  This feature is perfect if you’re not quite sure which level your child will be working at.  My 5 year old primarily worked at a Kindergarten level, and my 2nd grader worked in the 3rd grade part.  My 4th grader worked on her regular grade level.

The program has different paths that they can work through.  There is the green path, purple path, and blue path.  No matter which path they choose, they must complete one to move on to the next.  I love the sequential order, and the motivation to complete and master one thing before moving on.

Note: Parents are able to unlock these without a student completing it if needed from the parent account.  This makes it really easy to pick out a specific skill to have your child work on for extra practice right then.  For those using the program and trying to figure out how to do this (and for my own future reference!), first log in to your account.  Click on “learn” and select the child’s name.  Just below their name, change them from “recommended order” to “__ grade topics”.  Then you will see circles, and below them are  subtopics.  Click on the topic you are wanting your child to do, and then it will take you to a screen with the subtopics.  Pick which one you want, and a green box will say START and you can have your child work on it that way.

Another way to customize their journey would be to change them from doing things in the Recommended Order to completing tasks by specific topics or standards.  It is simple to change that over, particularly if you want them working on specific things rather than completing the whole variety of grade-level skills.

Under the LEARN tab, students can see what lessons they have completed on the various tasks.  My son Heath loved the Purple Path the best, so he spent most of his time there during this review period.

As they choose a lesson to work on, the skills being taught in the lesson are shown.  For anyone that has to report certain learning or standards to their state or umbrella schools, this is helpful information.

There is the Instruction part of the lesson, then Practice, and finally a quiz to see how well they retained and understood the information.

The lessons are presented in colorful videos.  Each grade level has a different “learning coach” character or set of characters.  My son doing the 3rd grade level loves his guy, which is a robot named Abacus.  My son doing kindergarten level has Detective Digits guiding him along.  My 4th grade daughter has Pemdas, a scholarly owl, which you can meet in this video below.

4th Grade Learning Coach from GPA LEARN on Vimeo.

These coaches are interlaced in all of the lessons, so the kids are able to get familiar with them as they help them through each of the lessons.  It’s a familiar “face” the kids have grown used to and enjoy quite a bit.

My kids spent their time completing about one lesson a day.  Some of the lessons took them a long time, and others weren’t quite as long.  My youngest son would sometimes take up to 20 minutes or so to get through a lesson.  My older students usually spent less time than that.

I love that my children were taught math-related vocabulary through the course of their lessons!

Each time the kids completed a lesson, I got an email.  As you can see, it let me know what the lesson was about, when they started and finished it, how long it took, and how well they did on the quiz.

GPALOVEMATH Motivation

Another fun feature of this program were the rewards built into it.  You can add in your own rewards or use the ones that are auto built in.  I put rewards in there like picking and reading a story with me before bed, building an indoor fort that day, an extra 15 minutes of TV time, and stay up 15 minutes extra after bedtime.  These rewards can be set to be unlocked after they complete certain numbers of lessons and that is completely customizable.

There are also rewards that can be earned sponsored by Great Parent Academy!  Each lesson students complete has a specific point value, so as kids complete their lessons, they earn points to redeem.  Heath earned enough points to redeem for a $10 Target e-gift card, and several of my friends let their children redeem their points for Toys R Us gift cards.  Talk about motivation to get through lessons!

GPA Final Thoughts

All three of my kids enjoyed using this program.  I plan to continue having them work on it, especially during the summer.  I want them to keep their math skills sharp between our school years.  I do think this could be used as a standalone program, though we are using it as a supplement.  There are 150 lessons and each grade has well over 10,000 practice problems, which is plenty to keep them busy over the course of the school year.

It is priced at $149 per year, per child.  They do have a special code to save $20 on the year, making it $129 annually per child when you use the code GPAINTRO15.  Remember, each child has access to all of the grade levels available, so you can move them around depending on what they know or need to work on.  Alternatively, you could subscribe monthly at a rate of $12.99 per student.

Prior to this review, I had never heard of Great Parents Academy.  I’m glad to have had the chance to give their curriculum a try with my kids.  This is a program that will help your child love math.  Through the fun math games and videos, as well as plenty of practice, they are able to move through the skills and subjects necessary to master concepts at their grade level in a way that they will remember.

I also love the different ways to give students incentives to complete their lessons.  Who wouldn’t want to work through these when there is real, tangible a reward waiting for them?

We love it, and I’ll bet that your kids will, too!  If you’re interested in seeing how other families used the program, click this banner below.