A few months ago, I began looking at the latest and greatest math software
from Davidson, Sunburst, Edmark, and other companies. I tested hosts of
math programs and got thoughtful input from students and educators in the
43 school districts I serve as an educational technology consultant. Overall,
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of programs available both for
little kids and for older students.
A few programs stand head and shoulders above the rest. Most are cross-platform,
and the prices vary widely--sometimes for the very same program. Individual
software programs can be quite expensive, but lab packs and site licenses
can make per-unit prices drop dramatically. My advice: Take advantage of
the 30-day preview copies offered by most companies. (Phone numbers and
Internet addresses are provided in the list below.) There's usually no obligation
to buy, even though you might have to fill out a purchase order for the
companies' records. Use the 30 days to let your teachers examine the programs
and discuss the pricing schemes so you get the best buys on the best products.
And what are the best products? Here are the math software programs I
recommend for students in primary, intermediate, and secondary schools:
Primary programs
Interactive
Math Journey. (The Learning
Company) (800) 852-2255. Ages 5 to 9. This CD-ROM program uses some
of the same concepts as the excellent Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading
Journey (which now has a nice sequel called Interactive Learning Journey
2). Kids follow the adventures of Tallycat through 10 Magic Math lands.
A teachers' manual, which comes with a small bag of plastic manipulatives,
provides lots of supplementary activities. Look for this program to give
Millie's Math House and Math Blaster Jr. strong competition.
Jumpstart
Kindergarten and Jumpstart
First Grade. (Knowledge Adventure)
(800) 542-4240. Ages 4 to 7. The Jumpstart disks are not exclusively math
programs, but they do contain enough math activities to merit a favorable
mention. The teachers I work with love these inexpensive programs featuring
Mr. Hopsalot the rabbit and Frankie the dog as cartoon guides. The first-grade
program has lots of good math activities involving fractions in the lunchroom,
money at the vending machines, addition at the cash register and in a game
of marbles, and clock skills in a good Tic Toc game.
Millie's Math House.
(Edmark) (800) 426-9400. Ages 2
to 5. Excellent graphics and engaging activities have made this a classic
for kids learning basic math skills. Millie the cow and friends help with
matching, counting, problem solving, and other activities.
Money Town.
(Davidson) (800) 545-7677. Ages 5 to
9. This two-disk set emphasizes critical-thinking skills and real-world
activities that teach money skills. The story line starts with the premise
that a city park has been shut down for lack of funds and kids need to earn
money to restore items in the park. Admittedly, this program has some weak
spots--the "vacuum game" is really lame--but other parts, such
as the football game and the Recycle Shop, are superb. The second CD features
a bank president's "Video Tips for Parents" covering such topics
as the size and timing of allowances.
Sunbuddy's
Math Playhouse. (Sunburst)
(800) 321-7511. Ages 4 to 7. This has an exceptionally well-designed interface,
great music, and superb graphics. Activities include a concentration game
(a common feature in many primary math software programs), a great map coordinate
game, and an excellent sorting game. Each activity can be set to three levels
of difficulty. With a story line that encourages creativity through play-acting
and storytelling, this interdisciplinary program also develops reading skills.
Time
Town. (Steck-Vaughn)
(800) 531-5015. Ages 4 to 8. This neat program gives serious competition
to Trudy's Time and Place by Edmark. Kids learn clock skills with Grandfather
Clock and calendar skills with Joe the mechanic. Drag-and-drop art enables
kids to print their own customized one-month calendars, and turtle races
are used to review time-telling skills. I had a bit of a problem
finding the races on the main menu until I discovered the trick: The turtles
race only in the stadium and only at night--which means you have to click
on the stadium icon after the sun passes across the sky and the moon appears.
Trudy's Time and
Place. (Edmark) (800)-320-8380.
Ages 3 to 6. This classic teaches time-telling skills, develops mapping
and direction skills, and guides kids on educational journeys around the
world. With beautiful graphics and one of the best musical scores around,
this is a must-buy.
Middle-grade programs
The Cruncher.
(Davidson) (800) 545-7677. Ages 8
to adult. This excellent multimedia program on CD (or smaller version on
floppy) allows computer teachers to liven up their spreadsheet lessons with
zippy illustrations and outrageous sound effects. An extensive teachers'
manual with lesson plans and extra activities offers several weeks of curriculum
for computer classes. Caution: The activities call for the skills of a proficient
computer teacher--not someone who is relatively untrained.
Fraction
Attraction. (Sunburst)
(800) 321-7511. Ages 8 through 13. Fraction Attraction helps students understand
fundamental concepts involving fractions. Gilda the Gator keeps kids interested
in learning about such things as percentages, decimals, equivalence, relative
size, and location of fractions on a number line. The program has detailed
diagnostic help designed to assist students in identifying errors and correcting
mistakes. CD and floppy versions are available for installation.
Hot
Dog Stand: The Works. (Sunburst)
(800) 321-7511. Ages 11 to adult. This program is similar in concept to
Math in the Real World, but lacks some of the bells and whistles. (The program
uses only 30 megabytes of space and can be fully copied to run on a hard
drive.) The story line has players trying to earn money by running a refreshment
stand at a football stadium, which means they must consider many variables
(weather, inventory, unit cost, sales predictions, etc.) to reach their
goals. Like virtually all Sunburst products, this program comes with a nice
teachers' manual, complete with instructions and suggested activities. Even
without the bells and whistles, this is a must-buy for middle school math
classes. A smaller hard-drive version, called Hot Dog Stand, is also available
on floppies.
