Daniel and I have been to some car races and riderless horse races these last few weeks. We have been practicing our math skills against ourselves and each other. Why? What have we been up to? Well, I will share with you now.
We received in the mail a package of software from Quarter Mile Math full of goodies for us to use and study. The software is a program used in many Sylvan Learning Centers across the United States. This program was set up to help students improve their speed at solving various Math problems, and some reading issues too. We loaded up the software and started playing of course.
As a family we practiced rounding up numbers to nearest 10, percentages, basic 1st-2nd Grade equations adding all different numbers, choosing between vowels and consonants, and a little multiplication. The faster you answered the questions the faster your horse or race car goes. You begin to take the lead and get excited about your improvement. Your highest score is always saved too for you to race against next time!
My husband did not really like this software as he could not focus on the keyboard and the screen at the same time. My son had a hard time with that too. It means that a good knowledge of the numeric keyboard will help improve their scores tremendously. Being able to keep your eyes on the screen without looking at what number you need to type helps a lot.
The Deluxe package that we received is labeled for use by K - 9th Grade and costs around $89.95. A standard package can be purchased too at a less expensive cost. This involves only being able to record your times and speeds on your hard drive, rather than having the scores being kept on Barnum Software’s online database. I also noticed from the manual if you are using Dial up Internet you are still able to utilize this but making sure your browser is open before beginning the game. There is currently a low monthly fee to enable you to receive upgrades and access to their site and permission to continue using the program for $2.95 per family per month, once you initial time is expired.
My son loves this racing and changes back and forth constantly between the cars and horses. He likes to watch the re-runs of his races so he can see how fast his car went and how far in the lead it was or not! We will definitely be using this as a positive reinforcement of what he is learning in his math curriculum. There are so many choices on the Deluxe version as well as the Standard version to help your children have fun and cement their learning at the same time! Why don’t you drop over to their site at http://www.thequartermile.com/ and check out their products for yourself. I hope that by reading this review I have convinced you just a little to go have some fun and for a very reasonable price too in this day and age!
8/27/2009
Just a brief update to last night's post the Deluxe Version of Quarter Mile Math Grades 1-9 is selling at the moment for $34.95 and is for a 2 year subscription. The subscription for $2.95 per month is for online access and downloading software from Quarter Mile's site. this can be deactivated or unsubscribed whenever you need to. Thanks.
The link to the other reviews by the Homeschool crew is here:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/713464/
This product was sent to me free of charge and I was not paid for this review. the above review is my opinion of how the product worked for our homeschool family. I received this product for being part of the 2009/10 Homeschool crew.
1 comment:
that's neat to be able to watch a playback of the race!!
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