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MathGames
Pros: Free access to lots of games and detailed tutorial videos linked to lots of curriculum standards from around the world.
Cons: No feedback for incorrect answers, just rote practice; not enough time to solve in-game questions; free site is full of distracting ads.
Bottom Line: A solid resource for practicing math skills, but might be frustrating for struggling students.
MathGames would work well as an in-class practice tool or for creating homework assignments. The dashboard also allows teachers to create assignments and share them with their students through email, Remind, or Google Classroom. Then, teachers can use the detailed reports to track student progress and see where students need extra practice. They can then assign specific games or questions to students based on this. There are lots of resources available to create assignments by grade, skill, or standard to personalize the assignments on a per student basis.
Teachers can also use provided lessons to teach or reinforce topics learned in class, and can provide worksheets to students who may not have consistent access to technology. Teachers can also provide a link directly to the lesson for students, no student account required.
MathGames includes an interactive set of games and assessment-style questions that are aligned with curriculum standards from around the world. Parents, caregivers, and teachers can sign up for a free account by entering an email address and then adding classes and students. Kids can then access assignments by logging in with a username and password. Users can search the games and interactive questions to create assignments, and searches can be filtered by grade, skill, or standard. When kids log in to their student account and complete assignments, progress reports are automatically generated.
Many of the games and resources are free to use and cover a wide array of skills. The question mark icon within the games leads to a teacher-led mini-lesson about that skill. The free site is filled with ads that often cause the site, and sometimes the game in progress, to randomly refresh. Teachers should note that the student account also has links to teacher-related items (like creating assignments and linking to Google Classroom).
The designers of MathGames have done a good job creating a content-rich site packed with standards-aligned materials where kids can practice math skills ranging from basic counting and number sense to algebra and statistics. Kids can easily view their progress and identify areas of strength and weakness. Also, the teacher-led lessons are well done, and the skills questions provide good opportunities for practice.
While many of the games are fun, however, some repeat the exact same question multiple times, which could get repetitive and frustrating for students. The game mechanics of many of the games is also problematic, requiring the student to move a character on-screen while simultaneously trying to solve a (sometimes quite complex) math problem, often leading to a "game over" situation before the student is even able to try. Solutions aren't available for incorrect answers, limiting kids' ability to learn from mistakes, and any feedback provided is brief: either positive praise or encouragement to keep trying. There are some video tutorials of many math concepts available, but MathGames isn't a stand-alone instructional tool -- it's a good supplemental resource for supporting curriculum.
The ability for the teacher to view student progress definitely helps with assigning appropriate materials and giving students the practice they need.
Learning Rating
Overall Rating
STAY AWAY! HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE
I wanted to sign up for month to month but accidentally signed up for the year. ($45 mistake)
Only 12 HOURS had passed when I caught my mistake. This was an oversight on my part and now I will pay for it. For the record, not one student had logged into Mathgames and NOT ONE activity completed. Sent email explaining only 12 hours had passed and please let me switch to month to month for my kids. As teachers, we are always trying to find programs that can help meet our student's educational goals and also balance virtual learning.
They promptly sent back an email and said NO. Obviously, they are out for a sale at any cost. Our math dept. and our K-12 school will not use Mathgames. They are driven by $$$. They will most likely automatically charge your card the following year for double the price AND probably without notice. ($90 according to the fine print... NOT $45 for the first year they used to get the initial sale. BEWARE!
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