Math Facts NOW!

January 5, 2011 by ksudoc93 3 Comments

For review, our family downloaded a math program onto our computer called Math Facts NOW! From the name, you should have no problem guessing that this program drills math facts.

We have reviewed several Math programs, and a few which deal directing with drilling math facts. But this was actually great timing for us, as Taylor was really needing some extra review on her math facts with doing so much multiplication right now, and a new fresh program is always exciting.

This program is available for download for $15.95 or CD-Rom for $15.95 + $3.95 S/H.

System Requirements: Runs on Windows 2000, ME, XP, Vista and Windows 7.

 4.5 Mb of free hard drive space is required.

From the website, here’s the main features of this program:

• You choose which function and which specific numbers to drill (ie: multiplication tables, 8’s).
• You choose how many problems to be given in a specific session.
• You choose how much time your child is to be given to complete a problem.
• You choose how many times the child is to repeat problems that he/she made mistakes on or took too long on.
• Math Facts NOW! remembers which problems your child is having difficulty with, and automatically presents them back to the child with greater frequency!
• You choose to enter a reward for the completion of a lesson with no errors.
• You choose to print a list of your child’s weak areas.

Gunn Ranch Academy thoughts:

Taylor, my 10 year old, really likes this program.  She has used it quite a bit on her own without being asked to. When asked what she liked about it, she likes that when you miss a problem, you are asked to type it out, then it keeps coming back up frequently, but with a message to be careful.

I set the first set of problems up for her to try it out, using multiplication facts with ones I knew she knew well so she could get a feel for it.  The program has a set amount of 200 problems per session, but the company has now made it where you can choose less problems for younger children or those who don’t do well with this many. We never requested to try out a smaller number of problems because Taylor never had a problem getting through 200, and did it a few times in a row sometimes. She has then progressed through setting her own facts to work on, and I am happy to see the progress she has made with the bothersome facts she used to always ask me about when we were multiplying. I’m not seeing her skip counting through her facts much now anymore either.

We have used a couple of math programs that the girls truly loved where they created avatars and played with others online, or rode horses in races, etc. While these were a lot of fun for them, and they did seem to review through the math concepts they were working on, I believe Taylor might like the simplicity of this program. She can sit and go through it very easily without distraction, or having to first logon to a website, or having to find a disc to popin that she hasn’t seen in awhile. 🙂

 I just really love the fact that she wants to use it and does it without being asked, and that I am actually seeing results.

I like that this program will remain on my computer for use without having to renew a subscription, or having to remember how to get back into a program we haven’t used for awhile. It’s really user friendly.

 I think at $15.95 this is a wonderful value for review of math facts. I agree with Taylor that going back over a fact they missed frequently really concretes it in the brain well. And the hands on typing in of a missed problem by the child(you can set how many times they have to type a missed problem in before moving on) really does help the child remember it more than just looking at the same flash card over and over in my opinion.

I definitely recommend Math Facts NOW! to anyone interested in helping their child concrete those math facts into their brains well.  This program can be used for any age that wants to learn or review math facts.

It also comes with a guarantee that it will be effective or your money back. Wow, you can’t beat that! (Except that they offer a free trial– both online and downloadable to your computer (using ones and twos)!!)

Check out what my Crew Mates thought of Math Facts NOW! over at the crew blog!

Happy Homeschooling!

Chris

* This download was provided free of charge to me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew for review purposes. No other compensation was received and opinions here are my own and Taylor’s of course.