Since math makes so many people sweat, why not combine the basic math concepts with some healthy exercise? And that’s exactly what Gymathtics from Exploramania has done. I had my reservations at first, especially since the first set of exercises involved some geometry (which is definitely not my favorite subject — high school trauma LOL!), but I warmed up (both mentally and physically) as we progressed through the exercises.
I liked the pace of the exercises that are on this DVD. The stretches (geometry) were simple to copy and effective. My six year old sometimes has troubles following other video exercise programs, but I think the pace in this one makes it easier for her to maintain. After shape stretches warm ups we moved on to the Counting Calisthenics which I enjoyed a lot. Not only do normal counting and skip counting, but we moved our bodies to the prime number beat as well. They puzzled over the prime number pattern, which led us to a brief discussion of them. So it was a great preview of math to come.
Now we move Jade’s favorite part – Pattern Power! The patterns that are used are pretty simple when you watch them, but can be a bit challenge in the actual execution. Jade’s favorite was the basketball pattern (which she still does too fast in my humble opinion). Everyone’s favorite part was the Well-Being Wind Down. It’s a series of yoga poses and other stretches to round out the 30 minute workout. I really liked the quiet (can you tell I’m getting old) nature of the wind down after the exuberant sound effects from the kids while they went through the paces of earlier exercises.
Well, we know that the workout is real, but does it really help the children get the basic math concepts under their belt? Well, here’s some information that really helped me to appreciate the wisdom of combining the physical activity and mathematical concepts:
(Quoted from NewsMax.com, July 28, 2007)
4. Hand Gestures Dramatically Improve Learning
Kids asked to physically gesture at math problems are nearly three times more likely than non-gesturers to remember what they’ve learned. In today’s issue of the journal Cognition, a University of Rochester scientist suggests it’s possible to help children learn difficult concepts by providing gestures as an additional and potent avenue for taking in information.
It turned out to have a more dramatic effect than Cook expected. In her study, 90 percent of students who had learned algebraic concepts using gestures remembered them three weeks later. Only 33 percent of speech-only students who had learned the concept during instruction later retained the lesson. And perhaps most astonishing of all, 90 percent of students who had learned by gesture alone — no speech at all — recalled what they’d been taught.
The article goes into more detail, but you get the gist. So this is a great way of introducing or cementing mathematical concepts into the minds of our young students. It’s especially good for kinesthetic kids (like mine) who need lots of action to keep the blood flowing to their brains. So if you’re looking to engage your kids in some exercise, both mental and physical, this is definitely the right way to go.
So where can you get yours? Each DVD (there are two in the series so far) costs $24.99 at their online store Exploramania, as well as Amazon. They also are in retail stores in Florida and Michigan.
The Khalid family of reviewers rate this a 5 out of 5.
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The Mathletics program is an awesome way to inspire kids to take their mathematical skills to the next level. It allows your children to practice their math facts through a series of games. Each game is designed to motivate children to work on their weaker math skills while racking up lots of points practicing their best math areas. My daughters really liked the “shopping” aspect of the game. Although seeing top scores can sometimes motivate her to try and top the high scorers, earning points to go shopping and add accessories to her avatar was a true driving force for her.
Parents benefit from this program because each week you’ll get a progress report on how your children are doing. In addition to this you are able to change the settings if you think their current workout is too easy or too difficult for your child. For example, Jade rapidly ran through the math that she already knew. So, she would go and do her math, but only pick one or two of her more challenging topics and spend the rest of the time breezing through the easy stuff. And since I wasn’t standing behind her she thought she was safe. Imagine her surprise when I “retuned” her workouts to minimize the number of “easy” topics for the ones that she needed to work on. (LOL! Yes, I am an evil mommy!)
I also like the international scope of the math games. 3P/Mathletics has programs for a variety of countries including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and an International option for other countries that aren’t listed. Sometimes when I’m teaching the kids I’m not sure if they understand that they are not the only ones being made to “suffer” through their studies. Seeing that children all around the world are being “tortured” made my eldest daughter feel a little better.
