Feel free to spread the word about any or all of them as they come along!
First up has been a long time coming.....life kept getting in the way of doing this review but here it finally is:
MathBlaster, from the makers of JumpStart!!
MathBlaster launched this past winter 2011 and we have been enjoying it since spring.
Basically, your child/children become cadets in a space station training, rescuing and saving little critters and the station itself. All while reinforcing their math skills in fast-paced games that require fast answers in order to achieve scores and win races.
Here are some of The Red Rangers favorites - in order:
1) Monster Morph Lab - Excellent for measuring and completing tasks with checklist. Reinforces memory skills. Once you collect the ingredients around the station you make a morph which you then use on your fellow cadets while running around the station, basically "tag, your it" but you don't actually have to chase after them. The Red Ranger just loves changing, sorry morphing, the other players!
The music even reminds me of "Munsters" tv show......lol.
2) Galaxy Grand Prix - A race course where you play, build and run races against fellow cadets.
He loves it because its so fast....mom can barely move on the track without crashing into a wall!
3) Zapper Turret Training - Finally...Math Problems!
The training pod will remind you of Millennium Falcon. You or your child chooses adding/subtraction/combo of +/-, multiplication, division, or a combo of both. Then you choose easy/medium/hard and there are five choices for sums. The math problem is displayed and your student must shoot the correct answer. What's great about it, as with several of the other games, is that it tests your child quickly in the facts in order to progress through the game.
4) B-Force Blaster - Target Practice for points. The Red Ranger loves it because it gives high scores.
He also loves the "Red Alert" siren that goes off where cadets race to one of the turrets to save the station from enemy spacecraft.
There are three other areas that we use for our math studies.
* Hyperblast Training - Cadets race through space tunnels in a vehicle shooting for points, then at certain intervals (I believe there are three creatures) they come upon a many tentacled creature with math problems, you have to solve the problems in order to proceed speeding through the space tube tunnels. This game has the same math choices as the above mentioned Zapper Turret Training.
* Alien Wrangler - Is an Alien Bronco. Your cadet must rapidly answer math problems to stay on the creatures back. It offers the same math choices as Zapper Turret Training and Hyperblast Training.
* The Job Board - Is in the first area cadets enter. It offers many choices in math such as place value, money, fractions and geometric shapes on a conveyor belt, an ooze pit with platforms, rollerball alley and other tasks all while solving the math problems.
There are training areas and they even have to capture little critters (they truly remind me of Tribbles from Star Trek!) that are around the station and place them back into their container.
There's also parental controls for talking with other players with pre-determined phrases.
We have discovered its nice option to our math studies.
We orginally started with the free version after reading about and seeing commercials for the product. Then we were contacted by MathBlaster to do a review of the membership level. Membership not only gives you access to all the cool features above but also gives you secondary membership to the JumpStart Website. You also can have up to 6 children in your home under the one membership, which is a huge plus and each child gets to create their own avatar. The age level is 6-12 years of age.
Now, here's the membership info:
For up to 6 children its either $7.99 monthly, $74.99 Annually or for Lifetime membership $149.99.
However, MathBlaster has given me the chance to giveaway to one of my readers a FREE 3 month full membership!
Here's how you can enter: (For each one please come back and comment so that you can be credited)
1) 1 entry by following my blog.
2) 1 entry by reposting or Tweeting this post.
3) 1 entry per friend if they "follow" me, be sure they mention your name!
Entries close on Saturday, September 17, 2011 and a winner will be chosen by Random.org on Sunday, September 18, 2011.
(Please note that the ending date for this giveaway has been extended 9/17/2011)
Meanwhile you can try the FREE version here: MathBlaster.com
**DISCLAIMER** ~ I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
We've linked up with other Hip Homeschool Moms, they too are hosting give-aways.
Go check them out!! Hip Homeschool Moms
Join the No Ordinary Blog Hop
