Product Review of Mrs. Peters’ Math Online Live Classes

Have you been thinking about having your child attend math classes that are “live” online? If you have, you will want to read our review of Mrs. Peters’ Math Live, Online Math Classes for grades 6-12.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I was given a free product and compensated for my time writing this article. All opinions are my own.

I am a mother of eight. My least favorite subjects to teach are Math and Physical Education. I have found creative ways to do the physical education part, but Math is still a challenge. One of my children really struggles and I have tried more than three curriculums with him. I have often wondered about having him take a live online class for his grade level to see if it would be a good fit, but the price has always scared me away.

I was given a free trial to Mrs. Peters’ Math Live, Online Math Classes for grades 6-12 so that we could try it out with no cost. Now I will tell you about my experience with the Grade 6 level in case you would like to know more.

The Teacher

This math curriculum is taught by Mrs. Peters. She is from Indianapolis, IN and taught public high school until she started homeschooling. When COVID hit, she created this math course. She creates her own materials, plus incorporates other useful materials, links to videos and creates or uses math games to make the course interesting.

Presently, Mrs. Peters teaches Math 6, Math 7, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, and Consumer Math. She makes herself available and encourages parents to use email and students to use Canvas LMS to message her if they have any questions or need anything.

In my opinion, she is kind and patient and easy to understand. It seems like this class would be great for visual learners as she will use a worksheet, then write on it with color to make it more interesting. She is patient with the students in the course and gives a generous ten day due dates on assignments, plus she will answer the students' questions all the way through that due date. She welcomes questions from both parents and students.

The Set Up Process

Fair warning, the set up process was lengthy to me. But, to be fair – I have only went through a set up process for a computer technology online course that was very cut and dry and it was only a once a week class. That class took less than twenty minutes to set up, so my expectation was that it would be quick and simple. We have to remember that this an entire curriculum of classes that are two to three days per week (depending on the course) and therefore is longer.

When you register, you receive your invoice and a contract. The Mrs. Peters’ Math Live, Online Math Classes for grades 6-12 typically go from mid-August to mid-May. A calendar will be sent to you through email. Before classes start, Mrs. Peters hosts a live Facebook meeting on her Mrs. Peters' Math page (she also has an optional family page) for parents to make sure they understand how it all works before classes begin. About two weeks before classes start, you will receive a series of about five emails.

1. Directions for upcoming math classes, this step includes details of a private Facebook family page where you can get to know the other families, this is optional.
2. Setting up your canvas account, which includes a link to a video tutorial that is about 25 minutes long.
3. Class info to save – this message has the school calendar, mentions the live Facebook meeting for parents, and textbook information.
4. Google accounts – Students will be completing many assignments, quizzes, and tests with Google sheets, Google docs, and other Google types. So, it is important that they have access to a google drive. 
5. Navigating the Canvas course, includes a link to a video describing how to use the Canvas platform, which is a little over 30 minutes.

The Canvas LMS Platform

Mrs. Peters’ Math uses a platform called Canvas LMS where the students can ask questions, print notes for the upcoming class, join that day's live class, watch previous class recordings, see the textbook and so much more. The student gets a Canvas LMS account, the parent has a portal. Also, in Canvas LMS, you will see many options. Some of them are…

• a lesson page for each day
• video recordings of previous classes (she screen records her class so she can keep the recording for the year)
• a link to join today's live class
• homework – she offers ten day due dates on assignments. The assignments are made to be somewhat fun digital activities that give immediate feedback, which identifies the problems that need correction before turning in an assignment.
• notes – you print notes prior to class, later you can 3-hole punch and place these in a binder
• spiral review – assignment on anything they have done
• textbook – how to get to it
• grades – students can see how they are doing
• help section – Canvas LMS has a handy help link that answers, “how do I find the class recording” or “where is the textbook” and other questions to help users in the platform

The Canvas LMS account constantly reminds Mrs. Peters that a student is not doing work. The parent can choose to receive communication regarding this or other topics. The parents select what type of emails they want to receive in their parent portal. Parents have access to the class portal to see assignments, grades, and class announcements. Parents are welcome to contact Mrs. Peters with any concerns. 

