Thursday, February 24, 2011

MathRider Review

Practicing math facts has never been a very fun task around here. We have tried various methods and some have been more successful than others. Now that we have MathRider I don't have to worry about any math fact practice. This fun math game uses artificial intelligence to adapt to your child and help them to master all math operations for 0-12. Your child can go on a magical ride on their horse through the "Enchanted Mathlands" while solving math problems. MathRider comes as a downloadable product and is very reasonably priced at only $37. Considering I can use it for all of the kids to learn all of their math facts--addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, for one price I think that is quite a deal! And the added bonus is that they LOVE it!

You decide what set of facts the child will be working on (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division) and they are given a "quest". There is a short story about something they have to go find in the "Enchanted MathLands". As the child moves through the MathLands their horse must "jump" an obstacle. In order to jump the obstacle the rider has to answer a math fact. As the child moves through the program the program customizes itself to the rider. If a rider misses a "jump" the fact is quoted very clearly for the rider to hear.

Also, after each ride the child sees how much progress is made on their quest. The red line shows where Paul is on his current quest. He is working through his multiplication and division facts. He knows most of them already but this is great fun and keeps him sharp on his skills. He asks to play it daily!


You can view your child's progress and mastery level at any time. As your child masters one set of facts they are automatically moved on to more difficult facts but the game still practices the easier facts. Zachary's progress is below. He is only 5 and just starting to learn addition and this program has helped him make more progress in a short period of time than I ever could have with flashcards! I have Zach look at the progress he is making with me and if you click on the facts the fact is quoted, so we go over the ones we are struggling with together. Again, I am amazed at how much progress he is making and he doesn't even realize he is learning! He can't wait to master all the addition facts and save the princess!

System Requirements: "MathRider uses the Adobe® AIR™ runtime. This means our Math game runs on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. Your computer requires about 80MB of available hard disk space. Your monitor (and graphics card) need to support at least a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels."

There is no recommended age range on the website. Zachary is 5 and he is doing well on it, but I don't think he would have until recently. Paul is 9 and loves it as well. I am thinking it is probably appropriate for ages 5-12

Take a look at the program for yourself at MathRider's website And take a look at this portion of the website for more information on how the game works to help your child master all of their math facts!

And stop by here to see what other crew members have to say about this great program.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. There was no other compensation given for the review

1 comment:

Merit Kirkpatrick said...

That looks like a fun way to drill Math! Good info - thanks!