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.

 

ThemeVille Math

Homeschool Review Crew

 

Recently with the Homeschool Review Crew we received a new math curriculum to try out.  ThemeVille Math makes several different grade levels but crew members were offered Grades 1 through 4 to review.  There is a fifth level of the math program but it was not received by the crew members.  We received ThemeVille Math Grade 3 for our review. 

About the Program

 

 

Dr. Avi Patil is the creator of ThemeVille Math.  There are daily lessons.  Each lesson focuses on one subject to decrease confusion and increase mastering that topic. To help remember what has been learned each lesson does have a short review session called the pre-lesson that goes over what has already been learned. 

Included in our review package were two books.  The student book is a worktext and to be used by the student.  Within the book are the lessons and tests.  There is no designated teacher’s book but there are gray boxes within the student book that contain information for the teacher.  The second book is the solutions book which contains the answers to the lessons and tests.

The Student Worktext is three-hole punched so that you can put it in a binder if desired or tear out pages as you go.  For us, we simply used it as a workbook and kept it with our school books when not in use. 

Also available for each level of the ThemeVille Math books is a manipulative kit.  This is not required for each year but available as an add on.  We did not receive the kit and I honestly did not feel that I needed it.  We often use legos or things we have on hand as manipulatives anyway as they are easier to find.

The math curriculum does meet or exceed the Common Core Standards. 

More About Grade 3

You can access videos on the ThemeVille Math website to teach the concepts in the lessons if you have questions or are confused.  We really have not had to use those though.  In order to access them, you just need to set up an account on their website. 

The Grade 3 book contains 120 pre-lessons and 120 lessons.  If you use this for roughly four days a week it will take you 30 weeks to complete which is a full year of lessons.  Added to this are the tests as well.  There are 10 tests within the text.  The first set of ten lessons is merely a review of what should have been learned in the two years of previous math.  

Concepts taught within Grade 3 are:

• long addition and subtraction
• area and perimeter/symmetry
• long multiplication and division
• combined operations
• number composition/decomposition with place values
• clock/calendar reading including working with durations
• data analysis and histagram
• measurement units
• word problems

 

Our Thoughts on ThemeVille Math Grade 3

First, we are not a Common Core family.  I do not set out to find curriculums that align with this.  In fact, I don’t normally check that at all! So, I can’t tell you if this truly works like a common core aligned math program or not because I don’t have a baseline to compare it to. 

Now onto the fun of the review!

 

 

I have a girl aged ten years using this curriculum.  She’s behind in math and not very good with reading but she does well with math skills.  What this means is that if there is a lot of reading I do have to sit with her and read it to her but she can decipher most of the work on her own without me.  We haven’t made it to the actual word problems yet but I’m sure that I will be reading her those. 

This seems to be a good curriculum.  She hasn’t memorized a lot of the rules of math so it was easier for her to do this curriculum than I think it would be for some of the kids who memorized rules as this does not work the same as our normal math curriculum.  I think that must be the common core alignment. 

The math lessons are short and once we get started and she has grasped the concept they go quickly.  She has really been enjoying using this math.  I think she especially likes having one that is just hers.  We have been using an online math program and I was pleasantly surprised to discover she does better with paper and pencil than she had been doing online.  

We will be continuing with this curriculum for the rest of the year and depending on how she likes it when we’re half to three quarters done I may be purchasing the next grade level for her to continue with this curriculum. 

Learn More

You can learn more about the different grades of ThemeVille Math and what reviewers thought of them by reading all the reviews linked up on the Main Blog Post on the Homeschool Review Crew Blog.  ThemeVille Math can also be found on Facebook.