Math Rider – A Computer Game for Kids

My children love to use computer-based resources to learn and practice their skills, so we were really thrilled to review Math Rider.  Math Rider is a computer software program that you purchase and download for use with children roughly aged 6-12 to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.  This math software game retails for just $47 for lifetime access.  The student will work on each skill, one at a time, until mastery is achieved.  The game is as simple to use as keying in the answer to the math problem and hitting Enter, and the game does all of the fun sound effects, graphics, and entertaining storyline to keep the user’s attention.

While this may sound like a snooze-fest, it actually is a LOT of fun!  The game has a horse-related theme.  Each mathematical operation has 4 quests (or difficulty levels) for your child to work through, and there are rewards for speed, accuracy, and mastering them.  Kids stay hooked because the game is constantly changing and challenging them!  If your 4 or 5 year old is chomping at the bit to do math, I certainly think this would be a fun game for them.  Alternatively, if you have a middle-schooler struggling in math, the drills in this software would be very helpful!

 My daughter is in 2nd grade and has long struggled with memorizing and reciting her addition and subtraction facts.  Through Math Rider, she has been able to gain confidence and have fun in just a few minutes each day.  Over the past few weeks, I have let her loose on the computer to practice her math facts on Math Rider for about 5-15 minutes about 3-4 times a week.  Not only is she getting faster, but her accuracy has been GREATLY improved.  I am really impressed!

My daughter, a 2nd grader, has been loving the fun little twists and turns in the story as she completes different quests, and she calls her little brothers over as things change and happen!  She’s proud of her progress and loves that she can check the map to see how much further she has to go until she’s mastered and completed each quest.  Grace refers to the map often to see if she wants to keep pushing herself to keep moving along, or if she feels like she’s done enough for the day.  To be honest, she’s usually pushing herself much longer than I would have required her to! 🙂

I will begin my kindergarten son on the program this summer, before I move him on to 1st grade.  He is working on his fact families a little bit right now, so this will be a wonderful way to push him to that next level with memory and fact retention.  He often gets that little jealous glint in his eye when his big sister is working on the game.

I love that, as a parent, I can set up multiple users on the software.  What a bargain at only $47!!  With lifetime updates on the software, it’s a steal for what you get, especially if you have multiple kids!  This would be excellent for using over the summer to keeps kids sharp in math, as well.  It can be used on Windows or Mac.  I also love that I can look at the stats page to see where my child is at as far as the skill mastery in the program.  This helps me to know what to work on during our regular math time.

If you’re interested in seeing more, check out the video below:

As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I have had the pleasure of reviewing a complimentary copy of this product.  All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.