Maths factor or Maths Whizz

[user1475317873]

Which one do you think is better? Math Whizz or Maths Factor?

Thank you

[sazzleevans]

I have 3 kids who have all recently started The Maths Factor aged 8,8 and 6. The 6 year old is very switched on to maths, one of my twins is average and the other has aspergers and dyslexcia and has been struggling. All 3 have been using the Maths Factor and all love it. It is fab!!! It is outstanding and has really brought all my girls on. I get an email every time they complete a session so i can keep track and once a day a login and have a look at the overview for all 3. I really feel in control of it!

[Jas8085]

Neither !

Teach your DC yourself. I am sharing the approach I followed for DD. Hope it will help you too. I'm assuming your DC is in KS1

Letts KS1 revision guide
Letts KS1 Practice workbook
Sign up on Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org/

Print out KS1 National Curriculum targets from www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335158/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Mathematics_220714.pdf

We spend 15-20 mins doing maths every week day. Weekends were random. Sometimes we did a lot, sometimes nothing.

Day1 : Choose topic1, read the revision guide (for that topic) with your DC. Use examples to practice together

Day2: Complete practice exercises from the practice workbook

Day 3: Take lessons on Khan academy for Topic1

Day4. Further practice using worksheets printed from the internet

Day 5 : Revision (previous topics) and more practice

We roughly followed this plan. Depending on the mood etc, we varied things sometimes. We did 5 mins of additions and subtractions every day (slowly ramping up difficulty - in Kumon style). In later stages, we did times tables and mental maths alternately for 5 mins everyday.

We did bond assessment papers on weekends (age appropriate). They have a variety of problems. So it encourages the children to think and apply what they learnt. Whatever little you do, do it thoroughly. Make a note of gaps and go over those topics again.
I have to clarify here, "topic" means 1 concept that cannot be broken down further. For example in fractions, halves is 1 topic. Quarters is another topic. On a good day, you can cover both of these in 1 session. But I strongly recommend you go with how much your DC can comfortably learn in one session. Don't overdo it. Just 15-20 mins a day is enough.

Mastery in maths can make a world of difference to your child's confidence and his/her future.

If you'd like to know anything more, please feel free to ask. Happy to help.

[sazzleevans]

It depends on your kids age and how many kids you have. I have 3 and the maths factor works as i can spend one on one time while other 2 are working on a session and rotate. Works really well.

[sazzleevans]

I didn't try maths whizz

[GU24Mum]

We tried MathsFactor and found it expensive and infexible - seemed very repetitive and difficult to skip to different sections (though of course perhaps I didn't use it properly!). We now use Mathletics a bit and some workbooks at home.

[sazzleevans]

Yep it is £10 a month a kid but it's on offer for £15 for 3 months at the moment. It is repetitive I agree but it's kids can manage it based on around 15 mins a day. Even my Aspergers kid who's dyslexic too and probably has issues with numbers too can cope it it. The 30 day challenge is the way to go with it.

[user1475317873]

Thank you for the advice.

DD is in year 1; we have been doing Maths factor for about 6 months; she has made progress but as GU24mum said I find it very repetitive and inflexible; a bit like kumon I guess. I have also noticed there are no maths problems, learning the time, coins, writing numbers and other things that are in the curriculum for that year. We started with counting and then addition, substraction, then counting in 5 and 10. it is also £10 per month.

I do sit down with her and explain things if she gets them wrong. I guess we need to combine it with books as there is no perfect program. Also, will try the 30 day challenge which we have not done yet.

We did a trial for Maths Whizz but £20 per month is a lot I think.

[BlaWearie]

My DS uses maths whizz and loves it. He's yr2. We got a year's subscription for £120 I think. There's a month's free trial on maths whizz too.

[tooyoungtobeagrandma]

We used Maths Factor all last year with my DGS but found it really slow going. Now we use Target Your Maths books for practice. He is SEN and was a couple of years behind in maths at school start (Y4) last September. We use TYM Year 3. Each page has questions aimed at Year 2 level, Year 3 and Year 4, so we start with the easier questions and keep going with help for harder ones. One page takes one hour 3 times a week and his maths now is much, much better. We rarely bother with the Year 2 questions now unless it is an area he is struggling with. I will say the school have been absolutely excellent with him this year, every morning he has an hour of numeracy with just 3 other SEN children, but I'm convinced using the book has helped give him confidence.

[user789653241]

We use ixl and mathletics( sub. by school). Also use free sites like khan, mangahigh etc.

ixl is very repetitive, to me it's boring, but my ds loves it. It's cheaper than others, £69 a year, or £99 a year for both maths and English, and you can access all the year groups(Rec - YR13)
You can practice up to 10 questions a day for free. Follows NC.
ixl yr1 curriculum

Don't know about the price for mathletics, but seems to cover all the curriculum with easier/ normal/harder questions to choose from.