DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

Here’s a riddle for you! How can you tell you have ADHD and have the genes of your father, an exceedingly logical engineer? You tend to do math in order to calm down your overstimulated brain! True story, on days my daughter isn’t coping well and overreacts to life, we’ve learned the most calming exercise for her is to do math. I blame her father! :) As much as we hear kids complain about math, when it is taught in a way that they understand, math is a source of many great things. The trick is finding the right program and curriculum for your family’s needs. That’s why reviews like this are here. I might not continue to use this product after I write the review (though many times I do), but I get to explore different approaches and companies so that homeschool families can know their options. So today we’re diving into homeschool math curriculum and talking about two products from Math Mammoth, Math Mammoth Skills Review Workbook Grade 3 and Math Mammoth Light Blue Series Grade 5.

What We Received:

We received 2 digital files, Math Mammoth Skills Review Workbook Grade 3 and Math Mammoth Light Blue Series Grade 5. The Skills Review Workbook file consisted of a 96 page Worksheet document with 90 Review sections, an Answer Key document, and a Spiraling Guide. The Light Blue Series file contained a full year’s curriculum including Student Worktexts, Tests, Answer Keys, Reviews, and Cutouts for both 5A (1st semester) and 5B (2nd semester).

How It Works:

The Skills Review Workbooks are designed to complement the full curriculum and function as a review of already learned skills. The worksheets are one page in length, intended to not be too tedious and incorporates interesting problems and graphics that require the student to reinforce skills from the main curriculum.

The Math Mammoth Light Blue Series is a complete math curriculum. At the beginning of the worktext is a Mental Math section that consists of several pages of web links to games and activities that reinforce math skills. In addition to the worktexts Math Mammoth provides teaching videos that correspond with particular lessons. Between videos, worktexts, reviews, tests and mental math activities, students are given all manner of opportunities to learn and reinforce learning throughout the year. All topics are clearly labelled and the index is thorough which could allow you to zero in on a particular skill out of sequence if needed.

What We Thought:

My 8 year old daughter used the Math Mammoth Skills Review Workbook Grade 3. We normally use another popular math curriculum so she had a few questions at first, but it was just her getting the feel for a different program. After the initial questions, this math loving girl did just fine.

My 11 year old son used Math Mammoth Light Blue Series Grade 5. Math is one of his more difficult subjects to sit down and do because he would rather be doing anything else. He’s proved he’s capable of it time and time again, he just doesn’t want to sit still that long. So, the novelty of a new program held his interest for a bit, but most days to him, math is math. The video element is a helpful tool both for understanding and engagement though.

I noticed that the number of interesting graphics went way down when you moved from 3rd grade to 5th grade. Of course, as the grade levels increase the need for cartoons, etc. goes down, but the decrease was a lot more drastic than we were used to. In many cases it may not matter. In our ADHD household, keeping things pretty and interesting is really helpful to sustain engagement.

Math Mammoth has proven to be thorough and complete for all manner of math education and it appears to be a relatively cheap option for most families. Based on our experience, I would feel confident that my kids could get a complete and effective math education from this program.

Follow Math Mammoth on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MathMammoth/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/mathmammoth1

Are you curious about other grade levels? Check out all the other families’ experiences through the link below:

DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

When I was little, I remember watching my dad play games on an Intellivision game system. My favorite was Dungeons and Dragons! For today’s review, we’re looking at Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online from EdAlive. We have looked at two of their other games before, Typing Tournament and Maths Invaders. Here is what we thought about those. Baggin’ the Dragon reminded me a bit of the graphics and gameplay from that old Dungeons and Dragons game if you were to base it on math. Certainly nostalgic for me, but that doesn’t count for much when it comes to kids, does it?

What We Received:

We were granted 12 months access to Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online for as many students as we needed. Baggin’ the Dragon is an Austrailian online game that combines automated Adaptive Learning with multi-player board game that seeks to protect your village from a fire breathing dragon.

How It Works:

This online game is designed for students age 5-15 and through various questions, adapts to their current educational level. Each student has their own login and account, which tracks their skill-level. In a board game style where you can play computerized opponents or your friends, students answer math questions and move around the board collecting or losing courage swords. Each question answered correctly counts toward the collection of hero cards as well. Underneath every question, there is a Too Hard option for when the student simply doesn’t know how to answer it. For each account, their questions and answers are collected and compiled to demonstrate where a students skills are and where there is need for improvement. This covers skills from age 5 all the way through 15 to include concepts of algebra, geometry, etc. This data is presented in a very helpful way that allows parents to be informed on each child’s performance. For times when a student needs to focus on a particular area, there is a Questions Only section that allows the user to select a specific area to practice on.

What We Thought:

For this review I had two children use the program, my daughter age 7 (almost 8) and my son age 10 1/2. Both were excited to try it out, but my daughter quickly changed her tune. My 7 year old was frustrated with questions that were too hard for her and took a while to warm up to pushing the Too Hard button. She really didn’t like that at first, but I attribute that mostly to her excellent math skills. She’s used to being good at it and got easily frustrated when things were beyond her. Thankfully, she got used to it and enjoys it just fine now. My son did well from the get go, but he always finds motivation in a game.

At first, it was a little confusing how the game went, simply because we didn’t understand the board game/math question combination. However, it didn’t take long for the kids to explore and figure it out. I really appreciate the adaptive part of the program from an educational perspective. It allows exposure and the reporting communicates clearly what they already know. That is encouraging. Sometimes we simply look at one grade level or one skill, but this allows a bigger picture perspective. And it’s fun! Baggin’ the Dragon is definitely a good choice for fun math games and educational support.

Social Media Links: EdAlive Online Learning

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdAlive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edalive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edalive_onlinelearning/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/edalive/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/EdAliveTube

EdAlive Learning offers a variety of games, not just Baggin’ the Dragon. The Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed Word Rocks and Volcanic Panic. Check out those reviews through the link below.