Kids need to learn their math facts, but it can be tedious to try and drill it into them. My 4th grader is working on getting hers memorized right now, so I was pleased to review a Windows-based software program with her. UberSmart Software has created UberSmart Math Facts, which is great for kids from kindergarten through 6th grade to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. They are able to learn, practice, and then test their knowledge for each of the facts.
This program is available for just $24.95 for their family license, which includes support and free upgrades. This is the standard version for home use and will allow you to download the program to your home computer and access all of the features for your students. They do offer discounts for members of the Texas Homeschool Coalition, so if you are a member, check into that!
Learn
In this section of the program, there are the options of “Dot Cards” and “Flash Cards”. Dot Cards are what I used with my pre-k student and with my 2nd grader for the first few weeks we used it. It is for learning addition and subtraction facts for new learners. Flash Cards are what we used with my 4th grader to help prepare her to learn her math facts. She needed to memorize her multiplication and division facts, which we’re still working on using UberSmart Math Facts.
Practice
In this section of the program, there are 3 choices: Dot Cards, Keyboard Entry, and Flash Cards. The Dot Cards are again for students just learning addition and subtraction. My pre-k student really enjoyed this one! Keyboard Entry is for students that want to practice entering their answers on the keyboard. Flash Cards is where most students will spend most of their time and is for kids that have learned most of their math facts from a particular set. This gives them the chance to practice or to use as a remedial tool if they took a mastery test and didn’t do as well as you’d like.
Test
There are two types of tests in UberSmart Math Facts. There’s the Assessment Test, which helps you to see where your child should start in the program. It can also be used to check progress. There is also the Mastery Test, which is what you’d have your student complete if you wanted to see if they mastered a set of facts.
Compete
This part of the program lets your student go head to head against other students to see who is fastest and the most accurate. This one requires that you use the program while also connected to the internet. My 2nd grader liked this feature, but my 4th grader got anxious using it because it felt like a timed test to her and it was too much pressure for her to perform properly. Try it out and see if your own student is motivated by it!
Report
The UberSmart Math Facts program has Dots Progress and Mastery Progress reports available for parents to check out. You can also check on their overall progress in the program to see how well they are moving along. The program also has a Mastery Chart, Mastery Date (for seeing when they mastered the math facts sets), a Grade Book, Assessment reports, and Competition Scores where you can see how they did compared to others in their age range and during their actual competitions.
Maintain
Finally, there is a Maintain section where you can add and remove students or change their settings, you can change your administrator password, check for updates to the program, or find out more about the licensing of the program.
How We Liked It
For my 4th grader, we enjoyed that this program gave random problems every time she used it. I liked that I could adjust the timing/speed required for her exercises so that she could do a better job. She gets frazzled under pressure. I can see a difference in her math fact retention after using the program a few times a week for just 10 minutes or so each time.
My 2nd grader is doing better with his facts, too. He is competitive, so he liked the Compete function. He is learning his addition facts quickly and isn’t complaining about it because it’s such a brief learning session each time.
The program really does work just like using flashcards, but it frees my time up a bit and keeps detailed records for me. That makes me happy, too!
I’m glad that it is something that I can use with all of my kids. Once my older two have completed it and have all of their math facts down pat, I have more little kids coming up that will be able to use it! For under $25 and no flashcards to lose, it’s a no-brainer investment for my family.
Lisa Ballinger says
That’s excellent! I wish this was around when I was a kid. The hardest thing was memorizing all those time tables.
Lisa Ballinger recently posted…Make the Most of Revision Time