TOS Review - UberSmart Math Facts

Math is definitely not a favorite subject in this household. I think it started all the way back in early elementary years when Grace had trouble memorizing addition and subtraction math facts. For some reason she didn't have as much trouble with multiplication and division. Regardless, it is incredibly important that early on your child learn a solid foundation of all the math facts to help them as they get older to work with higher math. My family was offered the opportunity to review UberSmart Math Facts from UberSmart Software through the TOS Review Crew. This is a new product that your family might be interested in checking out so that your students can get a good grasp on all those pesky little math facts that can sometimes be hard to remember.   UberSmart Math Facts is a downloadable software program available to computer systems containing Windows Vista, XP, 7 and 8. Once it is downloaded to your computer and your license code is entered it is yours to keep. This program is recommended for grades K - 6, but could be used by any aged student wishing to brush up on their basic math skills. This was actually the case for us. Grace just started 10th grade. I found last year that allowing her to use a calculator with Algebra for all the basic functions that some of the memorization starts to fade a little. So we concentrated on multiplication and division, especially using the compete section of the program. Currently this software retails for $24.95 and allows you up to 8 students to use it.   UberSmart Math Facts is not a game with lots of graphics and rewards. In these days of everything being entertaining, even education, this may put some students off. It really shouldn't. There are many kids and parents that would rather use the computer for one reason or another. Sometimes kids will do something on the computer that they won't do otherwise. Also this frees up time for the parent if they have other children in the home to teach as well. The UberSmart program has four sections for the students to utilize and two sections for the parents.   Learn
The learn section has beginner and intermediate choices. The beginner starts the younger students out with dot cards like domino flash cards. The intermediate choice will give the student traditional flashcards for the parameters that were chosen. At this point the student says the answer aloud then hits the show button to check it as opposed to typing the answer in.   Practice
This section has more of the same with a choice between dots and flashcards only this time the student can enter the answer through the keyboard.   Test
This section provides the student with an assessment test to gain insight for a starting point. After much practice in other sections of the program the students can then test themselves by inputting the skill (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division) and the number group.   Compete
This was actually our favorite section. After choosing age range and skill the student can compete against other students also using the program.    Report and Maintain
Parents will appreciate this section which allows you to check on your children's progress at every step of the program. The Maintain section helps the parent with maintenance and settings.   I did notice that clicking on the ? button takes you to the help pdf files that are currently under construction. This will eventually answer all questions that arise while using the program. We found the software very easy to navigate and had very few questions about how to use. In other words, it is pretty user-friendly. Even though this program was a bit young for a 10th grader to use (in my opinion), I do feel it is a useful tool for reviewing math facts at any age. I definitely would have loved to have this about five years ago when Grace was struggling with math facts.    Please be sure to visit my Fellow Crewmates and see what they thought of UberSmart Math Facts.