Quarter mile math K-9 bundle vs the cheaper cross section version

[wyomom]

Hi,

 

I need some advice on choosing which quarter mile math program to buy. My intention in buying this program is to help cement math facts in my 12 yr old dd's brain. We can drill and drill with her and if she takes any time off practicing, she forgets. Especially multiplication. She will be in 6th grade this year and I just can't imagine her going much farther in math without having her facts comitted to memory. She was using tally marks last year in her math homework for her problems that involved multiplication. UGH! I will also be using this for my 7 yr old ds who can review his addition, subtraction and skip counting and my 14 yr old dd who wants to review algebra 1 equations while doing a year of geometry.

 

Given the wide age range I need this for, I decided I need the K-9 program but I noticed there is the full K-9 bundle for 89.99 and then CBD had what they called a hybrid, cross-section version of the K-9 bundle for 39.99. They didn't give a whole lot of explanation of the two programs but I imagine the cheaper version covers most of what the more expensive version covers but with fewer problems. I'm not sure about that.

 

I was wondering if anyone here has experience with this program and which version would you recommend. Is it worth the extra 50 dollars to just buy the full version? With my age ranges, I would definately need all levels at once so I initially thought it would be worth the money to just spend the 89 dollars but if I could save 50 dollars on the cheaper version, I can justify buying my 7r old ds the songschool latin. LOL!! Ha Ha!

 

OH the joys of buying curriculum and trying to make that budget stretch!!

 

Thanks for the help

Julie

[Shelly in the Country]

I have QMM. I don't know which version I have :lol:. But I just wanted to add in here, my eldest absolutely detested QMM. My second child tolerates it. I would personally go for the cheapest version I could find first to see if my kids liked it or not. (I should add here, both of these kids love video games of any kind so the ambivalence toward QMM is not due to any kind of problem with electronic games in general....just QMM.) I still have two more kids to try it out on. I'm hoping at least one of them LOVES it as much as the box told me they would. :001_smile:

[DaisyMay]

I have QMM. I didn't pay very much for it. My kids don't really like it very much :001_huh: They don't like the pressure of the racing. They actually prefer the free Math U See online drill. Go figure!

 

Gayle

[wyomom]

Oh my goodness isn't that always the case. LOL! Ha Ha! It is definately frustrating to think we have finally found something that is going to help with our school issues and it is a flop after putting money in it. UGH! I have heard so many rave reviews in various catalogs, including timberdoodle, that I figured I would bite the bullet and buy it. With a 2 yr old and a new baby, I just don't have time to sit with my older dc and go over math fact flash cards so I figured this would be a good independent method for them to review on their own. Hmmmmm.

 

I wonder if there is an alternative option or if anyone else has had a possitive experience.

[DaisyMay]

Something that I've used and that my kids do enjoy is Calculadders. I have their 2 cd's and print off pages for them each week. That has helped SO MUCH cement their math facts.

 

:001_smile:

Gayle

[wyomom]

I do have the first two calculadder books but my kids balk at more timed drills on paper since saxon has them do a sheet per lesson so I got alot of complaining about more "seatwork" I guess you could call it. This is sort of why I thought QMM would be a good fit for my dc since it does cover all the levels I need and it isn't like another timed worksheet drill.

[Julie in MN]

Given the wide age range I need this for, I decided I need the K-9 program but I noticed there is the full K-9 bundle for 89.99 and then CBD had what they called a hybrid, cross-section version of the K-9 bundle for 39.99.

 

When my ds was in about 3rd or 4th, I got the QMM version that was for something like 4th-6th grades. I talked to the vendor & she suggested this cheaper version. I was happy with the purchase because it did include the easier stuff as well.

 

I really like QMM because it does just what it says -- math drill. So many computer programs have a few math problems mixed into a bunch of other stuff. QMM has two methods (horse race & car race) and lots of different problem configurations, but then it simply does math drill.

 

Now math drill is not a favorite thing to do around here. But QMM is a good option, if mom says serious drill must be done! I wouldn't use it every day, but maybe two days a week or so, mixed in with other drill methods. I also wouldn't use it with someone who struggles at a keyboard, because they won't be able to score as well as they should. My ds was born at the keyboard so that wasn't an issue :)

 

Julie

Edited August 7, 2009 by Julie in MN

[Shelly in the Country]

Another thing:

 

My DD hated any form of math drill. We did Calculadders (I have Masterpaks 1 and 2 :lol:), QMM, Rainbow Rock, Flashcards, Times Tables the Fun Way...I tried just about everything. She hated them all. We had the best results when I physically sat with her and did flashcards with her. Every other method allowed her to NOT actually try to study the math facts. What I discovered, with her, was that it wasn't so much the method, but accountability. Since she hated the tedium of it, I had to make sure she was doing it. There was no fun and painless route for her. BTW, we got through it, and she knows her math facts today :001_smile:.

