Ok.
End of story.
No really, that is the best way to learn them. And if you are like me, then this isn't such good news. I couldn't keep up with a stack of math flash cards if my life depended on it! I mean, my toddler thinks it is great fun to see the math facts "rain" down on the bottom floor from our school loft. Imagine hundreds of math facts and/or Latin flash cards raining down. Not that I've actually witnessed this...at least I'm not admitting it. So although, in theory, flash cards should be do-able. And, in theory, it shouldn't be hard. Somehow it IS hard to keep up the drill work involved in memorizing math facts. So let me just say that when I heard about and used www.xtramath.com on the internet I sang praises! I danced in the moonlight without coercion from flying insect! I signed all of my kids up and set them straight to work on drill work. And then I threw away the random and stray math flash cards that survived the rain. And then I ate chocolate, because all celebrations should include chocolate.
10 Great things about XtraMath:
- It's FREE
- It's EASY
- I don't have to keep up with which kid knows the 2's, 5's and 10's and which kid needs to practice their 4's! This is HUGE!!!
- It's on the computer so I can't lose it!
- No papers to keep up with or print out!
- No more index cards all over my house!
- The kids don't even hate it!
- It only takes 5 minutes a day!
- You can see progress on a special "teacher" page.
- You can play several times a day, if needed.
That's great! Another, similar program, is http://mathfactspro.com But it does have some significant differences: notably, instead of just giving 3 seconds per fact, it determines each kid's individual speed. (some kids can finger count in 3 seconds, and others take longer than that just to remember.) Also, not only does it have jokes, but kids can submit their own jokes and see them as they play! It's free for your 5 toughest students for a whole year. (that will probably get them all:) Time for more chocolate!
ReplyDeleteA great time saving "no nonsense get it done" math drill is Dr. Aardsma's Math drill. The students take their drills right online and each drill is adapted uniquely to your student. A great product which gets great results and saves alot of time and frustration for busy parents.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments. Another EASY way to learn the facts, that only requires pencil and paper is to have your child copy the math fact chart daily. You will be amazed at how much faster they learn by copying the chart daily than by using the website I wrote about. I like to mix things up to keep it interesting in our homeschool, but I'm finding the old school copywork really does still work, even in our modern technological world. That being said, I still like the computer math games, but am being sure to not neglect good old fashioned copywork. :-)
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