Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
What is ThemeVille Math?
ThemeVille Math is a complete curriculum offering for grades 1-5. They offer a placement test at their website to help you determine which level to start your child at. We went with the 1st grade (Level 1) for our review, and it came with a Worktext (the student book), as well as a Solutions manual with the answers to all the questions.
The program is set up so that you can use just the workbooks and solutions to teach. Each new activity or concept is very well explained in the text. If you aren't getting through to your child, however, and want inspiration for teaching them, ThemeVille Math offers free videos for every lesson to help you. These are simple, showing you how the student would do the questions on a particular worksheet.
There is also a manipulative component to this program, which is optional. You can choose to buy manipulatives or use any that you have at home. If your child does well with tangible concepts, this might be a good enrichment option for you.
ThemeVille Math meets or exceeds Common Core math standards.
How did we use it?
ThemeVille Math is designed to be used up to five days a week. Each lesson takes 15-20 minutes, depending on your child's familiarity with the content. (Some of the first lessons were super easy for my child, as they were really review.) After I explained each concept and shared the directions for the worksheets (necessary for non-readers), I let my child work independently while I watched for issues. Each lesson also contains some review to help achieve mastery of previously-learned concepts and avoid forgetting about those themes we haven't learned about in a while.
Here is a picture of the teacher's solutions. As you can see, you get an actual copy of the student work with the answers filled in. This is very helpful, as I sometimes have a hard time tracking answer guides that only have problem numbers and answers beside them. Checking work takes less than a minute!
There are ten tests, as well, so you can check on mastery as you go. The Grade 1 program has 120 lessons with over 580 pages of worksheets. You can plan on going through one grade a year with plenty of material to use.
The only thing I would have liked to see from this product is a more kid-friendly workbook. The Worktext is HUGE -- almost 600 pages. It can be hard to get it to lay nicely for tiny kids, and the pages aren't perforated for easy removal. To help your small child, open the book and bend the spine a bit before they use it. This problem goes away after a ten pages or so, but it's something to consider if your child doesn't have much coordination or can't manage the book be themselves.
ThemeVille Math Review Summary
ThemeVille Math's unique selling point is that it promises to teach kids the "themes behind the details." What does this mean? For us, it was a clever way of saying that math has some really neatly-related truths in it that kids as young as the 1st grade can grasp and apply to future lessons. This unique way of referencing mastery really shows in the program, but the content itself looks like fun and easy-to-understand worksheets.
That's not to say that you'll need to be a math whiz yourself to get your kids there. In fact, ThemeVille Math has made it almost unbelievably easy to put this program into place. I would recommend four to five lessons a week with your child, using the workbook and manipulatives to show new concepts, or the workbook alone if your child seems to be grasping things well. Since the program is geared toward kids through the 5th grade, most parents won't have any issues being their child's tutor; any difficult concepts can be easily reviewed through the free videos.
If you're short on time, want an uncomplicated approach to mastery, and like a simplified workbook and manipulatives approach to math, this program may be for you.
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