Back in October I told you about the Kaplan SmartTrack Online tutoring program MaM was beginning to use. Through Mom Central, she was offered the reading and math programs for several weeks for free. Of course while she’s supposed to use the computer a few times a week for a product trial is when our DSL would go on the fritz, but she did get into the habit of logging on a few days a week after school.
The reason I wanted her to try this program wasn’t because I felt she needed tutoring. I really wanted to see how she would do with more traditional instruction. Turns out, she did just fine.
It’s amazing to me how quickly children learn how to navigate websites. After logging in and selecting “math” or “reading”, she was able to immediately follow the instructions and get right to answering questions. Each session features kids building a clubhouse, and as she progresses through the session, the clubhouse would become completed.
The instructions were easy for her to follow, and she was able to navigate choosing and submitting her answer. Because she was working at the kindergarten and first grade levels, all of the instructions and questions were read aloud as well as written on the screen. There’s a button to repeat directions, and the answers are read as the arrow slides over each possibility.
In my other, pre-mom life, I worked at a private tutoring center in the evenings. This online program was similar in its approach, in that there is an assessment to start the program, and the work in each session builds upon developing skills. Unlike the tutoring center, however, parents can log into Kaplan and see their child’s progress at any time. Parents can see what skills have been mastered, what’s currently being presented and what’s to come.
One thing that was always challenging at the tutoring center is scheduling and rescheduling children for their sessions. This is where the Kaplan’s Tutoring program really makes sense– it’s at your family’s convenience. As motivation, children earn points every session, and after a few weeks, the points are redeemable for prizes.
MaM progressed nicely through the both programs, especially the math program. She was introduced to a lot of encouraging words, as she got answers corrected, the program offered the words,”Outstanding!” and “You’ve mastered this skill”. Once she knew what those words meant, she was thrilled. MaM got to the point where the program introduced a completely new concept, the concept of money. It was a good introduction to the topic, but she definitely needed to manipulate coins and have the some human interaction to really grasp the concept.
I think the Kaplan Tutoring would be a great tool to use for children who did need some practice in a certain area. It’s an economical way to measure what your child knows and how he’s progressing. I can definitely see it being useful in the long weeks of summer to keep your child engaged and continue to keep skills fresh.
Interested in trying this out for your own child? How does one month free sound? Follow this link: http://bit.ly/1mFREE to get a thirty day free trial.
Kaplan is also hosting a Make-A-Wish Charity “Like” Drive, where every time someone new likes a Kaplan Test Prep page, they donate a dollar to theMake-A-Wish Foundation (up to $50,000). To like the page and get a donation made, visit: http://www.kaptest.com/oneoff/make-a-wish-charity-drive.jhtml.
Thanks to Kaplan and to Mom Central for this opportunity — it was great to give MaM this opportunity, and I really liked being able to log in and see how she did!
(Disclosure: this is the second of two posts sponsored by The Kaplan Test Drive Mom program and Mom Central. I am receiving access to the Kaplan Tutoring site and a gift card in exchange for this review.)