Friday, August 10, 2012
More Birthdays
How I did not post about this a LONG time ago, I don't know, but I went searching for a photo of Middleman's 7th birthday cake from January and I couldn't find it, so I guess I never posted it here! Anywho, here it is. The penguin castle cake he wanted...
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Mathletics
For the last few weeks, my boys have been using Mathletics, an "online curriculum-based resource for students at school and home." I received a free three month trial in exchange for writing about the program on my blog.
As computer time around our house is typically reward-based, I have not used Mathletics as an every day math supplement. Since it is summer, I wanted my boys to keep up their math skills. We have not been working on their regular curriculum throughout the summer, so we have been using Mathletics as a fun way to keep up with math facts, etc.
Butterbean was working at approximately a 5th grade math level this past school year, so we sign him in to Mathletics at that level. Middleman was about 2nd, therefore his Mathletics is set up for 2nd grade. Babyman has done no formal math program yet, so we are trying his Mathletics program at Kindergarten level, and he's done quite well.
After signing in the first time, the boys each got to create an avatar with Mathletics' Facemaker. At that point, I pretty much let him take over, working on the activities in his Student Centre and attempting to unlock mini games, which is Middleman's main goal! Next to the Times Tables Toons, the games are Middleman's favorite part of Mathletics. Butterbean enjoys trying to earn the most points he can, aiming for those gold bars (meaning he's mastered an activity). For the most part, the boys are having fun (their main goal of online activities!), and their biggest concern is that there's no sound during the activities.
As students are working through their activities, if they run into a bit of trouble, they can click on the question mark for some help. A little character will lead them through step by step examples. The boys enjoy changing those characters around frequently.
There is so much to explore at Mathletics and thankfully we still have some time left! We'll tell you more about it very soon.
Butterbean was working at approximately a 5th grade math level this past school year, so we sign him in to Mathletics at that level. Middleman was about 2nd, therefore his Mathletics is set up for 2nd grade. Babyman has done no formal math program yet, so we are trying his Mathletics program at Kindergarten level, and he's done quite well.
After signing in the first time, the boys each got to create an avatar with Mathletics' Facemaker. At that point, I pretty much let him take over, working on the activities in his Student Centre and attempting to unlock mini games, which is Middleman's main goal! Next to the Times Tables Toons, the games are Middleman's favorite part of Mathletics. Butterbean enjoys trying to earn the most points he can, aiming for those gold bars (meaning he's mastered an activity). For the most part, the boys are having fun (their main goal of online activities!), and their biggest concern is that there's no sound during the activities.
As students are working through their activities, if they run into a bit of trouble, they can click on the question mark for some help. A little character will lead them through step by step examples. The boys enjoy changing those characters around frequently.
There is a Live Mathletics section as well, where a student can play against a computer or another student somewhere in the world, in real time. We have not tried it out yet.
There is so much to explore at Mathletics and thankfully we still have some time left! We'll tell you more about it very soon.
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