Revolution Math is an online, subscription based tutoring website. It combines live tutoring with an immersive, story-based curriculum, and Common Core aligned math games. Students will spend one hour a week with highly educated teachers and up to 4 students. Revolution Math conducts extensive background checks on their teachers to verify teaching experience and they go through a rigorous hiring process to ensure that they meet the high standards set forth by Revolution Math. The story-based curriculum follows Zoe, Rowen, Merrik, and Brit as they journey through Lava Falls, the Enchanted Kingdoms, and the Floating Islands as they defeat villains. Students can earn gems by completing math problems and then exchange those gems for real prizes in the Rewards Store. You can have your child do a 4-week trial of Revolution Math for $49 which includes a complimentary learning kit. The learning kit includes the following materials: dice, pencil, protractor, graph paper, area tiles, flash cards, character masks, and a poster. After the 4-week trial period there are two options for continuing your child’s journey with Revolution Math. If you sign up for a year you can get a monthly rate of $99. Or, you can choose to pay monthly with no commitment for $149 a month.

Revolution Math can be used by students in public, private, and the homeschool setting. Revolution Math is intended for students in grades 2-5 but students outside of these grades also may benefit from the program. You will need to download the Zoom app in the Apple Store, Android apps on Google Play, or on your desktop. Once the Zoom app is downloaded you are set to go. The weekly sessions can be viewed on a computer, iPad, or any device on which the Zoom app works.

So, what does a typical class session look like? Once all students and the teacher are on the forum they all say hello and introduce themselves if there are any new students. Class begins with the story portion of the curriculum which is a lot like a comic book. Students pick their characters and read the beginning of the story. Next, the teacher introduces the math concept(s) for the week and explains it to the students. Students then work through math problems together and individually as assigned by the teacher. REWARD TIME! Students get to circle a treasure chest among a group of chests on the screen and they get to keep how many ever gems are behind the chest they choose. Next, it is back to more math problems. Then, students read more of the story. Then it is back to more math problems. REWARD TIME! Time to pick another treasure chest. Time to do a few more math problems. Finally, the students wrap up by reading the end of the story for the week.

When I first signed my daughter up for Revolution Math I made the mistake of signing her up for the wrong class. I accidently signed her up for outgoing 5^th graders instead of outgoing 4^th graders. For the first couple of weeks of class my daughter was like a deer starring into headlights. The other kids in the class seemed to know all of the concepts except for my daughter. Being a homeschooling parent, I thought, “Wow, have I failed my daughter that much! Is she really that far behind?” Her teacher was so very kind and patient. She worked with my daughter realizing that she was behind the other students. She would give her the easier problems. My daughter was able to do a good chunk of the problems but with much effort. After third week a wonderful representative named Mike from Revolution Math e-mailed me to find out how our Revolution Math experience was going. I told him that things were not going so well. After we chatted back and forth a couple of times he figured out that I had registered my daughter for the wrong class. Talk about feeling like a horrible mom, ugh! Mike was very kind and promptly helped me find the right class for her and one that would fit our crazy schedule. He addressed all other concerns that I had. Mike was quick in his responses.

My daughter’s first teacher Jessica was amazing. She was patient, cheerful, and you could definitely tell that she loved teaching. One of the e-mail comments that Jessica left said, “Phoebe did a great job with her session today! She picked up quickly on learning coordinate points and parallel lines, and also got the hang of how to find symmetrical points. I loved how focused she was throughout the lesson. Keep up the great work, Phoebe!” What encouraging words not only for me as a parent to hear but also for Phoebe as a student to read about herself.

Once my daughter was settled into her correct class for incoming 5^th graders things drastically changed. All of the sudden everything was easy. After a week or two of review since it was technically still summer her new teacher Aimee announced that the students were now officially 5^th graders!! After that session my daughter came to me and said, “Mom, guess what! I am officially a 5^th grader now.” She was smiling big and was so proud. After another recent session she came to me and said, “Mom today we were learning about adding with decimals. I learned that a long time ago. It was so easy. Some of the other kid’s kind of had a hard time. It was kind of nice not being the one to struggle. I did my problems and then just sat there while everyone else was still working.” I am sure that since it is the beginning of the school year they are doing a lot of review. Still, it was wonderful to see the confidence and sparkle in my daughter’s eyes. I probably haven’t stated this yet, but my daughter greatly dislikes math and struggles with it.

This last week’s e-mail update said, “Hi all. We did some tough work with adding and subtracting with decimals today. Remember the important part is to line up the decimals before you start. Try to practice place values this week. Write down some numbers with decimals and then identify the place value of each digit in the number. For example: 2,579.831= 2 Thousands, 5 Hundreds, 7 Tens, 9 Ones, 8 Tenths, 3 Hundredths, 1 Thousandth”

 What my 10-year-old daughter had to say, “I do not like math at all! I was not happy when my mom said that I was going to be doing math online with a tutor and other kids. I was kind of excited when the Revolution Math box came in the mail. The day of my first tutoring session I was nervous because I did not know what to expect. The first class there was just me and another boy. The other boy was really annoying. He would not stop talking and he seemed like he was a real smarty pants. He knew everything! He made me feel so stupid. I wondered why he even needed tutoring. I worked through the problems the teacher gave me. The third week I was the only student, so it was just me and the teacher. I really liked that. I didn’t have to compete with anyone. It was a wonderful. This was also the day that my mom found out that she had put me in the wrong class!!! No wonder it was so hard. I was kind of proud of myself that I was doing the end of 5^th grade work. I am not even in 5^th grade yet. I will miss my teacher. I really like her. My new class is so much easier. It is stuff that I have already done before. I actually feel smart now!”

I have really liked everything about Revolution Math. The two teachers that my daughter has worked with have been great. Help from the Revolution representatives are amazing. Response time is quick and prompt. Setting up your account and logging in weekly for your child’s session is simple and easy. In the two months that we have been using Revolution Math we haven’t encountered any issues. I like that parents are sent weekly updates about their child’s progress. If you are like me and your life is crazy and chaotic reminders are always a nice. Every week the day of your child’s session Revolution Math sends a reminder that your child has their tutoring. They even given the time just in case your brain is overrun with too many activities. I find this too be very helpful. Another huge plus is that my daughter is able to get this tutoring help at home! No need to drive somewhere and sit and wait for her or drop her off. I love that this can be done from the comfort of our own home. Revolution Math has so many time slots available throughout the day and week to fit your schedule.

I would most definitely recommend Revolution Math to friends and other homeschool parents looking for a great tutoring option that does not require them to leave their home.

-Product review by Jennifer Ladewig, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September, 2018