Find out what MNers think of Smartick’s online after-school maths programme

[JustineBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the Mumsnet users who tried and tested Smartick’s online after-school maths programme for children. This product test was 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.

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. We'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.”

Testers please answer the questions below:

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?
2. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?
3. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used?

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?
2. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

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

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?
DD (8) likes maths and wants to learn more than she does at school.

2.Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?
I had a nice email asking if I needed any help or had any feedback so far. I didn't need help but felt that support would available if required.

3. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?
DD liked that some of the questions made her think a bit. She liked buying things in the shop with her stars and really enjoyed the games area. The 'Bus Stop' game was her favourite game.
I liked the emails with the progress reports after each session. I liked the fact that I could access the tutorials and games from the parents page.

4. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?
DD also uses Maths Factor. The Maths Factor format seems to be a lot friendlier than the Smartick tutorials. It also gives the option of picking which topic you would like your child to work on next.

With Smartick the topics seemed to appear in a random order that didn't really seem to match up. There were several sessions where the questions were an odd mix of KS1 and KS3-level questions.

I found that the format of the questions in Smartick was often very confusing and it wasn't clear what DD needed to do in order to answer them. There were often glitches that meant that questions couldn't be answered at all. Maths Factor has very clear questions.

It is easier to relate Maths Factor to the National Curriculum, but at the same time it was good that Smartick had topics that don't seem to be in the NC at all. It meant that there was a bit of variety.

5. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I didn't notice this so much in the main maths sessions but really liked the way many of the games were based on problem-solving. I think DD learned a lot from those, including how to use logic and reasoning to solve problems.

6. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

I don't think I would recommend it in it's current format. It's very expensive for something that is designed to be used for only 15 minutes per day. I think it would also need to be a bit more flexible in terms of content, rather than just answering questions on whichever topic has been picked for the child.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

To keep them up to date with their skills and maybe pick up a few more - older two struggled when younger and an online maths site helped them catch up and improve their confidence but since finishing that course it's been hard to find a suitable alternative. We did try stopping for a bit and it didn’t work well for the eldest so we’d like something to keep them practising.

2. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

They phoned and got through once - they were letting me know an error had been corrected but they were helpful giving me additional information about the site.

3. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My younger two like the gym and buying pets and additional items at end of sessions. Even my eldest 13 enjoyed some of the dressing and pet buying.

I liked that they did 15 minutes of maths that they did topics they were not as good in. It did find rusty areas.

The timer did stress younger two out at times but they did get used to it so I think it helped build some resilience there. I also think seeing concepts presented in slightly different ways helped them make more connections after initial upsets.

4. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

I would still rate mathsfactor over this for learning the basics- the setup of they have - explanation, worked example then 20 questions for topics was really good for my children - however they cover arithmetical and algebra - they don't cover graphs, geometry.
So Smartick is covering a greater range of topic but it’s not in such a clear way – which is what I think mine needed at the start - though now they are older and with good grasp of basics Smartick approach is okay for them.

IXL – is linked to the curriculum in my part of UK and has very precise topic areas – doesn’t really teach and we’ve found latterly they not spending long enough or working on poorer areas – though they’ve introduced a suggested topic area mine were ignoring that after a few weeks. So Smarttick is better with it’s 15 minutes a day and set topics.

Mathletics – they got access via their schools but I’ve never really rate it and mine soon lost interest.

Tried conquermaths with eldest for a while when she was at secondary – she didn’t really take to it – I think it was more like myMaths and HegartyMaths which secondary school gives them access to – more suited to school homework. So Smarttick does have an edge there as it is more fun.

I think we also tried Maths Whizz with DD1 near mid year 7 - and while she liked it I didn’t think it was that great for the money. I can’t really remember much to do a good comparison but I think the price point with Smarttick would also be an issue.

5. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

Very useful to DD2 - something I do think she needs to do more of. I think the older two benefited less from it though don’t know if that’s an age or personality thing.

6. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Possibly - The price is a huge problem it's very expensive.

