Testimonials for Ko's Journey - Homeschool Buyers Co-op

Ko's Journey

The Co-op welcomes success stories that will help other homeschooling parents decide whether to add Ko's Journey to their home school curriculum. If you have used Ko's Journey and would like to contribute a testimonial, please click here.

Ko's Journey is different than any other math curriculum or program that we have used before. It incorporates middle school mathematical concepts into story form. Ko is an early human using math to find her way back to her tribe.

All my kids (3 yrs, 8 yrs and 11 yrs) LOVE it!! And my 11 yr old hates math. He loves Ko's journey and asks to do it. The younger children will watch while he is doing it. They are introduced to concepts and can comprehend a surprising amount. There is a decent amount of repetition but the main benefit is that complex problems and concepts are introduced in a fun and engaging way.

No other program compares to this one and we will be so sad when it is over. As a matter of fact, we will probably wait a month or so and order it again for review!!! That's how much we love it.

Please do more programs like this. We will be watching for them.”

Michele A. Taluba, homeschool mother of 3, Co-op Member

Son likes the program. Plays it as part of his math school work. I like that I can log in and see what he has missed so we can work on those items. Like that it was affordable. It also gives my son a chance to play a fun game and learn too.”

A Logsdon, Co-op Member

My advanced 4th-grade son watched the short video explaining Ko's Journey and was mesmerized from the get-go. He worked daily at the game and it took him about 2 weeks to complete the journey. Because of his age I permitted him use of a calculator; I wanted his fascination with the story and the concepts to not be tarnished by his prodding through calculations. (If he was older I wouldn't have let him take those short-cuts.) I can assure you his love of math grew through this game, several basic math concepts were solidified, and he enjoyed the break from his usual math studies. The music of this game and the "voice" of the guide are enchantingly beautiful - something surely missing from other "arcade-style" math games!”

Sara S., Co-op Member

My 13yr old son has always struggled in math. He has found it boring and it has always been a fight to get him to work on his math. First off, never have the words, "Mom can I do my math first?" EVER come out of my son's mouth. With Ko's Journey he was eager to do math! He wanted to learn, wanted to get to the next stage, and did not get frustrated even when he had a rough time with a particular part of the storyline. He just kept at it working it out over and over again until he got it correct. I found that concepts I had been trying to get through to him for years all the sudden clicked and made sense. It has to be the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

I will admit at times I found the program to be repetitive. Every day you gather food by walking around aimlessly, then you add up the weight in your pack, etc... At times it seemed redundant and unnecessary but who I am to judge. The fact is my son LIKED doing it, he LIKED math, he LIKED learning, and most of all he was EXCITED. For once, math was not an argument but something to be celebrated as he started to understand it. Seeing his own self esteem grow when he completed a difficult task was well worth putting our other math aside and just letting him explore Ko's Journey.

We have gone back now to our normal math program but he still talks about Ko's Journey, and he did take away a new sense of awareness of math concepts that he didn't have before. I just wish all math could be this fun and educational.”

Tiffany B., Co-op Member

My daughter enjoys the game until the test portion. There she is very frustrated. For example, tonight we worked on part 2 of the game, Travel. The game talked about velocity and calculating distance based on velocity. The test then had a problem adding up purchases and applying sales tax as a percentage. Multiplication with percentages and moving decimal places was not taught in the game portion and was not something covered in my daughter's 5th grade math curriculum yet. When purchasing this game, I was under the impression that concepts were taught in a way that kids would understand through game playing. Sadly, this is not the case. I am disappointed in this aspect of the game. This happened in the previous section too--"test questions out of left field". Great concept and reasonable price, but the math integration needs some work. I would give this 3 out of 5 stars.”

Alison A., Co-op Member

We love the drama of the game, the back ground music and the tone of the characters voices adds so much to the excitement of play. However, my 11 year old, sixth grade student is finding Kos Journey quite a challenge. He does ask to play it daily, though he is not getting very far very quickly. Having said that, it does stimulate his intellect and by the conclusion of the game I know that he will have benefited greatly.”

Jana, Co-op Member

Sarah (10) my mid to high leveled learner has been working through Ko's Journey since September.

She loves it. There is a PDF which supports each lesson and offers expansion exercises. We enjoyed these and this did exactly what they were meant to do - they expanded the course to contain a higher level of content and integrity.

We are only sad because this journey is ending.

For the price I do feel it would be better for the student to be able to go over the journey more than once. The only change to content I would make is the addition of additional practice sets (optional journeys controlled by the teacher or based on the number of attempts...ie: if a student attempt five times and does not pass a junction, that they have another mountain waiting, additional guidance / guidebook feedback) which would allow for a greater understanding at each juncture.

I strongly recommend the product. I have recommended it to every homeschooling person and gifted/talented person I have come in contact with.

All the best,”

Kerry Frank, Co-op Member

My 11 and 13 year old boys weren't too sure about "another math game", but this one keeps their interest and they WANT to figure it out. In fact, I've seen them do a level several times, b/c they weren't satisfied with how they did! My only complaint is that we have 1.5 Mpbs DSL, and even though the game is supposed to work at that speed, it's way too jerky in the speech. This isn't really a problem with Kos-Journey, just our Internet. This game will keep your kid's interest and stretch their brains!”

Lori Kilfian, Co-op Member

It is not surprising that my daughter loves Ko's Journey, since she loves all things related to archery. Having a main character with a bow and arrow who has to hunt for her food was a real hook for her. I love that it ties math to real applications and not just numbers on a page.”

Kristin W., Co-op Member

We love Ko's Journey. It's gaming type way of covering middle school math standards is such a gift to my son. He took the placement test and began the journey. No stress, only fun. His learning in Ko's Journey is demonstrated in his school math work which is coming much more easily and quickly now.”

A Ford, Co-op Member

My daughter loved this game. She put a lot of effort into it and it really challenged her.”

Sara McGrath, Co-op Member

My son had burnt out on his traditionally formatted text and workbook. It was important to me, though, to keep working on important math concepts. Kos Journey covers many of the concepts we had left for the year, but in a much more fun and engaging way.”

Anna O., Co-op Member

This was a wonderful way to get my daughter interested in math. She had struggled with math due to concepts she wasn't taught before we started homeschooling. Ko's Journey helped her realize that she can do math.”

Dawn C, Co-op Member

My kids are having a lot of fun with Ko's Journey. They're using math to solve real world problems. I have recommended this to everyone we know.”

Debbie, Co-op Member

We have been using Ko's Journey for a few weeks now. I had a slight issue with my browser and the videos and talked to the creator of Ko's Journey and he was so helpful and the glitch on my end was resolved. The program is easy to use and very engaging for the kids. My daughter is very excited and really enjoys playing...she doesn't want to stop! I think we will complete it early because she wants to do more than one lesson at at time. I actually enjoy watching her try to solve the problems because she takes it so seriously. I would HIGHLY recommend!”

AnnMPC, Co-op Member

My son used Ko's Journey over the summer to reinforce concepts that he had learned over the year. He generally tends to dread math of any kind, but Ko's Journey made the math challenges fun and engaging. It is hard to find interactive math programs that incorpate a stimulating platform into learning for older children. We have used other programs whose directions were unclear or whose interface was difficult to use. I have to say that this is the best math program of its kind. Furthermore, the program has been updated since we initially subscribed, an it is even better than before. I highly recommend Ko's Journey.”

Cynthia W, Co-op Member