Mathletics Brings the Fun of Competition to Math!

Posted by Lorren on January 22, 2010

We recently had the chance to try out Mathletics.com. We were given a free subscription in exchange for a review. My seven-year-old tried out the program as part of her math curriculum. This program allows kids to be able to compete with other kids all around the country in basic math skills, and allows them to practice their math facts in exchange for virtual rewards.

The math games that my daughter played looked like they could be a lot of fun. You set up the account with your child’s level, and they are paired up in competition with kids of similar skill levels. I set up my daughter with a second grade account, even though she is taking a third grade math class, as she is technically in the second grade.

Many kids, I think, would really enjoy this sort of competition. My daughter would have two or three other kids that she would compete against, and she would have to answer a series of math problems quickly, in order to try to win a race. While I know that I would enjoy a competition like that, it frustrated my daughter. Even though I don’t let her lose when I play games with her, she still tends to be a perfectionist, and hates it when she loses. So what would be fun for many people was frustrating for her, because she didn’t win all the time (because she was competing against other intelligent kids around the world). She did win sometimes, just not all the time.

The other thing that was difficult for her was the speed that she had to recall her math facts at. Now, we do times tests nearly every day. Sometimes we do more than one times test (sometimes a subtraction one and a multiplication one, for example). My daughter doesn’t mind times tests when she’s doing facts that she knows well, but when she’s dealing with facts that she is still learning (doubles plus one subtraction facts, for example), she gets frustrated. At the time she was competing against the other kids, many times, the facts that were being asked were ones that she did not have down pat. When she couldn’t recall a fact right away, she was frustrated (my daughter will not use her fingers to add or subtract, but that’s another story).

There was one feature of Mathletics that she did not find frustrating. She liked the activities… perhaps not as much as she likes watching Martha Speaks or playing on Webkinz.com, but they didn’t frustrate her, and they did provide motivation. As she completed the activities, she would earn points, which led to awards and certificates. At times, these questions could be challenging, but they were questions that she was capable of doing. If she has difficulty with a question, there is an explanation with how to solve the problem. Earning points and awards would earn points to spend in the Mathletics shop, where my daughter was able to buy things like accessories and hair styles.

An annual student subscription to Mathletics is $59. When you sign up, you are asked a question: Do you know the human calculator’s favorite number? If you know the answer (9) then you can get Mathletics for $49. Is it for everyone? I think that it’s great for kids that thrive on competition. Perhaps some day it will be a good program for my daughter too; she just might be a little immature to handle tough competition. There is a 10 day money back guarantee, so if you end up trying it out and discover that your kid doesn’t thrive so much on the competition, you’re not out anything. I think that in some cases, younger kids don’t like to play games when they don’t win all the time, but some kids love this sort of thing.

I would try this program again with my daughter, if she gets to the point where she can handle losing every now and then. I’d try it out with my son too.