Do you use mathletics in your school?

[zansi]

Hi I am looking for some advice about a programme called mathletics. We are thinking of signing up to Mathletics in our primary school. Was wondering what other mumsnet parents thought of it and how was it used in the school. Did it help your child with understanding maths?. Opinions and views much appreciated. thanks

DD had mathletics in Australia. When we got back here school didn't have any program to use at home. I felt in Australia the teachers got away with not teaching. I know DD spent more time playing with the things she could buy. DD needed a bit of boost so we tried mathswhizz when we arrived back here. I think it is better and seems more in line with curriculum and I like the way the child progresses but to be worth it the children have got to spend a while on it each week. Mathletics just seems to be like a test but mathswhizz does try and help the user if they are struggling etc.

DS uses mathletics in school during computer time, and sometimes in the after school club.

I would say they could make some of the sections a little more interesting, it's like a maths nerd has decided that's what fun would be (no disrespect to nerds, my dh is a huge one) so some of the sections could be more exciting.

There are quite a few of these web learning portals around for maths now though?

Yep, love it, and I love the social / competive side to it too. DS has a private tutor who also raves about it.

Yep, DTs love it, they also enjoy 'competing' against each other and friends...

I think it is great as a revision programme but I do find some of the lessons a bit like filling in worksheets.

I think it is great if children understand what are doing, I find the tutorials either very vague, unclear or unmotivating, and if a child doesn't understand, then the tutorial doesn't always help.

It relies on children having a good understanding of the English language especially the way some of the questions are worded, but it does also introduce formal language very early. Fortunately most kids can work out what they are supposed to do by looking at the questions.

Depending on the child it might mean that an adult has to sit with the child to interpret me the questions.

There is a lot of info on the site, especially for schools, but much more limited to home users. The reporting system isn't very good, I would prefer to be able to manipulate and extract the data I want.

For the price per student it is an excellent package.

There is live maths, rainforest maths, concepts and tutorials in addition to the curriculum.

You can set year levels, curriculum levels or even personalize the lessons for your students.

I prefer Whizz for their teaching methods, they are much clearer, but the price difference is huge.

Both packages ar very different and you can't make direct comparisons

Am happy to answer any questions you have

My message sounds a bit negative but actually I do like it and we have seen some great improvements, especially with confidence

Mine used it as GCSE revision support, he has a disorganised, woolly and inexperienced teacher in Y10, that combined with his Asperger's meant that he didn't learn as well as he could have done. He started Mathletics covering the Y10 stuff, and then moved on to the Y11 material. It filled in a lot of gaps, he liked the style of the site and I got an hour out of him a night with little bother.
Good for consolidation IMO, not for introducing new concepts.

I HE grandson [12] and we use it. I think it's excellent value at £25 a year. I've had to change the levels a couple of times but grandson loves it.
Some of the grandchildren use it at school too, I believe.

DS's school uses www.mymaths.co.uk/

One of the reasons they gave for introducing it was to challenge more able children. I guess it makes differentiation a little easier . It is not used for all maths lessons though.

As a parent I like that it has simple screens so I don't have to constantly explain what he is trying to do with homework.

thanks for all your comments so far.
Would parents say that it has helped improve the overall standard in maths in school?
and how many times a week is useful to use it?
It works out at only £3.50 a pupil so am eager to try it out!

I think it is excellent and makes maths more fun at home.

Dragging up 5 old maths threads in one morning to suggest a new website, I can't help feeling this is backdoor advertisement and so I have reported you GraGra.

It's TWENTY threads! Someone has been bus Reported.

busY

Can anyone get Mathletics to work on an iPad? (DS's school uses it, but it seems to be incompatible with Mac)