UK MNer with at least one child aged 4-14? Sign up to test Smartick’s online after-school maths programme

[EllieMumsnet]

Smartick are looking for Mumsnet users and their children to trial its online after-school maths programme for children. This product test is open to all UK MNers with at least one child between the ages of 4 and 14, that have access to an internet-enabled computer/laptop or tablet. Selected testers will receive a six-month subscription (a value of over £100) to Smartick after testing is completed and have up to 4 weeks to try and review it.

Here’s what Smartick have to say: “Smartick is an award-winning, AI-based, online maths programme designed to develop mathematical abilities in children ages 4 to 14. Smartick promotes an understanding of maths through personalised and accelerated learning by adapting to each child's level and learning pace in real time, allowing them to work according to their maths needs and capability. Each child has a unique and personalised path that constantly adjusts to help fill in gaps in knowledge.

There are more than 20,000 users of Smartick in over 100 countries. e've collaborated with the MIT G-Lab and been published by Harvard Business Review and Forbes as well as featured as an app favourite by Apple.”

Selected testers can register for the program through a web browser on their PC or by downloading the Smartick app available for iOS or Android tablets. Smartick recommends that children work on their daily 15-minute sessions at least 5 days per week. This is not mandatory however it is suggested to get a better scope of the program.

All testers will be required to leave feedback on a thread on Mumsnet and also fill in a short survey, everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where 3 MNers will win a £100 voucher of their choice (from a list).

To sign up to test Smartick, please click here.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

Kids cannot chat with any friends in their Virtual World

I can see they can't have a live conversation, but you can still search for people by name and by age, and they can then visit each other's houses to have a look and read the welcome message each has written?

My initial thoughts - I thought my daughter would love this but she hasn't been that keen so far. Doesn't like the US accent, although I see it's possible to change that, and thinks the whole presentation of it is babyish.

The questions I saw her doing I thought were well done though - e.g. moving the hands of a clock to the correct time. Will report back further when i've managed to persuade her to spend more time on it!!

We got a phone call but I was driving. I suggested they call back but they haven’t so far.

My DD couldn’t understand the accent either! You can change the settings to UK

DS went to log in today & it said we had no subscription? I did it through the link in the email from Mumsnet but hasn't given us longer than 2 weeks. Has anyone else had the same problem?

Same here! I’ve used the link to sigh up and yet I got an email saying our trial is about to expire tomorrow. Sent an email to admin to get an advice

Same here my subscriptions for both my girls are ending soon too. I did sign up via the link and initially it was showing 6 months but now it shows next week.

Just looked at the actual subscriptions prices £238.80 for the year is a lot of money for an app.
They really have to rethink the price, it is an ok app but it has spent most of the time assessing and reassessing the girls and up to now has only challenged their maths knowledge a few times.
It definitely needs a lot of work on setting levels and introducing the learner to new exercises.

My subscription is still showing Nov 11.

We could certainly log in today. Apparently Dd1 is being reassessed which is good because I think she was at the wrong level and it’s picked that up.

DS had a horrible time today - partly due to lack of clear instructions but DH thinks main reason may be cultural difference in algebra teaching in US vs UK.

Ds called me over and it seem to make a simple expand bracket and gather terms into something complicated– as it was DS struggled and I really couldn’t help.

Hopefully it will become clearer going forward.

My subscription is showing as 12 Th November.

I am pleased so far and I think its helping my daughter with her math. She enjoys competitions with other users and has won quite a few which has really helped with her confidence.

My subscription runs until 11th November and hasn't changed yet.

The biggest frustration for DD so far is when a simple question involves going through multiple stages of dragging and dropping before she is allowed to give the answer. If she makes a mistake with the dragging across the screen, the programme assumes that she is unable to work out the answer to the question.

DD has just earned her Gold diploma & it emailed certificate it in PDF form attached to the results email too,
Very nice touch & she's very chuffed as it said how much she had improved with the things she found difficult.
Working very well for her so far!

This is a great idea but I think it is better suited to the younger age range, perhaps a slight change of format for the older kids to make it a little more grown up?

We got selected and have been trying it out.