 

My DS does not appear to be as put off by drill work. We'll see how this one goes...

 

As with all things YMMV

[SquirrellyMama]

I have the K-9 bundle. My kids haven't liked it. They don't like the pressure of timed racing. I got my off of ebay for $3. I suggest you try there first.

 

Looking at my cd it says it is the Hybrid. It has over 70,000 problems.

 

Kelly

Edited August 7, 2009 by kwiech

[corbie]

I really had high hopes for it too, but my girls hate it. Right Start Math Card Games has been a better purchase. If I had to do it over again, I would skip Quarter Mile. My kids like interactive games so much better. We have the total package, such a waste.

[luna]

We have the total package and it is torture for my girls to use it at all. I was very disappointed when I saw how simple the program is. I can't understand why it is so expensive when there is nothing to it at all. Problems pop up on the screen while horses or cars (very basic graphics) race across the screen. I think there must be a better way. We do good old fashioned drill sheets and flashcards with greater success. I say save your money and try something else.

[Alicia]

For drill I use an online program called bigmathtime.com, there is also big spelling, vocabulary and state time. For these programs you set the parameters for your kids. I choose to have mine do 100 math questions 4 days a week. I then choose their grade level. I can choose the percentge of questions devoted to add/sub/mult/divide. Within each of those 4 you can choose the level of difficulty. Skill and accuracy in each of the operations is graded seperatly so kids can progress in strong areas while not being held back in areas where they need more work.

For example my kids do 100 problems starting with adding and subtracting with 0 up to 12. 1+0, 2+0 3+0 and 1-0, 2-0. To move from 0 up to 1 and beyond they have to achive I believe 80% min. for a specific number of sessions within a specific time frame per question. So at least 80% correct on 3 out of 6 last sessions with less then 5 seconds per question. Then the program automatically progresses them. At anytime on any day I can go in and change any of the parameters.

My dd8 is doing add with numbers 9 and down, subtraction with 7 and down, double digit addition with carrying, multiplication up to 3. Again she has 100 questions and needs to answer each under 5 seconds with a score of 80% per section. She spends about 12 minutes doing this as her double digit addition is at 12 seconds a question, I only give her 15 questions in this area to curb frustration. It is doing great things for her mental math skills! When they move from say adding with 8 to adding with nine or up one number in times tables I tell them the first week not to worry about time focus on accuracy. That also helps. The program adjusts the questions based on their time to answer and the number correct.

This program is fantastic! It is about $39 a year, not sure as I have both math and spelling which is just as flexible but have different pricing. Take a look at the demo it is very much worth it. I gave up on cd's as they were not as flexibe, and did not help ME as much as this program does. I get emailed the scores of reading within the hour with a breakdown of problem words and I get test scores sent to me. I can go in and print a weekly overview in different formats as well.

I will do it about 3 years per child then stop as by 9/10 years old they should have these facts down cold for all 4 basic operations. Not sure if it goes into fractions and such as mine are just in 3rd grade now.

 

HTH

 

Alicia in New Zealand

[lisasaysto]

My kids -- and my husband and I -- play video games quite a lot, so I was looking forward to Quarter Mile. I was very disappointed. The graphics are incredibly basic and the kids were bored. Honestly, I didn't blame them. It's almost like this game is "Atari" level when my kids are used to "xBox."

[Geo]

I really had high hopes for it too, but my girls hate it. Right Start Math Card Games has been a better purchase. If I had to do it over again, I would skip Quarter Mile. My kids like interactive games so much better. We have the total package, such a waste.

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

Geo

[DaisyMay]

When we use Calculadders, I have the kids use a timer that counts up. Then they record how long it took them to do the page. Each day they try to go a little faster. That way it's not racing the clock, but racing yourself.

 

Gayle

[wyomom]

For drill I use an online program called bigmathtime.com, there is also big spelling, vocabulary and state time. For these programs you set the parameters for your kids. I choose to have mine do 100 math questions 4 days a week. I then choose their grade level. I can choose the percentge of questions devoted to add/sub/mult/divide. Within each of those 4 you can choose the level of difficulty. Skill and accuracy in each of the operations is graded seperatly so kids can progress in strong areas while not being held back in areas where they need more work.

