Decimal drill apps

[Not_a_Number]

Anyone have favorite apps/programs for drilling decimal operations? DD9 has been able to do them for more than a year, but she's gotten slow... we've drilled a good long while last year, and she sped up, but she seems to be right back where she started 😕 . Ideas? 

[VminusEplusFis2]

I haven't found anything that I like more than pen & paper, but I'll link a few sites I've seen just in case they are useful to someone. One option for drilling is Khan Academy. (You don't need an account - you can just save the links and open them whenever the child needs to practice.) So, for long division or multiplication with decimals, you could use:

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-sixth-grade-math/cc-6th-arithmetic-operations/cc-6th-dividing-decimals/e/dividing_decimals_3

or

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-sixth-grade-math/cc-6th-arithmetic-operations/cc-6th-dividing-decimals/e/dividing_decimals

or

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra-basics/basic-alg-foundations/alg-basics-operations-with-decimals/e/multiplying_decimals_1

There are more similar quizzes there. If you press the pen icon at the bottom, the whole screen turns into drawing pad, so the child could solve these on, say, a tablet using a stylus.

For mental calculations with decimals, here's one option: https://www.thatquiz.org/tq-3/?-j12c-l1i-mpnv600-p0

This one is not for decimals, but it's for long division with two-digit divisors, which might be useful if the child already understands the "decimal" part but needs some practice figuring out how to divide with 2-digit divisors:

http://www.thegreatmartinicompany.com/longarithmetic/longdivision.html

[Not_a_Number]

12 minutes ago, VminusEplusFis2 said:

I haven't found anything that I like more than pen & paper, but I'll link a few sites I've seen just in case they are useful to someone. One option for drilling is Khan Academy. (You don't need an account - you can just save the links and open them whenever the child needs to practice.) So, for long division or multiplication with decimals, you could use:

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-sixth-grade-math/cc-6th-arithmetic-operations/cc-6th-dividing-decimals/e/dividing_decimals_3

or

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-sixth-grade-math/cc-6th-arithmetic-operations/cc-6th-dividing-decimals/e/dividing_decimals

or

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra-basics/basic-alg-foundations/alg-basics-operations-with-decimals/e/multiplying_decimals_1

There are more similar quizzes there. If you press the pen icon at the bottom, the whole screen turns into drawing pad, so the child could solve these on, say, a tablet using a stylus.

For mental calculations with decimals, here's one option: https://www.thatquiz.org/tq-3/?-j12c-l1i-mpnv600-p0

This one is not for decimals, but it's for long division with two-digit divisors, which might be useful if the child already understands the "decimal" part but needs some practice figuring out how to divide with 2-digit divisors:

http://www.thegreatmartinicompany.com/longarithmetic/longdivision.html

Thank you! That’s a good list for anyone looking.

I spent a loong time yesterday looking, and I didn’t find anything quite like I wanted. I definitely wanted something timed and at least a bit fun and something where I could set the level precisely. She isn’t having trouble with any of the concepts, but her mental math is slow, and I wanted to start with ones she can do in her head.

I think we’ll stick with the pen and paper option but make it fun by having her compete with me 🙂. I’ll get a handicap to make it fair, though!

[VminusEplusFis2]

That sounds like a fun idea! I have seen a game or two that have timed questions and are somewhat fun (because something fun happens after a question is answered correctly) but they don't allow the player to solve the problems on the screen, so pen and paper would still be required for the actual work. Pretty sure those wouldn't be great for your purposes either, though. 

(I am actually a bit surprised there aren't better options out there!)

[Not_a_Number]

52 minutes ago, VminusEplusFis2 said:

That sounds like a fun idea! I have seen a game or two that have timed questions and are somewhat fun (because something fun happens after a question is answered correctly) but they don't allow the player to solve the problems on the screen, so pen and paper would still be required for the actual work. Pretty sure those wouldn't be great for your purposes either, though. 

(I am actually a bit surprised there aren't better options out there!)

I’m also surprised!! I saw all this stuff for multiplication tables and stuff like that, but I never really needed games for drilling those… she absorbed them just fine through use and with a bit of verbal drill. I kind of assumed there were still fun games for later stuff, too… and apparently not!

Edited August 15, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Clickie]

This is all I've noticed recently, wrt decimal operations at the Grade 4/5 level.

You could think about SplashLearn, which is iOS and Android. You can try out the games in a browser.  Subscription, but a person could just buy a month.  Noticed it while looking for metric conversion games....  I don't have a subscription myself, and I don't know that much per se about the program.

https://www.splashlearn.com/decimal-games

As a lesser option, Doodle Maths has decimal drills/questions.  It's also subscription at the level where you can customize the assignment to be decimals. (Otherwise it is adaptive, and has some reduced questions available a day that the app will chose for you.)   My son is currently doing a subscription to Doodle Maths.  It's a fun way to improve speed and accuracy.

https://doodlelearning.com/

 

[Not_a_Number]

10 minutes ago, Clickie said:

This is all I've noticed recently, wrt decimal operations at the Grade 4/5 level.

You could think about SplashLearn, which is iOS and Android. You can try out the games in a browser.  Subscription, but a person could just buy a month.  Noticed it while looking for metric conversion games....  I don't have a subscription myself, and I don't know that much per se about the program.

https://www.splashlearn.com/decimal-games

As a lesser option, Doodle Maths has decimal drills/questions.  It's also subscription at the level where you can customize the assignment to be decimals. (Otherwise it is adaptive, and has some reduced questions available a day that the app will chose for you.)   My son is currently doing a subscription to Doodle Maths.  It's a fun way to improve speed and accuracy.

https://doodlelearning.com/

 

I saw those when Googling, but those aren't super adjustable or timed, are they? 

We've actually started our "quiz show" drills 🙂 . She competes with me, where I start 10 seconds after her. There's a prize for the winner of each evening. It's been very motivating for her! 

[Not_a_Number]

21 minutes ago, seemesew said:

So I've been eyeing this gadget because it has all kind of drills (including decimals) and can be taken anywhere! It looks like a great option:

 MathShark Electronic Math Game

Hmmm, cool! I wonder how hard the decimal problems go... 

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, seemesew said:

The reviews say a lot maybe one will have that info? Because it sure would be handy!

I'd love to know the answer 😄 . Right now, we're focusing largely on decimal division: things like 24.3/0.09, you know? So I don't want things that are mostly 0.2 + 0.4... 

[Not_a_Number]

By the way, for anyone curious, we've been continuing our "quiz show" drill, and it's been really successful. She loves competing with me. I got a handicap of 10 seconds to start with, but the handicap goes down if she wins enough times. 

This obviously works best if you have an adult in the household who's sufficiently fast with mental arithmetic 😉 . I'm not amazing at it or anything (I have kids I tutor who are faster!), but I can certainly mostly do basic decimal operations in 5 seconds or less. So that's motivating for her 🙂 . 

[UHP]

49 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I'm not amazing at it or anything (I have kids I tutor who are faster!), but I can certainly mostly do basic decimal operations in 5 seconds or less.

Is that a skill that gets a lot of use in kids' math competitions?

Your example 24.3/0.09 is pretty close to 243/9 a whole number. Are kids generally expected to do the long division, or to notice that 2+4+3 = 9 and apply a trick?