We tend to enjoy the techy side of schooling in our homeschool. Therefore, we enjoy the reviews of technical homeschool aides. So we were happy to have the opportunity to review Mathletics from 3P Learning. And since it is a math program I thought it would be equally exciting since we are always looking for new and improved ways of reviewing math with my daughter. And since my son is just starting out, I figured it would be a good time for him to check it out too.
What is 3P Learning and What We Received
3P Learning is an online learning company that offers several products, one of which we have learned many times in the past. Their other products include Spellodrome, Reading Eggs, and IntroScience.
We received a subscription for one year to Mathletics for our two children – a rising 4th grader and a rising Kindergartener. 3P Learning defines Mathletics as a program to be used as a supplement to other math programs for K-12th grade. After reviewing the product I will completely agree that it is a supplemental program. You can check out information about the Mathletics home subscription program on their website. In addition to being able to use Mathletics on your computer, you can use it on any tablet or mobile device with their app. You can also print workbooks for each grade level.
How We Used It
Once we received our account with Mathletics, we immediate signed in and got started. We were given a usernames and passwords to begin with. Each child has his or her own username and password and the parent has their own account as well.
I first had to choose the beginning level for my students. This was easy with my son since he is beginning so I started him in Kindergarten at the lowest level. This was a little less intuitive with my daughter. Since we have tried many curriculum for math over the years and are just now really “catching up.” Things aren’t as black and white for my daughter. I chose the grade she just completed to start in – 3rd grade. Though I didn’t find any place to change this, you could call customer service if you determine the grade is inappropriate and it is easy within the program to make the problems “something easier” or “something harder.” So, since we do not follow the common core in our math some of the problems came up that had not been covered and it was easy to make the problems easier by selecting “something easier.”
We have used many online math programs so we did begin with some level of expectation. The choosing of the avatar was something both the kids enjoyed at the beginning. Funny how they always love that part!
My son did not really like the program. It did not engage him. I think it was the lack of animation or activity in the learning section, though he did enjoy some of the games. It was difficult to keep him engaged in the program and keep his interest. His favorite games was “Adding Bugs” within the Rainforest Maths section. There are many different games and activities within Rainforest Maths and this was the only area I could get him to work in without having to persuade him.
There are several sections to work in within Mathletics. They are:
Live Mathletics – which is where the most common learning/lessons are located. They are problems presented in a timed format. My son doesn’t care for timed activities and my daughter gets frustrated. They didn’t understand the guy on the left side that makes funny faces throughout the activity. My daughter wanted that to be her or someone she created. But otherwise it was fine.
Activities – is the section where there are topics to choose from to work on a particular topic. For instance, since my daughter wanted to work on “rounding” we could find the section that worked on that and work through that section. Each section has a “Are You Ready” quiz to start out with to help determine where the student should be working. Though my kids didn’t like doing it first it definitely was the best way to determine whether the student was ready for a particular level of the concept being worked on.
Problem Solving – has games that are unlocks as a student earns points “gold bars” in the activity section.
Concept Search – is an interesting section that is basically an animated dictionary of math terms.
Rainforest Math – is the section with interactive activities for grades levels. The animated games in this section were where my son liked to work and I could chose a topic/math concept I wanted him to work on like “counting” or “time” or “money” and then he could play games to work on them.
Times Table Toons – is an entire section that provides a catchy, animated music video for each of the times tables 2 through 12.
We used the program on our tablets mostly and the kids used it several times a week to review math from the last year for my daughter and get some review on the basics for my son. They basically enjoyed it though didn’t ask for it. The games and the Times Table Toons were the most used. The rest they had to be told to use or would not go to it.
One of the good things about the program is that if the student misses a problem during practice, there is a tutorial on how the problem was solved. This was a good way to have the problem explained in detail in order to see where the student went wrong. I liked this aspect.
As a parent you have the opportunity to sign up for weekly progress emails. These tell the parent how long the students have practices and what they have accomplished. This information can also be accessed from the parent login. The parent can view this information at any time to check out the child’s progress and see how concepts are coming along. There is also a place to print workbooks for each grade level located on the parent login page.
Overall
Overall, we didn’t really LOVE Mathletics but there are few good things in the program that might be just what you are looking for. If you are looking for a great collection of review math concept games or fun music videos to memorize the times tables, Mathletics provides an excellent opportunity for this. Also, the ease of finding a particular math concept and then working on it was easy to use.
The “something easier” and “something harder” buttons in the Activities section was good. I liked that if the student was finding something too easy or too difficult they could immediately move up or down to work on the concept. Mathletics has some great aspects.
You can check out the 3P Learning website for Matheletis to see what they offer as a math supplement for K-12. You can purchase a one year subscription to Mathletics for one student for $59 per year.
Be sure to connect with 3P Learning and Mathletics online at:
3P Learning Website
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