For example my kids do 100 problems starting with adding and subtracting with 0 up to 12. 1+0, 2+0 3+0 and 1-0, 2-0. To move from 0 up to 1 and beyond they have to achive I believe 80% min. for a specific number of sessions within a specific time frame per question. So at least 80% correct on 3 out of 6 last sessions with less then 5 seconds per question. Then the program automatically progresses them. At anytime on any day I can go in and change any of the parameters.

My dd8 is doing add with numbers 9 and down, subtraction with 7 and down, double digit addition with carrying, multiplication up to 3. Again she has 100 questions and needs to answer each under 5 seconds with a score of 80% per section. She spends about 12 minutes doing this as her double digit addition is at 12 seconds a question, I only give her 15 questions in this area to curb frustration. It is doing great things for her mental math skills! When they move from say adding with 8 to adding with nine or up one number in times tables I tell them the first week not to worry about time focus on accuracy. That also helps. The program adjusts the questions based on their time to answer and the number correct.

This program is fantastic! It is about $39 a year, not sure as I have both math and spelling which is just as flexible but have different pricing. Take a look at the demo it is very much worth it. I gave up on cd's as they were not as flexibe, and did not help ME as much as this program does. I get emailed the scores of reading within the hour with a breakdown of problem words and I get test scores sent to me. I can go in and print a weekly overview in different formats as well.

I will do it about 3 years per child then stop as by 9/10 years old they should have these facts down cold for all 4 basic operations. Not sure if it goes into fractions and such as mine are just in 3rd grade now.

 

HTH

 

Alicia in New Zealand

 

 

Thank you for the tip on this program. After reading all the bad reviews on this program, I am really glad I came here first before spending 90 dollars! Phew. I will go check this program out.

 

Thanks again. Julie

[wyomom]

I wanted to thank everyone for sharing their experience with QMM. I greatly appreciate it since this is a very expensive program and I would have been very sad to think I spent that much money on something so simple. UGH! I think spending the money on singsong latin for ds is a better trade. Wow. I can't believe no one has had a good experience with this after buying it. The folks at Timberdoodle think it's wonderful. Sheesh. Talk about missing the mark.

 

Thanks again Everyone!! You all have saved me lots of money. I am so thankful I came to these boards and asked for input before putting this in my cart. wow.

[RollerSkatingMama]

Hi! I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can download a free demo at http://www.thequartermile.com/. Otherwise, you can get a free demo CD from the company (there must be a link on their website somewhere since I ordered one from them awhile back), and it also comes with a booklet that lists all the topics and which CDs those topics are available on. It is very detailed about the differences between the different bundles. The demo, though it contains limited topics, lets your kids play the actual games so that they can see what it's like and you can see whether it's something they'd enjoy.

For the record, my kids love QMM and I plan on ordering the newest version of it in the next couple of weeks. Just be aware that most of the used copies being sold are not the newest version, which isn't an issue unless you use Vista as your operating system. Our library has QMM (so you may want to check your library first), however, since we got our new computer we're not able to use it because it won't run on Vista. So I need to buy the newest version that will run on Vista.

HTH,

Kristin

[wyomom]

Hi! I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can download a free demo at http://www.thequartermile.com/. Otherwise, you can get a free demo CD from the company (there must be a link on their website somewhere since I ordered one from them awhile back), and it also comes with a booklet that lists all the topics and which CDs those topics are available on. It is very detailed about the differences between the different bundles. The demo, though it contains limited topics, lets your kids play the actual games so that they can see what it's like and you can see whether it's something they'd enjoy.

For the record, my kids love QMM and I plan on ordering the newest version of it in the next couple of weeks. Just be aware that most of the used copies being sold are not the newest version, which isn't an issue unless you use Vista as your operating system. Our library has QMM (so you may want to check your library first), however, since we got our new computer we're not able to use it because it won't run on Vista. So I need to buy the newest version that will run on Vista.

HTH,

Kristin

 

This is a great idea. Thanks for mentioning this. I didn't realize they had a website. I suppose most things do, I'm a little slow to process things this time of year. LOL! Trying to make make a tight budget stretch enough to get a full year of curriculum and then make a workable schedule out of it stresses me out. :eek: Ha ha!

 

Thanks Kristin