Math Rider~ A Math Mastery Adventure

"Have your child master addition, subtraction, multiplication and division all for the cost of less than 1 hour professional private tuition!"

       ~ from the creators of Math Rider

Available to download instantly to your computer, Math Rider is a compelling choice for mastering those math facts from 0-12.  Created for children ages 7-12 Math Rider learns what you child knows and needs to learn and tailors the game to them.  This is a real value at the full price of $49.95 but it is even a better value at the sale price of $37.00, so hurry over and get it while the sale is on!
 
The Math Rider website explains how your child plays.
 
Your child is taken into a land of fantasy and quests. Living in the Land of Ray and riding a horse called Shadow, he or she will set out on various noble adventures. Riding across amazing, digitally matte-painted moving backdrops of distinct fantastic lands, they will accomplish their quest, be it finding magical flowers, returning gems to the elves or even rescuing a princess!

Each operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) contains four quests, ranging from easy to master.

The four quests are the same across the four operations, however, the rewards are not. Every combination of quest and reward holds a different reward. The rewards are all animated according to how well the player answered the questions.

All rewards are displayed on the main screen of the game. In this way there is a direct feedback and incentive for your child to do as best as they can.

Hunter, our 3rd grader, was our Math Rider user.  He uses it about 4 days a week.  It has certainly helped him retain his math facts.  When he is doing his multiplication in his workbook, the only problems that he misses, or doesn't know, are the ones that he has NOT gone over yet with Math Rider.  Even just listening to him play I know that he is learning.  Early in his quest  I hear lots of  "uugh!" and "oh, man! I almost had it!" going on.  In the middle of the quest I begin to hear, "YYYEESSS!"  as he has finished a ride and earned time points.  That tells me that the skills are sinking in, and over the days he is on a quest, the retention of the facts is faster and faster.

It is easy to set up a Quest.  You choose the operation that you want to work on and then the level (easy, medium, advanced, or master). 

Then the problems come up as hurdles for you to jump.  You input the answer with your number pad, and hit enter to record it.  If you are correct Shadow jumps the hurdle.  If you are wrong, Shadow stops, and a kind voice reads you the problem and the answer.

After your ride, you are taken to a map and are able to see how far you have traveled toward your destination.  Here Hunter is about 1/2 way through an advanced skill level addition quest.

Here you can see the flower he has earned for the easy quest, a gem from a medium quest, and a flag from the advanced addition one.

You can use the My Statistics button to see exactly what as been covered, and how your child is coming along.

Clicking on any number (here 25; 5x5=25), brings up additional information.  I can see how many times the problem has appeared in the game.  What his percentage of correct and incorrect answers were.

I will be honest, I really didn't think that Hunter would like this program. He is all boy, and camo and guns, and sharks.  I didn't think he would like the horse riding theme.   I have been utterly blown away by how much he loves it.  He asks to play it all the time.  Today he did 10 rides in is Quest, he was determined to complete it!!  I think that seeing his progress on the map, and the instant feedback on a right or wrong answer, have been part of what makes this program work for him.  He loves the little stories, and often calls us in so that we can listen to them again with him.  I also think he enjoys the independence of the program.  I don't need to sit with him and explain anything.  The controls are easy to use, all he has to do is input the answers and do some clicking.  It is simple and straight forward.

If you are looking for an innovative take on drilling math facts that really does feel like a game.  I would recommend that you try out Math Rider.  Many other families tried Math Rider in their homeschool.  Don't forget to read about their experiences before you decide if Math Rider is right for your family. 



****Disclaimer****

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew I was given Math Rider free of charge for the purpose of this review.  No other compensation has been received.  All opinions are my own.