Well at first this product did not catch my eye very well, due to its flashy pictures and bright colors. I guess I am not a child so did not look at the intensity or power behind those colors, My son did not like the step by step learning pages with the explanations. He does not like getting things wrong and does not like having things explained over and over when he is corrected. I tend to think this program does do that.
More recently when we were looking the products over that we had been sent we discovered some more video games that looked more challenging than just regular math equations, addition and subtraction, identifying information from a graph etc.
My 8 year old son liked the “Math Galaxy Whole Numbers riddle e-book” as well as some of the samples available online at the website that he tried out. These use both additions, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve a phrase. The child has to work out the math equation and the answer is related to a letter that can then be inserted into the phrase. Once all the math problems are solved so is the phrase! It is a challenging way to get them to think and not too boring because the child is intrigued to find out the phrase.
I did notice the more answers you get correct the harder the next problem becomes. This did annoy my son too. He wanted to stay at the same level before moving to the next higher level. I guess he needs to step it up a notch in being challenged in that area.
The main product we reviewed was the “Math Galaxy Whole Numbers Fun” CD. This obviously has a difficulty level from about Grade 1 to Grade 4 most likely. I certainly could not do some of the higher levels of multiplication and division myself. Mind you I am definitely not a whiz mathematician. I do like the tutorial as a parent because there are some concepts in math I just do not know how to explain and the formula is set out in a thorough manner. The variety of problems in each CD that you can purchase from Galaxy of Education is tremendous. On this one CD alone you can do the following types of exercises and problems:
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplying, Division, Place Value, Rounding and Estimating, Patterns and Sequences, Word Problems, Time, Money, Length, Area, Volume, Pictographs, Bar Graphs, Probability, Math riddles, Word Jumbles, and some games called Bridge the Swamp and Labyrinth.
Galaxy of Education or Math Galaxy sells each CD for $29.95 each. Other CDs incorporate fractions and decimals practice. This would entail an enormous amount of practice for your child if he/she likes the program. I personally think it is a more applicable program for an older child perhaps Grade 4 and up. I am saying this as I am reducing the amount of time my student does spend on the computer each day due to health issues. I would not like my kindergartner being in front of the computer for hours on end 'practicing' their math. My son would use that excuse in a heartbeat. The "Math Galaxy Whole Numbers e-book" we looked over does cost $14.95. There are printable worksheets on each CD disk too.
This product is nice for those that like it or need to use this kind of reinforcement for their student. I am not totally decided on that yet even after using it for 40 days or so. The website for Galaxy of Education is here: http://www.mathgalaxy.com/
There are of course my fellow crew members opinions on this too and that is available at the following link on the Old Schoolhouse's Crew website:
I have been sent this product to use in our homeschool and review for the above company, as part of the TOS 2009/10 Homeschool crew. I have not been paid for this review.
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