However there are many good points to it - so I'd almost certainly point them to other sites first and this as a last resort.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My daughter is 12 (in year 8) and, although she is doing well at school, she lacks confidence. Her main problem is she can answer the question if it is presented as a simple sum, but if it is a problem, requiring her to think about what method to use, she automatically thinks she can't do it, rather than consider the question and apply the appropriate method. Therefore, I wanted to both encourage her with her maths and get her to think outside the box.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

I didn't have any contact with Smartick other than using the app, so am unable to answer this question.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My daughter enjoyed some of the sessions and liked seeing feedback where it would say "Exceptional" on some segments. However, she would sometimes not understand the wording and would not understand what she was meant to do. I knew that, certainly initially, some of the levels were below what my daughter's capability should be; however, I never mentioned this and I did feel that it sometimes boosted her confidence to get all the questions right.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

The only other online math programmes my children have used have been those set by the school (with school log-in) and my daughter goes to a different school so doesn't have any experience of online math programmes. What I liked about Smartick was that it covered a range of math topics, whereas the one my other children used at school was set so they could only access the areas they needed to complete for homework and this was usually on one specific topic. Therefore, I found Smartick more useful and suitable and a great aid to revision.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

This was great and, for me, the main advantage of my daughter using Smartick. As previously mentioned, she can usually answer questions set directly as math questions for homework, based on the topic they are currently using. However, when it comes to thinking things through and choosing a method to use for herself, my daughter has a habit of freezing and thinking she can't do it. Smartick presented questions in a way that math is used in everyday life, rather than in a math lesson.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

I think I would recommend Smartick to friends/family but I would probably recommend it to parents with children in primary school. This wasn't because the content wasn't suitable for my daughter's age, but because she has a fair amount of homework to complete every day and termly assessments, each of which covers two or three different subjects so it put quite a lot of pressure on my daughter to fit into her day and, as a result, she would usually only do it if she was in the lounge with the TV on. Because of that, I don't feel she concentrated enough and so probably made more mistakes than would accurately reflect her ability. However, when she doesn't get home from school until just before 5pm and then has a couple of hours homework to complete, I feel it would be unreasonable of me to insist she completed this in her room alone, especially as she had to use my laptop to complete Smartick (her school set most of the homework to be completed on an iPad and parents are encouraged to purchase one with a payment plan before they even start year 7).

That said, whilst I still have access to Smartick, I will try to encourage her to complete it two or three times a week, just to help her remember all the different topics she is learning and practice maths in a way it is used in real life, not just in the classroom.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My son is ahead of his school age in his maths ability and we wanted to explore other ways of teaching him

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

Did not speak to anybody

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My son enjoyed the sessions, the different types of questions made it more like a game for him, he liked getting the stars. As a parent I like the that the daily assessments are quick, they were easy to fit in on most days. I also liked the variety of questions, you can really see how it can improve your childs ability. I also like the additional games and tutorial options, it was good to leave my son to explore and play with the site after the assessment and at other times during the day. Whenever he wanted to downtime to play games he did this instead

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

We have used books to help teach my son outside of school but this programme is much broader and has focus on skills that books cannot. We have not tried any other online programme before

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

This is my favourite thing about the programme, it really makes my son think about what he is doing

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

I would recommend it however it is quite a big financial commitment for a lot of people and I think some of the questions in the assessment sessions could be written/explained better.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My eldest is good at most subjects and although he meets all the required standards for his age in maths he lack confidence with it. I thought this would be a fun way to improve his confidence a bit.

My 4 year old is going into reception in September so I thought it would be a good way to introduce him to some of the basic concepts of maths.

For my 7 year old it was just a good way to get him doing something a bit educational on the iPad rather than playing Fortnite!

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

I didn’t speak to anyone from smartick via phone or email.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about

My children enjoyed the activities, They liked getting coins they could spend in their world.
They didn’t enjoy the tutorials. I think the reason for that is that they didn’t earn coins for doing those.
I loved the email letting the parent know how each child’s session went.
Both myself and my 4 year old liked the fact that he could press a button and hear the questions read out to him. I think it made him feel more independent than me having to read all the questions out to him. It also meant he could do his session while I was making dinner or something instead of him having to wait until I had a free moment.
I liked that they could go back and do the corrections. This meant I could let them do their first attempt independently but I could then help with anything they struggled with.
I didn’t like the option to invite friends. I felt it was unnecessary and just added a safety issue and completely irrelevant to this type of app.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used?

