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Revolution Math Review

Our unpaid Revolution Math Review - a supplemental, interactive online math program for kids that we've been using.

Back in August, Everyday Reading wrote a post with Revolution Math. I signed up for a mostly free (it cost me $1) month long trial for my fifth grade daughter. We've been using it weekly ever since. Here's our Revolution Math Review. This post is not sponsored and these are our real experiences and honest opinions.

All three of my girls love math. How this happened is a mystery to me, but a very beautiful and happy mystery.

Math was never my forte. And my math education growing up did little to help the situation. Instead of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc., the high school I attended had what they called Integrated Math. In theory it combined all the types of math to help students make connections between the different types of math.

What integrated math actually meant for me, however, is that I never really understood what was what, even if I did figure out how to pass the tests. It wasn't until I took Statistics in college that I actually felt like I had a grip on something mathematical. But while I aced Statistics, it's really nothing like the other branches of math so it didn't help me out with algebra at all.

As an adult now, I try to avoid math wherever I can. So when my kids began to really excel in math at school, I was one proud mama. Now, my oldest is taking advanced math at school and even though she's only a 7th grader, she'll be finished with the 8th grade math curriculum by the end of this school year.

This is hugely exciting to me because she's the one that helps the younger two with their math homework.

Eila, my fifth grader, is the kid who will tell you that math is her favorite subject. (This blows my mind!) She's also the kid that begs for more homework in her free time. Unfortunately, all the fourth grade teachers at my child's school this year got together and decided that the fourth grade will not have any homework. That's where Revolution Math comes in.

What is Revolution Math?

Revolution Math is an online after school math program designed for 2nd to 5th grade.

The classes are an hour long, once a week. They are taught by a live tutor via video chat on the computer/ipad.

The program is designed to teach fundamental math concepts using a story based curriculum.

Here's what this actually looks like:

Revolution Math Tutors

It's the same tutor every week, which it made it easy for Eila to get comfortable in the class quickly. Her tutor, Sarah, is so great! She has an engineering background, so she really knows her math. She's also fantastic with the kids, both fun and patient.

She walks the kids through the story (more about that below) and then helps them work out the math problems, teaching concepts in more than one way so they really get it.

Every week after class, Sarah sends me a detailed email describing what they learned, where Eila excelled, and where she needs more work. She also offers resources for more practice during the week, like a specific website or game for the math concept they are working on.

I've been really impressed with the quality of the instruction and the tutor-student interaction.

How the Classes Work

Depending on the time slot you sign up for, there can be up to 4 kids in a class. The first week of Revolution Math, Eila was the only student. But every week since then, there have been two other students joining her.

It's the same students each week and Eila likes working as a group to get through the story. However, when they are working on math problems, they do it individually and the tutor is great at working with each of the kids. They're learning from each other in the group setting, but still benefiting from individual attention from the tutor.

Something I really love about these classes is that they work a few weeks ahead of the school curriculum. What that means is that by the time a concept is introduced at school for Eila, she's already been working on it with her Revolution Math tutor and she feels really confident about it in the classroom.

Story Based Math Curriculum

The story based curriculum is what makes Revolution Math feel like a fun after school activity for Eila and not just work. She honestly does think of it as play and gets excited every Wednesday for class.

The kids in the class are a team and each week they go on a digital adventure together. They pick characters that they read for and there's a video game aspect to it online. They have to solve math problems as they move through the story to solve mysteries and challenges and keep the story going.

Eila says it feels like being part of a fun graphic novel. It's really quite genius!

As they move through the story and math concepts each week, they have opportunities to earn gems. Revolution Math has an online rewards store where you can trade in your gems for real prizes, like an origami set, or a science kit, or Legos. Eila finds this very motivating!

This is nothing like handing your kid a workbook or worksheet. It's such an engaging, interactive way to learn math.

Our Revolution Math Review, the Good and the Bad

Honestly, we love Revolution Math! It's improved Eila's confidence in the classroom and definitely improved her math skills. And even though Eila isn't getting any homework from school this year, I know that she's getting this supplemental math instruction each week so I don't have to worry about her progress in math.

I'm so impressed with how well the program is run, from the tutors right on up to the administrative side of things. While working out our transfer from a trial account, everyone I talked to was so kind and helpful. They've kept in touch with me via text, which is very convenient, and they've been so easy to work with on everything.

The program itself is great, but the people who run Revolution Math deserve a gold star of their own for excellent customer service.

The only downside is that they are expensive. I don't think they're overcharging; it's definitely worth every penny. However, I'm a single mother raising four kids and I don't have much in the way of "extra" income. But after trying this out and seeing the results, I've worked out a way to make this happen right now.

I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this going because my income each month varies, but I'm hoping to make it happen for Eila through the rest of her fifth grade school year. I'd really love to add my youngest daughter to it in the future as well. We've really seen the value in it.

If you're looking for an at home math supplement, I give Revolution Math my highest recommendation.