I didn’t get a password for my younger daughter, but we did explore the Australian math section for younger children. It was very colorful and interesting to see how other countries introduce math to their little ones. Actually when Jade got frustrated doing her work she would sometimes switch over and give herself a mental break by playing the games. Alaya had a lot of fun playing with the measurement games and seeing all of the “exotic” animals that we had to measure. For Alaya, an animal lover, this was a nice bonus.
Although I chose to officially test Mathletics on only one of my children, you can setup subscriptions for each child and use Mathletics from kindergarten to eighth grade. An annual 12-month subscription costs only $59 per student and comes with a 10-day money back guarantee if you’re not happy with the program. I really doubt that there is any parent who would not appreciate the extra help when it comes to developing strong math skills in their children. And when you consider that Club Penguin costs $60/yr. just to play games, you can see that this is a very competitive price. And, I almost forgot to mention that if you can guess the human calculator’s favorite number of the day the subscription price drops to $49.95/yr.
My children have used a variety of websites that have are designed to help make drill exercises more interesting. Mathletics is one of the best that we’ve used. There are many incentives to continue practicing including earning certificates, going shopping with a little international competition on the side. My daughter enjoyed creating her avatar (with accessories of course) and was comfortable using the interface. Her one complaint was that the variety of games could have been improved with some math mysteries that would have to be solved in an allotted amount of time and if there were a few reward videos where the main characters tell a little story so that you felt like a real part of the Mathletics world. Aside from that observation from my “gaming girl” our experience was a positive one.
So, the Khalid Kids rate Mathletics a 4 out of 5 stars.
Im in high school and thinking about starting homeschool this year. I know theres a bunch of different ways and it all depends on the state/city. Im in Federal Way, WA. Can someone please tell me if you get a booklet to do or is it all up to the parents. I just wana know what method they use here. Thanks
PS. I know I can call and ask but I never get a straight answer from them.
You just have to get your parents’ permission. You will probably have to sign up and talk with a school that you are going to take your standardized testing at. It’s good to know the people you will work with.
I am new to homeschooling and will have 3 children to teach. I am looking for an inexpensive yet very good curriculum. I have researched some and am thinking about A2. If anyone has used this or knows of good ones I would appreciate any help. THANKS!
This is our first year as well and I decided not to go with a complete curriculum as both of my daughters have some subjects in which they perform very well and others in which they are a little behind. Luckily we have a very good used book store in our area that has an extensive educational section and I have been able to pick and choose subject by subject what will work best for us. The best part is that I have spent less than $200 total for the vast majority of the school year’s supplies (we’ll need a few more pieces of literature later in the year) for both girls.
He will be in the 3rd grade and most homeschool places I looked into wants $60 per subject.. any other ideas?
it is per subject like Math,english, etc…it is through Saxton at our homeschooling/teachers store
$59.99 retail, I try to look per subject but need something with everything together.
We have been homeschooling since our children were in fourth and fifth grade. Our children are now in 11th and 12th grade respectively. We have used the same curriculum throughout. We use Switched on Schoolhouse from Alpha Omega Publications. When we took our kids from the local public system, they were scoring below the 50th percentile in the nation. Within 2 years, they were scoring in the top 10 percent in the nation on the state administered tests. My oldest son has received a full academic scholarship to a very good state university. He scored a 30 on his ACT. The local system averaged a pathetic 17 on the ACT’s. Our children have for the last 2 years attended a homeschool support school for things like drama, Spanish I & II, and lab subjects. We could do things like Chemistry in-house but I didn’t want the kids blowing up my house. The teachers at our support school are professors at local state colleges,so they are very good at what they do. The software costs about $299 a year but it handles all the scheduling and requires very little intervention on your part.
VCR, DVD or internet for homeschooling curriculum.