The concept of doing work, earning coins and buying things is similar to a times tables app my children use.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I think these are good skills to have. My eldest would always get these questions right as well which was a real confidence boost for him.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

I didn’t think the questions were very closely related to what the children were learning at school so it would depend what the person was looking for. For help to improve their child’s grades - no I wouldn’t recommend. For an introduction to maths, for a fun, educational app to have on the iPad, for a way to boost a child’s confidence in the subject - yes I would recommend

@Tonkatol I noticed the same. Some of the questions were very easy to begin with. Although they have ramped up quite a bit now. He’s probably working just beyond his comfort zone in some topics and others are easier. I quite like the mix as it does their confidence some good. I’m quite glad it doesn’t map directly in NC.

The only major negative I have had is the extra tick for corrections, they only receive it for getting all of their corrections right and I think it should reward them for going back over the questions they got wrong.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

DS clearly very much enjoys maths and shows some natural aptitude which I was keen to support and develop beyond what he has been learning at school.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

I did speak to someone because I felt the sessions weren't challenging him enough and seemed to progress very slowly. The person on the phone was helpful and arranged a retest but it made very little difference (and DS was still clearly rather bored with the exercises).

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

He really enjoyed the tutorials - which I also thought were really good at explaining new concepts well. I think the one on tens and units for example was just right for where he was. Unfortunately there was then no opportunity to practice this new knowledge which would have really helped to embed it and help him progress. It would have been helpful to have a bit more guidance towards tutorials that were the right level for him - he did love the sessions on algebra and negative exponentials which were way too advanced for him (though I thought they would be really good in several years time when he actually got to that point)!

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

We've used mathseeds before which I found better in a number of respects - the placement test to get content aimed at the right level for the child seemed to work much better and as a parent there was an opportunity to override if needed; the interface was more engaging for a younger child; new content was better integrated with practice of existing skills; and there was much more variety within a session.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I was attracted to this but haven't really seen this come up in the exercises he was doing - maybe that's a feature of the level he was working at.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Probably not for a young child - I might suggest people think about if for older children. I thought the system had lots of potential but I found it frustrating that, even after phoning up, we couldn't get the exercises pitched at the right level for DS. He's confidently writing simple additions and subtractions and in the 20+ sessions he's done I only saw numbers once, presented with great fanfare and never repeated! Overall I felt the system for gauging level of understanding didn't work for a 4 year old - it seemed too much affected by how quickly they were able to respond which is often affected by how easy it was to manipulate the interface (he always scored more slowly for things that required dragging and dropping as this is harder for him to do and often took several tries) and how distracted they were (which got worse the more bored he got). There doesn't seem to be any recognition of the fact that some tasks (e.g things that require dragging multiple objects rather than clicking on one thing) take longer than others. Sometimes his progress was rated "satisfactory" when he was actually working really well at some complex new stuff and taking his time to get it right, other times he was being slapdash doing something very easy and got "outstanding". I saw in a review somewhere that there was an option to indicate how easy/hard the child found the exercises but this didn't appear for us - it would be so much better if as a parent we could adjust this, particularly for younger children.

A few other thoughts:

It was a bit frustrating to have to press the sound button to hear the instructions every time - he's a good reader for his age but not quite up to this level of language, so this slowed things down a lot - it would be good to be able to turn that on automatically. I also found some of the terminology much more complicated than warranted by the very simple tasks (e.g. figure, image, quantity).

I think having a messaging feature isn't very appropriate at this age - I've looked and it's not clear if it's possible to turn this off. An initial set up process where you could set things like language and other communications preferences would be good. It would be good to be able to set a time limit for the virtual world e.g. 15 minutes rather than have it open-ended or off entirely.

I found it frustrating that the interface kept using hands as number substitutes as this is so much slower for him than actually using the numbers - he got particularly bored with this section and often pressed the wrong answer deliberately so he's getting a bit stuck going over and over this material and not progressing. Several sessions have long strings of questions for which the answer was the same ("not fruit") which was a bit dull and you could see his attention waning. He spent a lot of time switching the language to american english and clicking on the wrong answer so he could get it to say "not pants" a lot which he found hilarious. It would be good to be able to lock the language as a parent!

Overall I think he has enjoyed it and I've appreciated the opportunity to test the system so thanks Mumsnet and Smartick. We'll persist and see if we can get it to work better for him!

