TOS REVIEW: ALEKS

Does your child struggle with math? Do you have a difficult time helping your children with math? Perhaps ALEKS is a program that you would find useful.

I was given the opportunity to try ALEKS for one month with both of my children through the TOS Crew. 

**To see the screenshots in this post larger, click on them to open in a new window. These are from our actual usage of ALEKS. You can see other screenshots at ALEKS here. If it takes you to another page, click your browsers back arrow after viewing.**

GRADES: 3-12 (It does say "K-12" on the website but it does not offer anything for under grade 3- the "K-12" refers to 'school' -brick and mortar- because it was originally designed for public schools).

COST: Per student: $19.95/month; $99.95/every 6 months; $179.95/every 12 months.

They do offer discounts for family memberships for 6 months and 12 months subscriptions.  (If the image is too small, click on the link below it to go to ALEKS family discount page.)

Family Discount

You can sign up for a free one-month trial by clicking the button below. I would recommend it :)



We do not generally struggle with math but I worry that my kids are not up to par, or where they should be, to the standards set by the schools and the government. With ALEKS it was easy to see what they have learned and what they needed to learn to be up to the standards set by our state. As homeschoolers one of the benefits is that we can tailor the curriculum to our student/family. With ALEKS I found that there wasn't much to 'tailor'. It is automatic, really. It gives the student the instruction needed- whether it be a lot or just a little- to master the concepts and move on.

What does ALEKS stand for and what does ALEKS do?

Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces
ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics she is most ready to learn. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that topics learned are also retained. ALEKS courses are very complete in their topic coverage and ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions. A student who shows a high level of mastery of an ALEKS course will be successful in the actual course she is taking. Taken from the website.

For homeschoolers:

ALEKS Can Help You Homeschool Your Child By:

• Delivering individualized instruction in a supportive learning environment.
• Assessing your child to determine exactly what she knows, doesn't know, and is ready to learn next.
• Continually developing a custom learning path by gradually introducing new material when your child is ready for it.
• Offering complete explanations for every practice problem, including alternative explanations when appropriate.
• Providing immediate feedback on every problem that your child attempts.
• Regularly reassessing your child and assisting your child in reviewing topics to encourage knowledge retention.
• Presenting the ALEKS Pie Chart so your child can always access a graphic representation of her progress towards completing a course. Taken from the website.

As mentioned my kids generally have not had too much trouble with math but one thing I enjoyed about ALEKS (and they did as well) is that when you master a concept it moves you on to the next concept to be learned. There isn't a never-ending barrage of the same problems that have already been mastered.

Another plus mentioned specifically by my ds, age 11 in the 6th grade, is the ability to see the progress with the pie chart. He enjoyed being able to pick his next set of problems to work on.

Each of the slices of pie can be hoovered over to see more detail of what is being taught/learned.

Something I found useful is being able to see what he did on a certain day. This could come in handy if a state's laws require record keeping of this sort.

Since I live in Wyoming, the reports are coordinated to the standards of that state. If you click on the "View Wyoming's Mathematics Standards report" it comes up with a neat report on what has been mastered based on our state. 

Also on the progress page, it shows what the student has mastered, probably mastered, probably not mastered, and not mastered.

Another great feature of ALEKS is the ability to make worksheets and quizzes for the students. We are generally not a worksheet-type-school but occasionally they do come in handy. Whatever the student is working on (which concept or slice of the pie) is what the worksheet will reflect. The answers for the worksheets are sent to the master account on ALEKS for correcting. My dd, age 14 in 8th grade, enjoys worksheets at times for a change of pace.

I did have the kids do a quiz each just to see how it would go and they were okay. It is good to give timed tests/quizzes, I think, so that the students are used to it. But at the same time, neither of my kids did as well as their 'mastery' status led us to believe they would do. Both got 73% on their quizzes covering information that they have already covered and learned. Perhaps they will do better next time now that they know what to expect from the quiz format.

If you are unsure which course to enroll your student(s) you can visit their Course Products page which explains each one in a bit more detail. For our family, I chose Mathematics MS/LV 6 for my ds and Algebra 1 for my dd. I liked that through the assessments it is easy to see where the student may be struggling but also where they are excelling. It is easy to change the levels/course that you have chosen for them at the start also.  

Some good pages to visit to help understand or decide if ALEKS is right for you and your family:

Homeschool FAQ

Training Center (to see how to get around ALEKS)

State Standards (check what yours are)

Some of ALEKS courses are American Council for Education (ACE) credit-recommended, meaning your student may be eligible for college credit at participating colleges.

Bottomline:
Great program. I didn't have any difficulty navigating the site. I was only slightly confused at sign up but it didn't take very much time to figure out. Both of my kids enjoy the program and I love how it lets them go at their own pace. The cost of the program is comparable to many online educational programs and I believe a good deal. This is something I would definitely recommend to other homeschoolers (and anyone interested or looking for a program for helping their student with math). I would love to purchase a 12 month subscription!

What did my kids have to say about it?
DS11: It's cool to be able to choose what you're going to do. The way it teaches it good also. The only thing I didn't like is sometimes even though I got the answer right, it said it was wrong. But if I clicked next again, it said it was right. (*Note: I think it was simply a slight glitch that isn't that big of a problem.)
DD14: I like the worksheets. I also like that we can choose what we will work on. The functions, such as the exponents, units, and lines, that the program has is really helpful. The calculator is great also but you can't always use the calculator. (*Note: To that I say, "You can't always use a calculator in real life!"). I like that it is self-paced and it does review the concepts from the previous lesson so that you really learn it. It is organized very well.

Hear what other TOS Crew member said about ALEKS at the TOS Crew blog.

**Disclaimer: I was given a one-month free trial to ALEKS through the TOS Crew. I received no compensation for the review; all opinions and statements are my own and my family's (unless otherwise stated). A positive review was not required in exchange for the free trial. See more Disclosure/Policies.**