Is Flashmaster worth the money?

[scrapbabe]

Or is there another/better/funner way to practice math facts?:001_smile:

[TechWife]

No. It's been a long time since I've looked at online math games, but I know that there are some free ones that do the same thing. Perhaps someone will pipe in with some information.

[bethben]

LOVE flashmaster. Would buy another if ours broke down. 10 year old ds really learned his math facts well with that little machine and I didn't have to do anything besides assign the level.

Beth

[scrapbabe]

Okay, someone has to break the tie.:lol:

[hsmom27]

We love it! It was an easy way to practice facts on the go, without using my phone or anything else. That way at home we had more time to focus on other stuff. : )

[Dolphin]

We love it. There are so many times when you are not around a computer, ie the car. Flashcards are cheaper, but I find I have to sit and do them with ds. I just assign the level, and it does the rest. DS, grumbles less with the flash master than with flash cards. For me, the time it saves me is worth the money.

 

Nicole

[skueppers]

I cannot imagine spending $50 for a dedicated electronic device like that in this day and age.

 

My daughter uses an iPod Touch with the Math Drills software. Yes, the iPod Touch is much more expensive at around $200 (I bought the one she uses refurbished more than two years ago), but it's a multipurpose computing device that can do much more than just math drills. My daughter also uses it to do memory work of all kinds, watches German-language television shows in the car, listens to music at bedtime, etc.

 

I'm not saying I'd buy a $200 device just to do math drills, but I wouldn't pay $50 for something that can be accomplished on a wide range of general-purpose computing devices using software that's either free or costs only a few dollars.

 

Edited to add: In the same price range, I would buy Muggins! instead.

[Daisy]

My kids like to play it in the car, BUT I think there is one thing that makes all the difference....

 

My kids have NO other hand-held games, no computer games, nothing.

 

So it is quite the novelty.

[patchfire]

For dd, it has made a huge difference.

 

We've done written drills. We've done oral drills. We've done audio memory songs. I've put her in front of computer games (and we are pretty firmly anti-computer games, but I made an exception for these math ones). I think there are some other things we tried that aren't listed here.

 

None of them helped her learn her math facts. None.

 

Flashmaster? Has been wonderful. She's actually learning them. It's still painstakingly slow (and a bizarre juxtaposition with how quickly she grasps math concepts, but that's another post), but it's faster. I think it's the best $$ I spent on her education in 2010.

[Penelope]

It has been worth it for us, and hopefully it will last long enough to be worth it for all the children. It's great to take in the car.

 

I agree that a Touch would be the smarter thing as far as value goes. But, there's no way I'd let 6 and 8 year olds have a Touch in the back of the car, which is where the Flashmaster is often used.

[hsmom27]

I actually think the fact that it's not in the same ballpark as a Touch is part of reason it's such a success here. My kids would never be convinced to do anything as boring as drilling math facts on a Touch. When the choice is between the Flashmaster or nothing.... the Flashmaster wins hands down.

[skueppers]

I agree that a Touch would be the smarter thing as far as value goes. But, there's no way I'd let 6 and 8 year olds have a Touch in the back of the car, which is where the Flashmaster is often used.

 

Interesting- I let my kids, 3 and 6, use the iPod Touch in the back of the car every day. It's never been a problem.

[Jen500]

:thumbup: for the Flashmaster for our family. We tried flashcards, oral drill, pencil and paper practice, Timez attack, but the Flashmaster really solidified the facts for my older kids. I'll use it with my younger child too, so $50 for 3 kids isn't bad. I liked that I could just hand it over to them for practice, but I could look back and see their scores afterwards. I think they liked its efficiency--they used it maybe 5-10 minutes every day and got a lot of practice in...as opposed to Timez Attack which seemed like a lot of game with a little practice.

[specialmama]

I bought this for a fraction of the price when it's on sale. It does it all (fractions too!) and it's fun.

[JulieD]

I actually think the fact that it's not in the same ballpark as a Touch is part of reason it's such a success here. My kids would never be convinced to do anything as boring as drilling math facts on a Touch. When the choice is between the Flashmaster or nothing.... the Flashmaster wins hands down.

 

:thumbup: for the Flashmaster for our family. We tried flashcards, oral drill, pencil and paper practice, Timez attack, but the Flashmaster really solidified the facts for my older kids. I'll use it with my younger child too, so $50 for 3 kids isn't bad. I liked that I could just hand it over to them for practice, but I could look back and see their scores afterwards. I think they liked its efficiency--they used it maybe 5-10 minutes every day and got a lot of practice in...as opposed to Timez Attack which seemed like a lot of game with a little practice.

 

:iagree:

 

 

The big advantage for my son is the adjustable timed flashcards setting. He constantly second guesses himself. I couldn't give him the problems faster without causing frustration, and a lot of games don't have an adjustable time setting. If the time was too short at the beginning, he would get frustrated. But if it was long enough for him to do it at the beginning, he never got any faster.

 

Flashmaster has settings of 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2.5, 2.0, 1.6, 1.3, and 1.0 seconds per problem. It gets a child all the way from figuring out a problem each time, through double-checking answers, to recalling instantly the answer.

 

As an added bonus, it improves their ability to type numbers on a full keyboard also.

 

Despite all that, my daughter doesn't use it. She does just fine with worksheets.

 

A Flashmaster wouldn't be worth the money for many families. I do think it is worth it for people who have a child who clearly knows the facts but has not progressed to immediate recall despite flashcards, worksheets, chanting/singing, card games, or computer games.

 

Julie D.

[mama25angels]

I bought this for a fraction of the price when it's on sale. It does it all (fractions too!) and it's fun.

 

 

 

:iagree: I got this used for about 1/2 the price and it has been great!

[Dolphin]

I think part of what I like about the flash master is that it just does Math. We keep it with our Math things, and it isn't used for anything but Math.

 

For my ds he needs to focus when he is doing Math, I find things that are used for multiple purposes are just harder for him to focus on. Even if he was doing a drill on the itouch, he would be thinking of what else he could be doing. If he could ask to do something else as a treat after he finishes his Math etc...

[Susan in KY]

It's been worth it for us.