My little one LOVES to learn, she uses reading eggs but wanted to learn on something with math, this motivated me to apply. This has improved her math skills.

I didnt need to speak with anyone at Smartick as the app was easy to use and no extra help was needed.

She liked the idea of being able to dress the avatar like herself, I loved the parent email updates.

I personally think having tried Smartick it is the best out there and I will be continuing with it at the end of the trial and many more years after that.

Its very important to emphasise learning in general, kids need direction and drive and by encouraging a love of learning at a young age sets them up for the future. 6. 10000% I would recommend and I have already spoken with daughters friends mums about this app, its a good all round app that offers fun as well as learning.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)? My son has struggled with maths at school so I am keen to try things to support him to develop his skills and also to increase his confidence.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No, I did not talk to anyone.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My child likes anything that is screen based so he liked that aspect. The graphics were fun and the site was easy to navigate.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used? We have only used programmes through the school so I am not very familiar with them.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills? Those are very important skills that children need to develop on their maths journey so I think that focus is appropriate.
2. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not? I would probably recommend it to friends. Although I do think that 1:1 personal tuition is the best way for my child to learn so we will continue with that.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My son has fallen behind in his learning at school and any help we can support him with is a bonus.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

Yes, i felt that after a week of using the system it was too easy for my son and he needed bumping up a grade. They replied the next day and was able to move him up to a higher band

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

He enjoyed spending his stars he had gained after the sessions. I like it was easy to navigate around the site so he could do it by himself

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

I dont think we will be carrying on after the trail as it doesnt seem to be relevant to what he is learning in school. e.g + / - or tens and ones.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

i think its very important, however the questions we had all seemed to be the same type of thing and didn't really move on from that

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Unfortunately no i wouldn't. I feel the sessions are a good length of time, but there should be other activities we can do after it if we feel we had more time to spend on the programme.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My son loves maths, it is his favourite lesson at school so I thought it would be great as an additional enjoyable session per day

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No I didn't.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My 6 year old could not keep engaged during the sessions, they were too repetitive for him. Once he started seeing emails saying he was slow etc he didn't want to do it anymore and I struggled to get him to do it every day. Being able to have the questions spoken allowed was useful as it meant I didn't have to hover over his shoulder to check he was understanding the written words properly.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional mathprogrammes you may have used?

We have only used an app Todomath in the past which he loved and would do constantly. The sessions on that were short and engaging and you moved on a map as you went through the levels which kept his interest.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I didn't dislike it but children learn in different ways and if you took you a while to understand the question you got a derogatory e mail. I didn’t like the daily emails it just made me feel I had another thing to do!

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not.

No, I wouldn't to be honest. No one I know would pay nearly £40 per month for it as a lot of the problem solving type "games" could be done practically instead of on screen. With most parents in my class complaining of screen time I wouldn't want to recommend another 15 mins per day.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional mathspractice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

To prepare them for the 11+ entrance test.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No, didn't need to.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

They disliked it instantly and refused to do any of the exercises. They disliked the look and feel, the cartoons, the avatar (DD said, "Huh, guess the one with long hair is the girl. Why do they want to know if I'm a girl or a boy? What if I chose the boy?"). They disliked the American voice. They did the first question they were presented with and disliked the cartoon pics and the fact it was pizza.
So we stopped there.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

They use DB Primary at school for weekly homework. They accept this but don't think much of that either and the homework tests take them 2 mins.

I have been using the Bond books with them since January and they like the 10 minute tests. And Target your Maths books, they like the clear layout, the examples are well explained. It may be my DC simply prefer hard copy to online.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

We didn't get far enough to explore this.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

I don't know because I don't know how much it costs so if it is good value. I might recommend it to people who have DC with different personalities to mine

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to test this.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?
My 5yr old son is in reception and is currently really interested in maths at the moment and I thought this would be a great chance to develop his skills even further whilst making it fun, and it definitely did! He has really enjoyed the daily testing, and think it is just the right length of time to keep his interest.

2. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?
I didn't need to. I found the app easy to navigate and fair self-explanatory. The only issue we had sometimes was the app not registering when he had touched something, so then marking it as incorrect.

3. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?
He enjoyed the daily test and was always keen to complete this and try to get them all right. he also really liked the games, particularly the chameleon and crying wolf game. He tried games which he wouldn't normally be interested in, which has helped develop memory skills and recognising patterns. As a parent, it has been great to support his learning, and watch to see where his strengths/weaknesses might be. it has been nice to sit down regularly together whilst he completes the exercises.

4. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?
This is the first programme we have used.

5. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?
I think its really important for children to learn things that they will use in the future, and feel a lot of what this app focusses on does that very well.

6. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?
Yes absolutely. I bet many friends would be happy that rather than playing games on tablets that they were doing something/playing games that would benefit their education.

What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths
practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

To practise for the 11+.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

Yes and they were helpful and knowledgeable.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

The "virtual world" is excellent and at first it was a brilliant incentive for my child to do their 15 minutes every day. In this respect, Smartick beats the competition.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used?

Not as good as BOFA. I pay for BOFA but I wouldn't pay for Smartick.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

Didn't notice this - my child's questions seemed very easy and I don't think they did any maths reasoning or problem solving.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

No, as I think BOFA is better. Smartick was not challenging enough for my child and didn't react quickly enough to their level. They also hated the way the progress bar turned to red if they made a mistake. My child's really busy and I think it's a better use of 15 minutes a day to do a BOFA ten-minute test than to waste time answering questions that are too easy on Smartick. For that reason, we stopped after a week. Sorry for the negative feedback - I do think the virtual world incentive is excellent, just the maths content needs improving.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

I do not think that the standard of maths being taught in our school is very high. Also, my daughters are lacking in confidence with maths despite making good progress at school. I wanted something to inspire enjoyment in the subject.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

I received a call, very polite and professional asking for feedback and whether we had any issues. It was too early to know whether there were any real problems, they had only done a handful of sessions at that point.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

After they got past the initial unfamiliarity of the app and the way some of the questions need to be answered all of the children loved it. They like the avatar and how they can save up stars to buy pets. They also find the sessions fun, more like a quiz than a test.

This week my eldest (12) came home from school having understood and enjoyed everything in an algebra class. She hadn't needed any help with it because she had learned it all already from Smartick.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used?

I have never used any other programmes but the children say that it is more enjoyable than the one they use at school (mathletics?).

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

Great because this was all new to my children. It obviously isn't being prioritised at our school.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

I would, although I think the cost is too high for us with 3 children.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

To offer an extra support in a safe environment, where mistakes can be made and we can learn together. To support current school work.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

I did via e-mail, they were supper responsive and very polite, friendly and engaging.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? Completing the challenges and getting stars. Thinking about problems in a different way.

What do you as a parent like about Smartick? It made me think and understand what math is being taught in school today.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

It was easier to load and follow and dip into extra challenges - overall it was more fun and stimulating

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?LOVE IT!!!!

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family?YES!

I loved the variety of the math problems and the opportunity for my little one to go back and correct ones that first time she had gotten wrong. It was learning in a positive framework. My little one loved the challenges and building up of stars.

I liked the feedback summary.

Initially, I was a little bit wary of the avatar and the world they lived in and the fact you built up stars to buy items. I did take a deep breathe when my little one said; 'oh Mum, you can make friends on line'
So, I asked my 6 year old what she thought about this and I breathed a sigh of relief when she said ' You don't make friends on-line Mum, its dangerous'
So for me, they friends network part could definitely be erased from the package.

1. My son sometimes struggles with concepts and asking for help, so I wanted him to have the chance of backing up his knowledge with an "in home" experience.
2. Didnt contact any one
3. My son like the home page and being able to change the characters appearance. We both liked the way the questions were set out, visually appealing with a relaxing approach, so he didnt feel overwhelmed trying something new.
4. Smartick is similar to a maths and timetables program they do in school and this was a positive thing for him as he felt comfortable due to the similarities between programs.
5. It was a great in-depth programme, to aid alongside the curriculum already taught in school. However, the assessment of my sons answers and ability, especially speed, seemed to knock his confidence and he soon become abit despondent.

I also felt that it was unnecessary to include the speed at which a child works as this doesn't factor into the methods in a classroom setting.