Bob Jones University offers classes via satellite, you are allowed to record them so that you can set up your child’s schedule.If you have several children this is good because it is less expensive than ABeka. I have a friend who does foster care and has 4 children of her own. She uses BJU and loves it.
Bonnie Terry Learning spelling program “Making Spelling Sense” has been a real gift to my family. My daughter has always struggled with her spelling and I attributed it to her speech issues early in life. After reviewing the information found on Bonnie Terry’s website and her 10 free tips I think I am finally understanding how my daughter’s brain works when it comes to spelling.
Jade is an excellent reader who is way above grade level, but her spelling skills have always been poor. I understood that part of her problem was the struggle that she had to make to hear all of the sounds in a word. She had an immature auditory system coupled with some mechanical speech issues when she was younger and has overcome them. Except when it comes spelling.
One thing that became apparent when we started using this system is that Jade had no concept of spelling have an orderly sequence. The very first lesson proved that as we did an exercise where the V(owel)-C(onstanant) combination is used. The student is supposed to look at the spelling word and pick the first V-C combination and write those letters next to the word. To my surprise this was a struggle for her. And not because she doesn’t know vowels from consonants, but because she (and other children who have auditory issues) has encoding difficulties. And actually, as I learned from Mrs. Terry’s website, this is auditory processing is one of the underlying reasons for all poor spellers. It’s a weakness that traditional school systems don’t feel a need to address.
Since we began using this program, however, she has become more aware of spelling patterns as well as being able to do more self-correction, which is truly awesome after years of trying to memorize spelling lists. This program (as well as her others) has the potential of being a great asset to homeschooling communities because we do have the time to analyze where our children’s difficulties are and now we have the tools to address it.
I am also using the program with my six year old who is beginning reader. Although we have to work a little slower with the program for her, she’s really catching on to the spelling patterns and enjoys the puzzles and activities that are included with each spelling list. I don’t formally test her on the spelling words yet, since we’re still working on her reading skills. However, she’s really gained an understanding of vowels and consonants that began with the a DVD series I got her to assist with her reading.
My only complaint with her system is that it wasn’t one of those systems that you could jump right in and connect the dots. It took me a while (and maybe I just wasn’t thinking) to figure out how to stretch each lesson to last a week. At first I thought that each of the lessons were daily so I confused myself for a bit. It would have been nice to have the lessons broken up into daily assignments.
I am very impressed, overall with the Bonnie Terry Learning products. Perhaps it’s because my daughter does/did have auditory problems and her way of teaching spelling has been a big boost to Jade’s confidence and ability. My son seems to be mirroring his big sister with the speech issues, so I will definitely be investing in her systems in the future. But even if your child doesn’t have learning differences or difficulties, this is a very solid spelling course.
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I’m sorry it’s long, I had a lot to say. I was a bit distracted.
Skype: Al_feezy
MSN: missmassacrexbl@yahoo.com
Music: Ants of the Sky by BTBAM.
(No they aren’t my favorite band. the repeat was just a coincidence)
I'm a homeschooling mom with seven children: 3 human, 2 feline and 2 canine. I'm also the wife of one very patient husband who seems to like the role of ringmaster to our circus. I am a virtual assistant who enjoys writing, crafts, music and laughter. I hope you'll visit often. Please be aware that this blog is supported by affiliate links, although every link isn't necessarily an affiliate program.
Since math makes so many people sweat, why not combine the basic math concepts with some healthy exercise? And that’s exactly what Gymathtics from Exploramania has done. I had my reservations at first, especially since the first set of exercises involved some geometry (which is definitely not my favorite subject — high school trauma LOL!), but I warmed up (both mentally and physically) as we progressed through the exercises.
So if you’re looking to engage your kids in some exercise, both mental and physical, this is definitely the right way to go.
I’m sorry it’s long, I had a lot to say. I was a bit distracted.
Learn how to use picture worksheets to teach kids to read through homeschooling in this free home schooling and tutoring video clip.
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