They started searching for a math tutoring program in the summer of 2019. They had homeschooled their kids the prior year because they were traveling.
They noticed that their now fifth grader lacked basic computational knowledge. She was struggling with fractions, decimals, and she didn't know her multiplication tables. Their third grader, now fourth grader, was good in math, but they wanted him to keep pulling ahead and stay advanced.
Lisa wanted their middle daughter (in sixth grade) to get caught up and be competent and wanted her to be able to accelerate next year. They wanted all of their kids’ state-wide test scores to be competitive and started to look for tutoring options.
They looked at Kaplan, but did not want to have to travel to tutoring sessions. Traveling was time consuming and complicated to manage because of the family’s busy schedule.
They also tried Komodo, which is online, but they felt like it was too much like a game and didn't see a measurable impact on their kids’ MAP test scores. They needed something that was a little more structured and something that was customizable and focused for their kids.
Their kids’ school report cards always looked okay, so they thought their kids were doing well. But when they got their MAP state test scores, the kids were bombing in math.
They joined Thinkster and started seeing phenomenal improvements and growth with their MAP scores. Their middle daughter’s growth was 80% above that of their peers.
Their oldest daughter (in sixth grade) is doing outstandingly well in Math after joining Thinkster and is on a trajectory to be accelerated to the intermediate gifted math group next year.
Their son is good in math and computationally strong, but needed to get better in solving real life word problems. His MAP scores are good now.
After joining Thinkster, Lisa and her husband now never hear their kids say that they hate math or that math is hard. Because the kids had knowledge gaps when they were homeschooled, they used to think Math was hard and challenging. There were many tears.
Now, after being with Thinkster, they're doing extremely well. They're succeeding, and their confidence and scores are both boosted.