How the West Was Negative One. (Sunburst)
(800) 321-7511. Macintosh only. Grades six through 10. Despite a small footprint--the
entire program is on two floppies and can be installed to the hard drive--this
program is a winner. Bonnie Seiler at the University of Delaware designed
it to challenge kids with tough questions about negative and positive integers.
The program has a great Wild West theme featuring a race against another
student or the computer. After being barely defeated by the computer, I
immediately wanted to try again. A companion game, called How
the West Was One + Three x Four, is available for younger students in
grades four through eight on a hybrid CD. Both come with teachers' manuals.
Math Blaster Mystery:
The Great Brain Robbery. (Davidson)
(800) 545-7677. Ages 10 to adult. This pre-algebra edutainment borrows a
feature or two from that earlier classic, Math Blaster Mystery--which is
still available in floppy disk format for Apple, Mac, and DOS. The game,
which revolves around exploring a spooky mansion and recovering a stolen
brain, helps kids with ratios and proportions, word problems, and
pre-algebra questions that involve finding unknowns, determining factors
and multiples, and writing expressions.
Davidson has six other Blaster titles. Filled with games and lively activities,
they've all overcome the stereotype of drill-and-kill math software. I like
Math Blaster Mystery and Geometry Blaster, but I think the others might
have gone a bit too far in their pursuit of the good times. Some of these
programs are lots of fun but lack the substance math students need. Alge-Blaster
3 has only four megabytes of material on the entire CD; the rest of the
CD is filled with preview demos of other Davidson products. So it's not
much competition for the new breed of algebra CDs, such as Algebra Smart.
(See below.)
Math for the Real World.
(Davidson) (800) 545-7677. Ages 10 to
adult. If I had to pick the best overall math software program, it would
be this one, which is absolutely stunning in the way it captures the attention
of students. (My own 12-year-old loved it so much that she wrote a story
about the central characters.) Math for the Real World uses the theme of
a rock-and-roll band trying to raise money to produce a music video. Math
problems appear at quick intervals, and correct answers earn money toward
the video. Wrong answers remove funds from a piggy bank that's highly visible
in the lower left screen. Over 4,000 word problems are thought-provoking
and cover many different subjects of mathematics. Definitely a must-buy.
Math Munchers
Deluxe CD. (MECC) (800)
685-6322. Ages 8 to 12. The old Troggles are at it again, threatening to
eat kids in this CD-ROM remake of the classic Math Munchers software program.
The deluxe version presents a simple yet engrossing game that quizzes kids
about such things as expressions, multiples, factors, equivalents, mixed
numbers, and simple geometry. A slim ring binder teachers' manual contains
mainly instructions and a few worksheets.
Pre-Algebra World.
(Cognitive Technologies Corp.) (800)
335-0781. A brand-new product from a promising new company. Somebody smart
is behind this program, which uses pizzas, basketball games, arcades, and
more to teach such concepts as fractions, estimation, plotting, place value,
and the history of number systems. The result: a nice combination of fun
and solid math skills.
Advanced programs
Algebra
Smart. (The Princeton Review)
(800) 566-7737. High school. If I hadn't looked at the box, I would have
guessed Davidson had made this comprehensive multimedia guide to the first
year of high school algebra. But this innovative program comes from one
of the fastest growing test-preparation companies in America. Algebra Smart
includes 137 videos and 12 in-depth lessons covering 60 key subject areas.
My favorite part is the Jeopardy-like Algebra Games, where you do battle
against a rival team of animated math nerds. Every high school math department
should have this CD.
Geometry Blaster.
(Davidson) (800) 545-7677. High school.
This program covers a full year of geometry skills. The installation
is a bit annoying; Windows 95 users have to install the older 16-bit version
of Quicktime instead of the latest 32-bit version. Still, this small flaw
can be forgiven, considering the overall excellence of the graphics and
the math skills that are presented.
The Trigonometry
Explorer. (Cognitive Technologies
Corp.) (800) 335-0781. High school. Wonderful animations reinforce math
concepts. When I show this program to trig teachers, they say it's an excellent
supplement to the curriculum. In many ways, it reminds me of the lesson
format in Broderbund's excellent Sensai Algebra program, which unfortunately
was never upgraded to a CD-ROM format and is now out of production. A comprehensive
teachers' manual comes with the school version.
Visual
Planner. (Steck-Vaughn)
(800) 531-5015. High school. Computer instructors will love this program.
Visual Planner helps students learn to use flow charts, Venn diagrams, comparison
charts, cycle graphs, and more. Users can even create their own templates
or develop new visual formats. It comes with a small, but highly understandable
teachers' manual.
Of course, any software is worthless if teachers aren't convinced of
its value and don't feel comfortable incorporating it into the curriculum.
That's why I'm pleased to see the current trend toward installing computers
in individual classrooms, rather than sticking them in computer labs where
classroom teachers never learn to use them.
I recommend putting the first computer in a classroom on the teacher's
desk. And when new software is purchased, I recommend scheduling some sessions
with a technology consultant who can show teachers how to install and use
the new programs effectively. Too many teachers have been left out of the
technology loop for too long, and it's time to bring them in.
Russell Smith is an educational technology consultant at the Region 14 Education
Service Center in Abilene, Texas. | 