Pros: the challenges from friends are motivating my older one to complete sessions.
The questions are making him think creatively and apply his knowledge
The feedback to parents on each session is helpful
The voice app reads out the questions to my younger one in Reception so that he can complete sessions independently

Cons: American accent and syllabus so kids don't quite fit a profile
Not much guidance on the various parts of the interactive site so it was confusing at first
Some technical glitches at the beginning but as we become familiar with site these settle
Irritating daily update on whether children have completed their activity and no obvious way to stop these emails. I keep an eye on them and the computer when they do it so I know....

Subscription price is v high and not value for money. Parental controls need to be reviewed for older children. Not quite suitable for uk students unless they at international schools.

@Godeeva

Language can be changed from American to English. By clicking on the tutor / parent tab, then selecting profile on the left hand side. Language is then the 3rd one down (under name & phone number) just click on it and change it to English (GB)

Daily update on whether children have completed their activity can also be changed. Again click on tutor / parent tab, on the left click on notifications, there are then options to turn off daily notifications etc.

Hope this helps

My dd is doing well be I've not actually seen an improvement has yet.
tell a lie her 9x table which she struggled with she now knows.

Today she was frustrated because she did not know how to do one of the questions about fractions.

DS (7) very frustrated tonight as the website has crashed mid lesson and we can't get back in. He was finding tonight very difficult as it was asking questions around the 6 times table which he's never even looked at before so the timer was causing lots of stress.

He got his first diploma last night which he loved, though.

This question caused a panic with the timer too - it was easy once we sussed our what it wanted but blimey!

DS had one question out of a lot tonight be randomly in Spanish - all previous and all subsequent questions were English.

It came up again when he went through few he got wrong - I asked him to screen shot it but he knocked the keyboard accidentally and it went to next screen.

Other than that, they seem to be settling to it now – DD1 had a better intro to algebra tiles than DS did. DD1 still thinks it’s at the wrong level for her but it has made DD1 go over negative numbers something she knows but does seem to have got sloppy with – which I don’t think is a bad thing at all.

Some of the glitches with the questions are really annoying DD, especially when they mess up her run of correct answers. She's had the column addition one where the missing number could only be 10 but the website would only accept a one digit answer.

The question levels still seem very random. DD had a tutorial about rays and line segments (which I'd never heard of before), followed by very simple questions like "Make the line pass through point A and point B".

The following day it was a tutorial about multiplying and dividing exponents when they have the same base. DD was able to answer the questions but it seemed like a heck of a leap from the day before.

She was very happy today though when she looked at her messages and discovered she'd been awarded lots of bonus stars. It wasn't clear what they were for (she's only done a few competitions so I don't think it was that) but they were a nice surprise for her.

I had a call from Katrina from the Smartick team and they've sorted the Spanish question out - and pointed out that I can select sessions they’ve done to review- which I'd missed.

It’s found quite a few areas my children could do with some practise – today DD2 who done fractions and improper fractions before struggled with whole integer having improper fraction subtracted from it. The timer had been an issue for DS and DD2 at times a but they are slowly getting less bothered when they get behind and a few times they have caught up as it were.

Slightly concerned that my daughter is receiving friend requests one of whom was named hello fitty.

We are of course ignoring them all but I don’t see how adding friends needs to be part of this app.

my daughters lost all interest she says there are too many complete the pattern questions and she refuses to answer them.

Tonight's lesson was pitched way too high for DS. Adding and taking away in the thousands - he could have done it with a pen and paper but with a timer going it added to the pressure too much for him. He ended up clicking "I don't know" instead of even trying and that's not like him, which is a shame.

That said, he also asked me in the shower tonight how long the test is for, and if he can continue doing it for a long time as he likes it.

At the moment I'm a bit flummoxed as to how it is going to move him forward in his learning. He got a lot out of the telling the time topic, so fingers crossed.

DD is very impressed with the upgrades to the website. She liked the new format for the games area and the weekly challenge that comes with it. I like that the adults can now have a go at the games too via the parent page.

She got her second diploma today after completing a review. For once the 'How are you feeling now?' face was happier at the end than it had been at the beginning.