1. I would only recommend this program for pupils who grasp concepts quickly and confidently. My son enjoyed the working out and when he had the right answer, felt a great sense of achievement, but as he works at a slower pace, he said he felt not good enough and lost interest.

1. My daughter is home educated and I use this a daily Math lesson rather than help with Math.
2. Someone from Smartick did reach out and talk to us on the phone and it was an extremely helpful phone call. Although I found both the website and app very easy to use, my daughter was struggling with their being visiual motivators of the time. They were able to remove them and I saw her confidence improve.
3. My daughter loves that it's on the tablet and that she can do it herself. She loves the virtual world and is really motivated by earning "ticks". I love that it's helping with her confidence in doing things and it's okay to get them wrong. I love that she can correct her mistakes after. It's quick and easy, but she actually likes doing her homework. Normally she would literally run screaming when I said it's homework time, but now she happily comes.
4. I haven't used other math specfic Math programmes, but I did use EdPlace and I find Smartick is more interactive and more engaging. she actually enjoys using Smartick.
5. I think that it's really important that it shows how math can be used in everyday situations. It's also good to show children how to apply their learning to other areas of life and figuring out things for themselves.
6. I would definately recommend Smartick to anyone. It is very enjoyable and easy to use. You can use it on the PC or download the app. My daughter is on the autistic spectrum and I like that I can customise different aspects to help her out. The customer service was extremely helpful and so pleasant to deal with. Great company and program.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My son is 5 and started in reception this year. He seems to really enjoy maths and so wanted to try Smartick in order to build on what he is learning at school.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

I haven’t spoken to anyone via phone or email.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about

He loved winning the ticks and storing up enough to buy things. He liked the questions initially but found them quite repetitive after a while, and not varied and challenging enough.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used?

It’s a much nicer to look at, more user friendly program. Being able to ‘collect’ your ticks to buy things is a huge motivator (for my son anyway!!)

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I liked the way the problems were present in a non-traditional format. I also liked the use of every day objects in the shape / 3D shape questions as that prompted my 5 year old to find similar shaped objects around our house.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Yes - I think it’s a good additional resource to have and presents things in a new and interesting way. I think the price would be very restrictive for most of my friends and family though.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths My daughter Isabella Age 10 has always really struggled with Maths and wanted to improve her confidence, I'm not always the best to help her as I can get frustrated!!

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful? I have spoken to a couple of friends whose children also struggle with Maths and I also spoke to Isabella's teacher about it as they like to know what other things the students are doing at home to help them with their schoolwork.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick? Isabella loved the fact she could just get on and do it herself, she found it very easy to use and navigate the system and the fact she could then go and add things to her house afterwards it was very much aimed at letting the children take control whch was great.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional mathprogrammes you may have used? Much easier to use and very child friendly I could just let Isabella get on with it herself and she never/rarely asked for any help

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills? Great it's good that they can sit and do it themselves

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not? Yes and i have already it's such a great programme and really holds the children's attention in a way that makes it enjoyable

What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

Improve confidence and practise for 11+ and entry exams coming up.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No, I didn't need to speak to them.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

As a child who struggles with maths (dyslexic, dyspraxic) this really surprised her (and me) and she enjoyed it, and willingly got on with it with no prompting.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

I think they’re all fairly similar, but this was particularly easy to navigate.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I think it’s really important. She struggled a little, but has definitely benefited from the ongoing sessions.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Yes, I thought it was a great way of getting children to do maths. She enjoys it, and that’ll do for me..

Thank you.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths

practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My son struggles the most with maths. He really needs alot of support when new concepts are introduced. I wanted something to support him and improve his ability in maths which is why I signed up.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My child thought it was a fun challenge and he genuinely did enjoy doing his sessions He likes customising his avatar and playing with the other games on the site as a reward for himself.

As a parent I like the email report you get.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math

programmes you may have used?

I have used my maths from school. It doesn't seem to have questions that are similar to what they usual do at school. Some of the questions were worded confusing to my child. I felt the questions could be too repetitive and wasn't varied.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I didn't realise that these skills were being tested!

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Nope. I think there are better programs out there. It's too expensive for what it is. I don't know if it follows the school curriculum. The questions are too similar and repetitive. I would not recommend. Sorry.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

My daughter has been struggling with maths, although she has been always excellent with English. I want her to fill this gap.

