Best math apps/games for middle schooler
July 12, 2024 12:34 PM Subscribe
My bright almost-8th-grader is struggling with math basics, and I know that a big part of it is that back in 3rd/4th grade, they stopped drilling the multiplication table as part of the general curriculum. So that fundamental knowledge is missing for a lot of kids :( More under the fold...
It doesn't help that for us those were also the lockdown years. While she is generally a good student, she gets distracted when something is challenging, so learning on zoom for that time didn't help. I'm looking for math games akin to Wordle, where you are learning about word structure and spelling without overtly thinking about it. Multiplication and division-focused would be great. I've googled "Wordle but for math" and there are several that describe themselves that way, so it's a bit overwhelming. I would love suggestions on getting my kid to absorb these basics so that the next school year won't be as challenging. What has worked for your kid? Also looking into some tutoring before the school year starts, to help get a running start. She's definitely not alone in this struggle, that's for sure!
It doesn't help that for us those were also the lockdown years. While she is generally a good student, she gets distracted when something is challenging, so learning on zoom for that time didn't help. I'm looking for math games akin to Wordle, where you are learning about word structure and spelling without overtly thinking about it. Multiplication and division-focused would be great. I've googled "Wordle but for math" and there are several that describe themselves that way, so it's a bit overwhelming. I would love suggestions on getting my kid to absorb these basics so that the next school year won't be as challenging. What has worked for your kid? Also looking into some tutoring before the school year starts, to help get a running start. She's definitely not alone in this struggle, that's for sure!
For drilling the basics, Math Trainer. I had some students really get into beating the timer despite the old-fashioned web design.
If your child's school has an account with IXL, which many schools do, log in and use that. I believe there are free accounts or parent accounts now, but I have no idea how much they offer compared to the ones from the school.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:07 PM on July 12
If your child's school has an account with IXL, which many schools do, log in and use that. I believe there are free accounts or parent accounts now, but I have no idea how much they offer compared to the ones from the school.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:07 PM on July 12
If you think she'd be into it, Schoolhouse Rock has some good videos for multiplication: here's the link
posted by epj at 1:34 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
posted by epj at 1:34 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
apologies, this is more of an anecdote than something immediately actionable: i recall sometime around 3rd-5th grade my teacher would hand out these worksheets with lots of small maths exercises -- by completing the exercises you'd find clues that could be used to decode a hidden message at the end of the worksheet. maybe if a few letters in the message seemed wrong you could self-check and realise you had a mistake in one of your earlier calculations and fix it.
these worksheets wouldn't teach any new math concepts, but i'd be an opportunity to drill some arithmetic and maybe race classmates to fill them out as quickly as possible. 3rd-5th grade me reckoned these were awesome, i have fond memories of them.
i imagine these were photocopied from an exercise book of math exercises/puzzles that could be purchased -- unless teacher had handcrafted them, in which case best teacher ever.
this was 3 decades ago. arguably paper worksheets have some advantages over digital medium - no ads or distractions, if you get used to working with a pen/pencil in hand, moving the pen/pencil/chalk/whiteboard marker becomes part of the thinking / math-ing arithmetic & symbol manipulation habit.
posted by are-coral-made at 3:04 PM on July 12
these worksheets wouldn't teach any new math concepts, but i'd be an opportunity to drill some arithmetic and maybe race classmates to fill them out as quickly as possible. 3rd-5th grade me reckoned these were awesome, i have fond memories of them.
i imagine these were photocopied from an exercise book of math exercises/puzzles that could be purchased -- unless teacher had handcrafted them, in which case best teacher ever.
this was 3 decades ago. arguably paper worksheets have some advantages over digital medium - no ads or distractions, if you get used to working with a pen/pencil in hand, moving the pen/pencil/chalk/whiteboard marker becomes part of the thinking / math-ing arithmetic & symbol manipulation habit.
posted by are-coral-made at 3:04 PM on July 12
I still remember using flash cards , back in the stone age.
posted by yyz at 3:21 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
posted by yyz at 3:21 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
Off the wall suggestion, but what about downloading an Apple II emulator and getting a few game from the Internet Archives?
posted by kathrynm at 3:30 PM on July 12
posted by kathrynm at 3:30 PM on July 12
Two Wordle-like suggestions:
Nerdle and Digits.
Digits is a bit like the number puzzle on Countdown but you've got infinite guesses and it's definitely improved my maths skills.
Nerdle is also good (my starter is 98-57=41) but can be frustrating. They also have other puzzles but I've stuck with the classic.
posted by freethefeet at 8:35 PM on July 12
Nerdle and Digits.
Digits is a bit like the number puzzle on Countdown but you've got infinite guesses and it's definitely improved my maths skills.
Nerdle is also good (my starter is 98-57=41) but can be frustrating. They also have other puzzles but I've stuck with the classic.
posted by freethefeet at 8:35 PM on July 12
This might be a little old school for a modern day kid but when I was a kid I played a lot of Number Munchers and I think it probably helped my math skills.
posted by signsofrain at 2:42 PM on July 13
posted by signsofrain at 2:42 PM on July 13
KenKen puzzles include division and multiplication, and I enjoyed them as a kid.
posted by kjs4 at 8:37 PM on July 14
posted by kjs4 at 8:37 PM on July 14
As far as a fun way to drill down multiplication tables, we had great luck with Squeebles (you can watch a little demo here or look it up on your preferred app store). We also have had to employ a tutor and do other work, but even the tutor told us that really getting the times tables memorized is a crucial part in being able to access next steps in math while not being left behind (everyone else has moved to the next step and you're still finger counting 6x8).
We tried all variety of flashcards and games, and this was the best one for us. It skews probably younger than your kid, but I think it's pretty cute and the graphics are fun. You get little monsters for rewards :)
posted by LKWorking at 10:27 AM on July 15
We tried all variety of flashcards and games, and this was the best one for us. It skews probably younger than your kid, but I think it's pretty cute and the graphics are fun. You get little monsters for rewards :)
posted by LKWorking at 10:27 AM on July 15
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posted by catrae at 12:50 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]