Sunday, June 9, 2013

XtraMath: Review

My Initial Review of IXL Math:

I have been using XtraMath with Bug partly to help him learn his addition facts, but mostly because it's just something to occupy him for a few minutes.  He is so needy, and so different from his older brother, and I do find it really hard to find things for him to do all day, if his brother is busy reading.  Bug is welcome to play with his toys at any time, but he really does not like to play by himself.  At 5 years old, he is a beginning reader and has no interest in reading to himself.  He has a desire? need? to interact with someone for 99% of his waking hours. 

Anyway, the greatest thing about XtraMath is that it is free.  It is a "nonprofit organization dedicated to math acheivement for all."  Basically, it is a program that helps children memorize their math facts.  Right now, the computer has Bug working on his addition facts, adding 0, 1, and 2 to numbers 0 through 9.  He does well with the program, not getting upset if he doesn't get the answer in the allotted time.  His older brother hated these types of times programs, but I think they can be very valuable in the chore that is memorizing arithmetic facts.  I just hope Bug continues to enjoy the program. 

I do recommend this program, but it is not for every child.  Some children get anxious when they are put up against a timer, and in this case, I don't think the benefits outweigh the risk of forcing the child to hate math. 

I also believe that no one should ever use a math fact memorization program, unless their child has demonstrated conceptual understanding.  Before a child memorizes addition facts, he or she must fully understand that addition means putting together.  Bug is comfortable with the concepts of addition and subtraction.  I'm not sure he fully gets multiplication and division, but I will be sure that he does before it is time to memorize those tables. 

I'll update again after we've used the program for a while.  

My Final Review of IXL Math:

Bug got really bored of this.  I'm still looking for something to help him with his math facts.  I'd like something that will track his learning but be more games-based.