Homeschool Placement Tests

Many of us homeschoolers do not have our children in actual grades. We often teach in a succession, first you learn this, then that – for example. This is no problem with Mrs. Peters’ Math Live, Online Math Classes for grades 6-12 as Mrs. Peters does have placement tests that she can send to you and she is willing to help you figure out what level would be best.

If you try a course after the placement test, but change your mind and would rather have your student in a different level, Mrs. Peters will help you move your child, but some topics may be missed if moving from lower to higher, so she feels it is best to move from higher to lower.

The Return Policy

With any homeschool curriculum, one of my first questions is always – “What is the return policy?” Mrs. Peters’ Math lists this in the FAQs section on the website. Here is a summary…

• Before June 30: receive refund minus a $50 service fee
• July 1 – 31: receive refund minus a $100 service fee
• Until end of first week of classes: 50% refund
• After 1 week of classes: no refund

Occasionally, Mrs. Peters hosts a Q&A for potential parents to attend. She shows the inside of the platform and answers questions. You can contact her here to see when her next Q&A will be.

Middle School Math

For the Math 6 level, which we were reviewing, there are three online classes per week that are one hour long each. Other classes may have different amounts of time or days.

As you can imagine, middle schoolers often have a hard time staying focused and can easily get distracted. This fact alone has often tested my patience. Mrs. Peters seems to have found ways around this by trying to make it fun for the students. Some of the tools that may be used in one day's lesson are…

• The typical class lecture – required.
• Manipulatives (Can you have manipulatives online? Yep, she figured out how to do it! A few examples: fraction bars and virtual manipulatives.)
• Extra help video(s) – she links to free videos of other teachers teaching the same thing, but maybe in a different way, with different words. I noticed that she tries to stay on top of this too. If a video is no longer available (YouTube takes it down, Link is broken, YouTuber now wants to be paid through their website) she will replace it with a different one.
• Games – Mrs. Peters offers math games or activities, this is a fun way to learn.
• Extra practice – these are extra assignments for practice review.
• Notes – these are downloadable and can be printed to put in the binder, but some are 9 pages long.
• Textbook example section available to view.
• Homework Assignments – this is required, but not too long or tedious.
• Spiral review – assignments on anything they have learned, this is also required.
• Quizzes and Tests – required. These get turned in to Mrs. Peters and the student will get their grade later. These might be on a printout, where student takes a photo and submits it to her or it may be an online submission.

The Online Textbook

The textbook is from Big Ideas Math and she uses the Florida 2020 version. After selecting the Math 6 versions, it's easy for the student to click the chapter and find what they are learning. This is a teacher textbook that already has the answers shown. It is helpful to the student who likes to look at written examples of how to work out a problem.

Math Games for Homework

The assignments given are often in the form of a math game that can often be found on Google Sheets. Here is an example of a game. When you get in there, you see a white screen to the right of the problems.

If the answer is correct, some colors of the picture will start to show up. When you have all the answers correct, you will see the entire picture. If you get the answer wrong, you can keep trying until you get it right.

Let's talk more about a few of the math games so you know what to expect. I might use the wrong name of the actual game, but this gives you an idea…

1. Mosaic Picture – the student answers a question correctly and colors start showing up on a white background to create a colorful picture. When all of them are correct, you will see the full photo. If students get the answer wrong, they can try again to get it right.
2. Picture Reveal – correct answers make the hexagons (or other shapes) disappear to reveal a picture underneath.
3. Maze – Correct answers will advance through a maze.
4. Coloring Page – Correct answer will color in a whole section
5. Fortune Teller Magic 8 Ball – the student writes a question, like “will it rain today?” and works out a math problem to see if the answer is yes or no. Mrs. Peters reminds the students to be appropriate when writing in their questions.
6. Other games

(If you like what you are seeing, scroll to the end of this post to get a discount code for this math program for a limited time.)

Grades

When you are in the Canvas LMS and look under Courses, you can click the tab for grades. Here is where the child can see their current grade and whether anything is missing (under the status section).

During the Live Class

Beginning of the Class

Arrive to the live class a little early in case there are any issues getting in. The students sometimes appear before the teacher. Students can show their face, or not. While waiting for the teacher, students type in the chat to converse with each other.

