FreeMathHelp

FREEMATHHELP is a good deal for its price point (free!), but distracting and deceptive ads plus a plethora of nonnative content can make for a confusing experience. On the plus side, the forum is searchable and contains a decade's worth of in-depth insight from the user community. Simple navigation complements conversational lessons with kid-style thoughts such as, "Why do we have to do it like that?" Absolute value is explained with patience, depth, and accurate mathematical terminology. These native lessons are clearly authored by an experienced classroom teacher with a concise, knowledgeable, and clear approach.

Unfortunately, not all aspects of the site are so clear. At first, the left sidebar looks like a native menu, but it actually links to an outside, for-pay side, and the "Interactive problem solver" functions briefly before a no-exit dialog box links to an outside, for-pay site. A good number of the lessons are actually links to outside sites (including all the video lessons) with different approaches and levels of quality. Finally, the tone of recent forum posts is not particularly supportive or respectful, and the explanations from elite or senior members are not always clear.