An honest review of Nicole the Math Lady from a real homeschooling family who has actually tried her services.
What if I told you that you could stop teaching your kids math? With Nicole the Math Lady, you can!
You can outsource your child’s math instruction and never have to teach it again! Nicole the Math Lady offers online video instruction with automatic, instant online grading for Saxon math to completely automate your homeschool math instruction and make your kids 100% independent.
Math used to be the worst time of day for us every day. On repeat. I’m talking TERRIBLE – as in tears, tantrums, and stress for both the kids and me. It took the longest block of time each day, both literally and figuratively. We tried doing it first thing in the morning but by the time we finished we were all too worn out to accomplish anything else. Next, we tried breaking it up: do the lesson first, do other subjects next, go back to the practice problems later. Then, we tried moving it to right after lunch but by then none of us had the stamina for the daily struggle. And it was a struggle. Daily.
Enter Nicole the Math Lady
We were at taekwondo one night when I overheard a homeschool mom casually mention that she no longer taught her kids math– Nicole did that. What?!! How is this possible! Please, please, please…who is this Nicole?
When we learned about her services we jumped on board and have never looked back!
Nicole the Math Lady Review
Quick Overview of Nicole the Math Lady
- High quality online math videos
- Online grading with immediate feedback
- Grades 3-12
- Used in conjunction with Homeschool Saxon Math
- Subscription based (yearly subscription)
Online Math Videos – Nicole the Math Lady Review
Nicole offers high quality pre-recorded math videos for every single lesson in every single Saxon textbook beginning with Saxon 3 and higher! That’s over 3000 videos! It’s important to know that her math services only work with Saxon math.
She explains each math lesson succinctly using a simple whiteboard and hones in on the specific math skill needed for that lesson. She is cheerful, practical, and often comes up with fun, interesting ways to help the kids learn new math skills in ways that really stick. My kids love the way Nicole teaches and can completely relate to her!
On average, each lesson is about 10 minutes long, although sometimes they are shorter or longer depending on the content. In general, lessons are shorter for younger learners (3-7 minutes) and longer for older students (up to 25 minutes). For one lesson, Nicole offers three different videos:
- The Lesson (from 3 to 20 min.)
- The Corny Brain Break (1 min.)
- Practice Problems (5-10 min.)
For the practice problems, Nicole creates new math problems that go along with but are not repeated from the textbook. I love this as it gives students additional practice working the problems in real time along with Nicole. These problems correlate with the lesson but are not the same as the Lesson Practice problems.
Online Grading – Nicole the Math Lady Review
My new favorite feature in Nicole the Math Lady is the online grading! After completing the three videos above, students work independently on the Mixed Practice math problems – you know, the meaty part of Saxon where the kids get all the review and practice.. Students can enter answers to each math problem in the Saxon textbook using Nicole the Math Lady and receive instant immediate feedback problem by problem. Parents can choose to allow 2nd chances or even 3rd, 4th, or 5th chances to rework the problem and get it right. Parents can then view their child’s scores or choose to receive emails with their student’s progress. Since Saxon math sets are typically long and time-consuming, parents can also elect to allow students to only complete odd or even problems or the entire problem set.
Online grading covers math problems for:
- Warm-ups
- Lesson Practice
- Mixed Practice (can choose odd/even or all questions)
- Investigations
- Tests
A note about tricky learners: We have always preferred Saxon math, but prior to finding Nicole the Math Lady we had veered to using Teaching Textbooks for our child who needed audio/visual learning and immediate feedback. Once we found Nicole the Math Lady with the online grading, we were able to bring him back into the world of Saxon!
Nicole’s math videos combined with the online grading make it comparable to Teaching Textbooks. The only major difference we have missed has been the Teaching Textbook feature that tells the student the right answer when marked wrong and then reteaches the concept in real time. In Nicole’s online grading, the student receives immediate feedback as to whether the problem is right or wrong, but the correct answer is not given or explained.
More Perks! – Nicole the Math Lady Review
Besides the amazing online math lessons and online grading, there are other resources that Nicole the Math Lady has available to help kids learn math, too.
>>> Placement Tests
If you’re just coming into Saxon math, Nicole offers free PDF printable math placement tests so you can quickly and easily determine on which level to begin with your student.
