Math Fact Mastery

I just wanted to post about two excellent math fact mastery programs to use as a supplement to a standard math curriculum.

The first is the most universally useful, a web site called XtraMath. I spent my first two years of homeschooling searching for a web-based math fact program to keep my child's fact mastery sharp. You'd think this would be a simple proposition. In theory, the technology should allow for a superior option to even the old standard of teacher-given timed fact tests. Instead I encountered site after site of awful flash animations, gimmicky games, and sites with obnoxious glitches and sound effects.

Finally I ran across a recommendation for XtraMath at A Well-Trained Mind forum. Following the link, I found exactly the kind of math fact program I had been looking looking for. XtraMath is clean, crisp, and user-friendly. It covers all four basic operations and tracks daily progress. It modifies fact drilling based on the student's performance. It has no annoying sound effects, no pop-up ads, it reliably works, and it is FREE. What a service to students everywhere, whether they are educated in a traditional or non-traditional setting.

The second program I found extremely helpful is Times Tales. This is a DVD for higher multiplication and division facts only, but appeals to visual/auditory learners. Let's face it - in a pinch, if a student forgets an addition and subtraction fact, it can always be calculated fairly quickly. Since this is not the case with higher level multiplication and division, the mind that is more inclined to remember stories and mnemonics can benefit greatly from this program.

Let me be clear: it is campy and the illustrations are truly awful, and the tone is more condescending than I'd prefer. This did initially turn-off my almost-9-year-old daughter. However, when she saw her results after giving it a fair chance, she ceased the eye-rolling. A story-oriented individual or audio/visual learner can use their strengths to "calculate" a forgotten multiplication or division fact by recalling the story and/or images.  It doesn't take long to remember these simple tales.