Mathletics - a great maths reinforcement tool @MathleticsUK

Many parents and children first come across Mathletics when it is introduced at school - typically in UK year 3 or 4.  We see it as a great reinforcement tool that younger children can also benefit from.  The emphasis is on reinforcement as it does not "teach" in the same way as other apps or sites such as Mathseeds, and therefore is more likely to need parental support when your child tackles something new.

It is website based, though with ipad access available, and requires an annual subscription (currently £39 for one child and £69 for two in the UK).  It is structured to reflect the specific curriculum of 20 different countries from infants up to the top end of senior school.

With our focus on the young age brackets we see not only useful exercises (albeit not perfect such as the Reception year "which is larger" exercise sometimes having only very minor differences) but good gamification based around the need to get at least 1000 points a week to get a series of bronze, silver and gold certificates.  While effective at getting the child to aim for 1000 points (between 30 minutes and two hours a week depending on the exercises they do) the lack of "things to buy" such as offered by Readingeggs means that once the certificate of the week has been achieved it may be hard to encourage the child back until the next Monday.

Updates to parents weekly by email are a helpful summary (and chaser if you have not got your child to use it enough that week).  And once your child starts using it at school an extra dimension is added.

Our main concern is whether there is enough content to keep a smart, engaged youngster going for a year.  it is possible to move to the next year's curriculum but in most cases that would be a stretch too far.

We would recommend the £39 investment as part of a portfolio of exercises for your child, but emphasising that once moving beyond basics the lack of "teaching" approach means this is a tool where you are likely to spend a reasonable amount of time supporting your child as they work through it.

See other Live Mathletics post for one of the more unique and compelling aspects of the product.