NatYoung17 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 So I recently discovered XtraMath.org - a website where your kids can practice their math facts (addition, subtraction, myltiplication and division) for 10 minutes each day to get them ingrained in teir mind. It start with addition and once mastered, moves on to subtraction, etc.. I Love it! It keeps track of their score and what they need to practice more, you can print reports if needed, etc... Basically it makes practicing your math facts a lot easier than dealing with a bunch of flashcards, etc... and it realy takes less than 10 minutes a day... The problem is... my dd (7) hates it! She throws a fit every time I tell her to do it, she says it's too hard, although she does well most days if I can get her to do it... (she really liked it the first few times she did it). So what would you do? I really don't have the time or patience to go back to flashcards (and she didn't really like those when we were still doing them), which is why I really like this program. And I do feel she needs to know basic math facts or everything else will just get harder and harder if she doesn't have those down... we're doing 2nd grade math (using Calvert Math) and she does fine , but we will be moving on to adding double digit numbers soon... Am I placing too much importance on this? What do you do, if your kids don't want to do someting you feel is important? I'm really at a loss....:confused: Thanks for reading this long post! Can't wait to hear what you have to say!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 At her age, I would do a sticker chart with a reward at the end of the week if she does it every day without complaining. But I have no problem with bribing my children. YMMV! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 You could start playing addition war frequently. Or RS games. If you want to keep up with xtramath.org you might set an incentive. "If you do ten minutes on here, I will give you an m&m for every answer correct." Or, "If you complete your subtraction table, I will take you for an ice cream cone." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseyloxs Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) There has to be a math game out there that is more fun and would still help her practice her tables. I loved number munchers as a kid. It was a DOS game but hopefully somebody has updated it since then. Edited February 16, 2012 by roseyloxs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseyloxs Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I found the original number munchers and its available for free but you need a DOS emulator to use it (which is also free). A google search should pull up a few. If you have a Mac like me then you will need Boxer. I am guilty of downloading it last night and playing a few games. Its still as awesome as I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) There has to be a math game out there that is more fun and would still help her practice her tables. I loved number munchers as a kid. It was a DOS game but hopefully somebody has updated it since then. She will love Timez Attack. It was too addictive for Button, who is an intense fellow, but nobody else has reported this problem. There's a free version. We currently do Calculadder. He earns half a "bookstore dollar" for each day of drills, one drill in the AM and one in the PM. We are fortunate enough to have an independent bookstore nearby that sells only books and Klutz kits, so he can purchase "anything!" there :). Button's school work is required anyhow, but adding a carrot to the stick when it came to math drills was very helpful. Edited February 17, 2012 by serendipitous journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 She will love Timez Attack. There's a free version. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I used xtramath.org with my 7 year old as well, and he liked it at first, but then he started to really hate it. The problem? He's not a great typer yet, and he had too much trouble getting to the numbers in the time allowed. It was so stressful to him! So I decided that computer was not the way to go for him to gain speed. I then discovered http://math-drills.com, printed out a 5 minute drill for multiplication (what we were trying to work on), and gave him one each day. We did just ONE table (ie, table of 3, table of 4, etc.) each day. I gave him 5 minutes and told him to just do however many he could, and if he didn't know one, he was to skip it and keep going. At the end of the table of 3, he had skipped all instances of 3x6 and 3x8. I went over the answers, putting check marks on the correct ones, and for the ones he got wrong or skipped, I asked him, "Quick, what's 3x6?" By the end of the page, he had practiced the TWO facts he really needed work with so many times that he now knew them very well. I didn't have to do flash cards. I think it's very important to let them know that you don't expect them to get all 100 in 5 minutes, but that they are just trying to beat their own time. So the first day I think he got 54, and the next day he got 60, so I made a big deal out of that. ;) This method was so much more stressful, since DS is comfortable writing numbers on paper. Ok, on the table of 5's, we did have a moment of panic when he couldn't remember how to make a '5'... I had to laugh at that one. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 We enjoyed these Learning Wrap-ups. They're self correcting flash cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I have my boys doing this and their biggest problem is the typing (I haven't taught them to type yet) and they also have to "race the teacher". They type in the wrong numbers sometimes since they struggle a little with the typing part and they also struggle with the time crunch on racing the teacher. I just told them to get over it! :lol: They look forward to the reports to see how they improved. They also get excited to see how many they can get correct in a row. They got use to it over time. We have been using it since December. I would give it some time. Offer some type of reward for doing it without complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I think an m&m for every smile is a great bribe! OTOH--my dd6 is using this program as well, and likes it, but my son (10) (who KNOWS HIS ADDITION and subtraction facts and is just trying to move through the program to division where he needs some practice) freaks out under the pressure and cannot even answer the simple addition problems. :confused: I think some kids can't function under that kind of pressure. I want him to keep working through it so that he gets used to it, but if he were little, I don't know that I would continue stressing him out over that but would find an alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatYoung17 Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Thanks so much for all your suggestions! I will try if a reward will work for her, if not I will try some of the other suggestions! You guys are the best!! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 What do you do, if your kids don't want to do someting you feel is important? Make them do it anyway. Give them a yummy snack immediately afterward. My kids don't like Xtra Math, either. Them's the breaks. Tough it out, kiddo. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda S in TX Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Yes, math facts are important. We spent a lot of time with flashcards, worksheets, and other things before we found reflexmath.com. Here is a quote from another post where I mentioned it. If you just want something to drill multiplication facts, I highly recommend http://www.reflexmath.com/ . It costs $35 for a one year membership for one student and covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division 0-12 facts. The first day, I let them play on it for one hour. After that, I have them do fifteen minutes morning and afternoon. In less than four months, my 11ds is 100% fluent in addition and subtraction facts 0-12 and 81% fluent in multiplication and division facts 0-12 (he's working on 11s and 12s). My 9ds is 100% fluent in addition and subtraction 0-12 and 70% fluent in multiplication and division facts 0-9. All without flashcards, worksheets, or me doing anything. My very non mathy/math phobic 14dd is 100% fluent in addition and subtraction 0-12 facts and 91% fluent in muliplication and division 0-9 facts. It works and they love it. Reflexmath is so much fun. It does drills in the form of games. There's Wind Rider (hot air balloon), Egyptian Conniption, Swamp Chomper, Ninja to the Stars, and several more games. You create an avatar and buy things for it with the coins you collect. You get a seed that you plant and it grows as you become more fluent. Coins are used to buy things (treehouse, beehive, pond, squirrel) for your tree. My children love reflexmath. I know I sound like a commercial, but I'm just a satisfied customer. We spent years trying to learn math facts with flashcards and things. This is easy and fun. They have a free trial. Try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetandSimple Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 "Mathrider" is also a good one that might be more fun for her, especially if she likes horses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 There are gentler programs out there. My kids couldn't type fast enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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