Math in Mathspace: A Review

As many of you know, we have been using an online service called Mathspace as our primary math curriculum.  One of the great things about Mathspace is that each topic is aligned with the most current standards.  This ensures that the students are receiving the proper instructions for their grade level as well as building a solid foundation for future learning.

So, what does Mathspace look like on a day-to-day basis?  Let me answer this by explaining what a typical chapter looks like and what the daily expectations are for the students.

Before we begin a chapter, each student is given a pre-test.  The expectation here is that the students will know very little if any of the materials because we have not covered them yet.  The purpose of this pre-test is to preview to the students what we will be learning.

After the pre-test, daily lessons and homework commence.  Each day, a topic is introduced, lectured upon, and homework given.  Each homework lesson is tailored to how the students performed on the pre-test.  If the material covered is something the student is already familiar with, they will receive little to no follow-up questions.  But for most of the students, since this is their first time being introduced to the material, they are given questions until they reach mastery. This does not mean that the students will have to answer every question in the subtopic, just that they have successfully answered some of the more difficult questions.  If a student is having trouble reaching mastery on a particular topic, Mathspace makes note of that so further assistance can be provided.

At the end of the chapter, students are given a chapter review test and the questions they get wrong here are reviewed and reassigned.  Finally, they are given the chapter test to finish the chapter.

Each chapter is scaffolded for each student so they will receive assistance tailored to their need.  If you have any further questions about Mathspace, please email me: [email protected]