We have reviewing a math facts program called Mad Dog Math this month! Mad Dog Math is a downloadable math drill program to help kids memorize and master the basic operations +-*/. Kids are encouraged to spend 10 minutes daily drilling facts using this program. Once your child has logged in by clicking on the green paw print, they can use it fairly independently. There are 4 levels that children can progress through as they practice. Level 1(addition/subtraction), Level 2(addition/subtraction at a higher level), Level 3(Multiplication/Division), and Challenge(mixed operations). Each level starts out with low numbers or fact families and you can either up the numbers or wait for the student to move through them as they master them.
As you can see in the image above there are four bones to click on, Time Me, Fetch, Stop, and Progress. The Time me bone is what you click on to start the graded practice. Parents can choose between 2 min., 1min., 30 sec., or No time for the drill. At the end of each round if the child has gotten no more than 2 problems wrong they can move on to the next set of problems. When you want a new set you can click the Fetch bone and a whole new set appears. If you need to stop the timer you can click stop. As the child masters facts they will receive club stickers for the 2min., 1min, or 30sec. club. To check progress you just click on the progress bone and a screen will appear to show which facts have been mastered.
Mad Dog Math is a pretty basic and straight forward game. One thing I liked about it is there is no mouse clicking or pressing enter required during the drills. All your child has to do is type the answer and it moves on to the next problem instantly. Buster is pretty burnt out on fact practice so he didn't really appreciate this game. Sweetpea really liked it and did much better at it than I expected, but she hated the timer and would freeze if I turned it on. I had to either have her do it untimed, which doesn't advance you, or choose no time limit. I think they need to have some longer time choices than 2 min. You can purchase the game download for $19.99(1 year), $29.99(2 years), or $39.99(forever). They also have a CD version available as well as a few other products. Be sure to check out their website for more info, pricing, and a free practice download.
Mad Dog Math was given to me free of charge in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given.
Pros:
Easy to use.
Essential math practice.
Cons:
Timed feature may intimidate young children.
Short time limits.
A bit pricey for what you get.
Head over to the Homeschool Crew blog to hear what everyone else thinks.
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