More on math games

While visiting family in Oakley, ID this past weekend, I received some requests for futher info on the math games I spoke of earlier. Here is a copy of an email I sent in response.

Chad & Susan -

Here are links to the multiplication games I was telling Chad & Mootie about in Idaho.

My kids (especially Nicolette) expressed some concern over not feeling confident enough in their knowledge of the multiplication facts before school starts up again. In response, I hunted down some games they can play online to help them. They LOVE these games, and are frequently asking if they can play more. I love my new issue of having to pull them away from multiplication to do their chores.

www.multiplication.com has some wonderful games that give the reward of a video game after answering so many multiplication problems. Of these, Beach Rush and SuperStars are my kids' favorites. Also on this site you can download a free version of Timez Attack. This game teaches each fact visually and verbally twice before asking the child to answer the problem. This video game is set in a dungeon where the child controls a creature who moves through different rooms, learning new facts along the way. Once they have learned a fact, a door opens to release an ogre who menacingly waves a big club with a math problem on his chest. You defeat the ogre by answering the new problem along with a few others learned previously. Again, my kids LOVE this game.

www.mathisfun.com has many different puzzle type games available, as well as several lessons on math, but we mainly enjoy the Math Trainer found at www.mathisfun.com/numbers/mathtrainer-multiply. The Math Trainer times your completion of math problems, but not in the usual fashion. Rather than how long does it take you to accomplish a specified quantity of problems, you set the time you want to practice, and it tracks how many problems you can solve in that time frame, just like a physical trainer. It is a learning program, in that the problems you don't do so well on, it asks more often.

Our favorite site of all for general math games is www.coolmath.com. Just click on Math Games, and you will find some of the most amazing math games around. My kids love Subtraction Blast, Phit, Compulse, and Bloxorz. My all time favorite here is called Coffee Shop. After picking a name for their shop, the child must purchase inventory with a starting budget. As in the real world, if you buy in quantity, the price per is reduced. The child also can adjust their recipe to use less or more of a particular ingredient. Figuring out how much you need to be able to sell the most the next day is great math. The computer informs you of the weather for the next day as well, adding the variable that on a cool day, more of a hot beverage will be purchased, requiring the shop to have more inventory. The child then sets their price and opens for business. I love the graphics of the customers walking by the store with little thoughts popping up above their heads ("It's cold, I want some." or "I won't pay that price.", etc.). They purchase, drink, and have more thoughts on the quality for the price. Paying attention to this helps the child to adjust the recipe and price before the next day. At this point reputation is introduced, where if most customers are happy, you will get some who will buy no matter what the temperature or price. The child then uses the profits from that day to purchase more inventory for the next day. If I remember correctly, the game runs for 10 or 14 days (about 5 minutes each). What a fabulous way to apply math skills to real life!

Anyway, I hope these help JonPaul and Rosaline, as I've heard they also feel less than confident in math skills, just as Nicolette and Trevor have felt.

Love,
Kitty