MathRider is a fantasy game where the student completes noble quests riding through Mathland on a horse named Shadow. For one example, the child has to answer math facts to try to get a flower to make medicine for his or her sick mother. (hence the "noble" quests!) Just FYI, there is a wizard and elements of magic, so that may be an issue of concern for some families. All through the quests, math fact mastery is going on while the child is having a great time.
There are 4 levels for each operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) so it is a very versatile program for all ages and levels. It works on the areas your students need work on, which is a great feature. The four quests are the same in each operation, but the rewards are different.
Here are some screen shots of the game to give you a feel for it:
I had three of my children work on this game. My 12 year old daughter loves horses, and did like the game. She was able to quickly complete quests in addition and subtraction, and got the practice she needed in multiplication and division. My 9 year old son needed practice in all the operations, so it was great for him. My 7 year old didn't get very far because of his age, but still liked doing it and did well. I love that you can set it up with more than one student, and everyone can do it and talk about it and learn math facts. My little ones often gathered around the computer to watch, and that is great secondhand learning!! I am always looking for different ways to work on mastery, so this is a great supplement to their math curriculum.
If you think this sounds like a good thing for your family, go to http://mathrider.com/ and check it out. For the very reasonable price of $37 for a download, you can give your children a good tool to learn math facts. You can also read more reviews on this product at http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=77474&type=thumbnail to see what others think of it.
Here's to educational, yet fun, products for our students to learn from!!
***Disclaimer: I was given a free trial of this product in exchange for my honest review of it. I received no other compensation.***