The Lecture

Mrs. Peters starts with announcements, if any. Then says the topic and asks if there are questions. She asks students to take out their notes and begins the lecture. Mrs. Peters speaks clearly and enunciates.

I love that she draws on the slides while teaching and uses color in her presentation. Mrs. Peters highlights with a highlighter on a page that has three example questions to show which problem the students are working on.

She thinks of creative ways to describe why something is important to know. She will often stop and ask, “Are there any questions before we turn the page?” or “… before we go on to a new slide?” or “… before we end for today?”

During a lesson, she will remind students of old lessons by saying, “Do you guys remember what ____ means?” (The underlined portion being whatever the topic was.) Then she will do a very quick review of the definition.

She often has the students work out an answer to a problem on their own. She waits a minute or so, the students will type in chat, “done” when they have finished. Mrs. Peters may ask, “Would you guys like more time? How are you doing?” Next, she shows how she did it and what the answer should be, then ask if there are any questions. If there are questions, she will show other ways to write out or work out the problem to get the same answer.

Students can ask questions through the chat or through a message privately. There is a smiley face someone can click on if they like something and it will send a smile up in the air.

Mrs. Peters is very friendly and congenial. She will talk and laugh with the students as she reads their comments. It seems like she loves her job and it comes very natural for her.

Lesson Pages

There are lesson pages to print out before each day's lecture. The example above shows a 7th grade page that teaches about “adding and subtracting linear expressions.” The student gets them from the Canvas account and prints them out and uses them as the teacher is going through the lecture. Mrs. Peters has these lesson pages on her slide and can write on them as she goes through the lecture. She uses a highlighter to highlight which problem is being worked on.

I think this is a great idea and very helpful for the students to have in front of them to work out on paper as they are learning. Afterwards, the students can 3 hole punch them and place them in a binder to refer back to for homework or quizzes.

Grade 6 Topics

• Fractions
• Ratios and Proportional Relationships
• Operations of Decimals
• Rational Numbers
• Expressions and Equations
• Inequalities
• Geometry
• Data Displays

Audio

The audio seems to be very good, but there have been times during the class that we heard someone operating a microwave oven in the background. She also had to leave class due to someone knocking at her door. Another time, she was sick. So just expect these things to happen because, well – we are human. Which I love, I do not want AI teaching my kids – that's for sure!

The End of Class

Mrs. Peters reminds the students of assignments, games, activities and extra practice. She may mention a quiz and lets students know that they can use their notes and reminds them to turn it in and hit submit on the form. Sometimes she finishes a little early.

Not A Self-Paced Course

Just in case you are skimming through this blog post, I want to be sure you know that this is not a self-paced course. Classes are recorded in case of absence or just to refer to later if needed. Even though you can go back and watch old classes, this teacher does expect your student to be in class and assignments need to be turned in within ten days. Students are held accountable to complete the work in a timely manner. Long gaps of not doing work can cause students to struggle more and also generally mean students have to go back and relearn topics that they have forgotten.

My Opinion

I am a person that asks a lot of questions and I like that she is so inviting and willing to answer questions. I feel like I can email her at any time, and several times – without being judged.

It's nice that she gives ten day due dates because I am very wild in my homeschooling and don't like to stay home, which is why I usually select paper textbooks or self-paced math classes. If we had an illness, internet outage or needed to take a vacation – the ten day grace period would be helpful. It would probably be good for my son to have the accountability with someone other than me as well.

I really enjoy seeing her concrete examples to help you know what she is talking about. Like when she was teaching triangles, she said, “Perpendicular means, like a floor and a wall, it's a 90 degree angle.” and I like that she draws on the lines she is talking about at the same time. It makes it easier to learn that way.

If you want a quality, very thorough “online live class” math curriculum that teaches in many different learning styles for your child, I recommend that you check out Mrs. Peters’ Math Live, Online Math Classes for grades 6-12.

Discount for my Readers

Mrs. Peters is offering a generous discount for my readers.

Save $200 with code BLOGREADER. Expires 8/3/2025.

How To Find Mrs. Peters’ Math Live, Online Math Classes for grades 6-12

Website

Facebook

Read Product Reviews from NeededInTheHome

Subscribe so you never miss a post.

If you find my tips useful, feel free to buy me a coffee. Thank you in advance!

---

Want to remember this? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest Board!