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No, although I may need to contact them, as there seem to be lots of technical problems with it. My daughter always complains about the problems, which stops her working.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

She loves games and earning points. It is great for me as she could do the work on her own.

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

She has been doing Kumon maths. For Kumon I have to mark her work sheets every day, but Smartick does not require me to do that, which is great! However, as she works on Smartick on her own, I tend not to see what she is really working on there.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

That is one of the great aspects of Smarticks. Kumon do not have any of those aspects from my point of view.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Depends on cost.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths practice (e.g. to improve current grade, to progress beyond what they are currently taught at school, etc.)?

Primarily I was hoping to encourage DS2 (7) to consolidate his current knowledge before the start of year 3, to ensure he has a good grasp of the basics.

2. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

No I had no need to contact anyone, as I found everything fairly intuitive.

3. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

DS2 really didn’t like it at all and it was a struggle to even get him to complete the first session. Since then he refuses to use it again, although we still have time on the subscription so he may try again in a few weeks. DS1 flatly said he would not use it at all. As parent, I am somewhat on the fence about the program as we haven’t used it enough to see if the content is appropriate and helpful in meeting our aims in using it. On the over all design and feel of the program, I think that it is slightly clunky and not as slick as might be expected these days from a user point of view. I found the accents used by the program fairly grating and some of the language was not usual in an English based maths curriculum. I also was not impressed by the virtual world and based on comments from the other testers I am not happy that my child’s full name (which is completely unique in the world) would be visible to other users. I found the overall look and feel of the program to be geared towards the younger end of the user scale too.

4. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

Both of my DC have also used Mathletics and Time Tables Rockstars. I think both these programs are much better developed than Smartick. The Smartick subscription is also very costly in comparison and I certainly don’t feel it is value for money.

5. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I think both these skills are incredibly valuable to have and develop, however none of the content I saw was focused on this.

6. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

As it stands, no I would not. I am continuing to encourage DS2 to try the program again, so my opinion might change in the future, but given my initial impressions this is highly doubtful.

1. What is your main motivation for getting your child or children to do additional maths.

I wanted to entice my eldest to continue practicing maths now that the SATs are over, just to retain his maths-fluency over the holidays before starting a new school, and he is always keen on screen based things!

1. Did you end up talking to someone from Smartick via phone or email – whether you reached out or they did? Was it helpful?

Yes, my youngest lost a pet, and they emailed the next day with instructions of how to find it.

1. What did your child enjoy about the sessions? What do you as a parent like about Smartick?

My kids wen't really keen on the learning sessions, but they liked the virtual world afterwards so they were happy to do the maths bit. The eldest did some constructive competitions there, but mostly fun games, the youngest changed his hair colour a lot!

1. How does Smartick compare with other online math programmes or traditional math programmes you may have used?

I haven't used any other programmes before.

1. What do you think of the emphasis on children learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

I hadn't noticed this emphasis particularly, but maybe my kids aren't at that stage yet. I liked the variety of different problems though and the fact that it seemed well matched to their ability level.

1. Would you recommend Smartick to friends/family? Why or why not?

Possibly to friends who have disposable income, as it is quite pricey, and if their children had their own computers to use. In our house there is only one laptop, and so between them both doing the session and playing the games that they wanted to do afterwards it became quite time consuming. Also, although the ticks for completion (and the ones that encouraged you to make corrections) were a good motivator for my youngest, I think they weren't such a good thing for the older child. I saw him select 'don't know' towards the end for questions and when I asked him why he said 'there's no point, I got some wrong before so I won't get another tick now'. So we had a chat about attitudes to learning.... Also I'd caveat that although it says parents don't need to help with the answers, a lot of my kids' wrong answers and slow responses at first came from simply not understanding the instructions as the vocabulary is sometimes very different from what they are used to at school in the UK, and some of the tasks/features weren't clearly explained and so they discovered them through trial and error. Maybe it is a translation issue, and obviously it is good for them to learn new ways of describing things, but it did knock their confidence a little at first. I tend to hover nearby now to make sure they understand the task.

Overall though my children enjoy it. Although they don't request to complete a session themselves, they are happy to do so if I remind them, and I can see that the extra practice is benefiting them.