When ordering some extra math books, I’d seen that Singapore Math had a 3rd-4th grade math games CD, Vroot vroom. I went ahead and got it though it was expensive as hell, $31.50. I figured anything anything anything that might make numbers a little more interesting to H.o.p. was worth a try.
He likes it.
Got it in yesterday and he’s been trying it out today. If anyone’s looking for a review on the program I don’t have one to offer as I’ve not had an opportunity to look it thoroughly over and see what it offers. But I can tell you that my 8-year-old thinks it’s great. He loves the characters (aliens). He just finished doing a game in which he went through a several step process to compile information for a bar graph and make it, then when they offered the option to print it out he was eager to do so (but his printer wouldn’t print as it’s out of ink).
“Great game!” he said.
“You like it?”
“I don’t like it, I *love* it!” he replied.
I can’t begin to tell you if it’s worth $31.50. What I can tell you is that H.o.p.’s played with it a while and when he gets things wrong he’s not complaining or feeling defeated. He’s not complaining if he doesn’t know something; the game environment is inviting enough that he’s interested in meeting the challenge. He likes the art work (which is important to him). And the accompanying music and sound effects aren’t distracting and don’t me drive me bonkers. And when talking about the CD H.o.p. said the word “math” without a scowl, without hesitation, he didn’t gag, he said it like math was an interesting game and that’s a first. Ever. What I’m interested in is if it will help change his attitude toward math in general, outside the environment of the game. If it helps with that then it’s certainly worth the money.
Another math computer game program I’d read about was “Quarter Mile Math”, but the art looks uninviting, and from what I can tell it involves choosing a car or horse as your game token and advancing through a race by answering flashcard problems. It’s all drill work. H.o.p. doesn’t care about horses or cars and doesn’t want to look at anything resembling a flash card.
H.o.p. hates drills.
H.o.p. likes Martians though.
The “Quarter Mile Math” CDs are $40 each so it seems the Singapore “Vroot Vroom” is competitively priced for this kind of thing.
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