>>> Study Hall
Nicole also offers a robust online space where students can interact with each other. Study Hall is basically a class chat open to students of the same Saxon level where kids can get help with a math problem from other kids, parents, or Nicole herself. There are also 1-minute tutorials available if kids just can’t remember how to do something and in-depth 30-minute masterclasses about math subjects that help fill in the gaps for your kid.
>>> Student Clubs
Nicole the Math Lady offers several student clubs to recognize student achievement and motivate kids by featuring them on her weekly wall of fame video.
>>> Corny Brain Breaks
I’m not going to lie – these are my kids’ favorite part of the lesson! There is one short corny brain break each day offering light-hearted, kid-friendly jokes that always leave my kids cracking up. They are perfectly placed after the lesson and before diving into the practice problems as a quick brain break from thinking. It makes us all smile!
>>> Drill Team
Drill team, a separate program not included in the membership price, offers a fun and catchy way for students to master all those pesky math facts from addition and subtraction to multiplication. Nicole’s aim is to make math facts fun through multi-sensory learning, frequent quizzing, and focus on only a few facts at a time.
>>> Personalized Profiles
If you have multiple kids in the family using Nicole the Math Lady, each child can personalize their own profile with their photo and a background image. My kids greatly enjoyed having their own page!
>>> Family Friendly
You can purchase a math membership for just one student or Nicole offers family pricing for two or more students. For large families, this is tremendous! It means that all your kids can use Nicole for the same price! There is also special pricing for homeschool co-ops and classrooms that use Saxon as well.
>>> Flexible
Students are assigned to one Saxon math level. However, if your child finishes their textbook midyear and is ready to move or needs to go back to a previous level, you can simply change to the needed level of instruction.
>>> Customizable
Parents can choose membership packages at different level depending on the needs of your students. For example, you may choose to purchase only the online videos but not the automatic grading or some of the other resources. This makes the program customizable and accessible for families of varying incomes.
>>> Nicole
Yes, Nicole herself is a perk! She is a fun, down-to-earth teacher that really makes math enjoyable and doable. Nicole is a Stanford graduate who used to work with Fortune 500 companies coaching adults before transitioning to teaching math. Most importantly, however, she’s also a mom and knows how to relate to kids and she is super friendly. Once neither my daughter nor I could figure out an algebra problem. My daughter reached out to Nicole who answered her within 5 minutes and then face-timed her right there on the spot walking her through the math problem completely! Amazing!
Why We Love Nicole the Math Lady
Finding Nicole has been an answer to prayer for our family. My children have very different learning styles but all benefit from Nicole the Math Lady. Here’s a few reasons we personally love Nicole! Do any of these complaints sound familiar?
“Math takes too long. I don’t have time to teach long math lessons each day to each child AND correct all their work. I’m so far behind.”
Before we started using Nicole, I would get super behind trying to grade all the math papers and tests for the kids. With Nicole the Math Lady, my kids can be 100% independent. All I have to do is make sure they are working and check grades every so often. Their grades are calculated automatically and come straight to my inbox. It frees me up to teach other children while one is doing math independently.
“My child hates learning from a book/struggles to read/ can’t focus.”
Nicole teaches through engaging videos that involve learners visually, auditorily, and tactilely. Online grading provides immediate feedback so kids with attention issues can stay focused and know how they’re doing.
“I can’t teach high school math. It’s been a long time and I can’t even remember pre-algebra!”
That was me! I was worried about teaching high school math until we found Nicole. Now, Nicole the Math Lady handles it for us, and I feel completely confident knowing my high school student is getting high quality instruction from a fabulous teacher.
“My kids only tolerate math. Sometimes they even battle me over math. They don’t want to do all the work. Math makes everyone miserable.”
Kids may argue with Mom, but they can’t argue with a pre-recorded video. Online learning with Nicole takes the daily fight out of math. Plus, parents can choose for kids to do only the odd/even problems or all 30 of the daily mixed practice to best meet the needs of their child.
Check out Nicole the Math Lady
If math has been a struggle, you definitely want to check out the Nicole the Math Lady site.
Just imagine. You may never have to teach math again. Wow!
Disclaimer: I’m thrilled to be an affiliate for Nicole the Math Lady, so if you decide to use her services, I’d be delighted if you would jump to her site using my affiliate link. I only recommend people and products I use myself and love. Clicking through to her website from my link costs nothing extra for you but helps keep my website free for the future.