July 29, 2019 by Kim Wyrley-Birch
Summer holidays are meant to be about having fun. However, if you can get your child to revisit skills they’ve learnt in their previous school year, it’ll make the transition in September smoother.
‘Hidden Learning’ activities are perfect for the summer break. They get your child learning without them noticing. Educational apps are ideal hidden learning activities - especially for people with dyslexia as they play to their visual, logic reasoning and problem-solving strengths. So, here are three maths apps I recommend to download this summer to maintain addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication skills.
The app: 2048
Suitable for: 8 years and over
What’s it about? 2048 encourages maths additions. You start with two number 2 tiles. You have to swipe then up, down, left or right to move the tiles. When two tiles of the same number touch, they merge into one, i.e. if two number 2 tiles touch they turn into one number 4 tile (2+2 = 4). The aim is to use maths skills to create a number 2048 tile. It sounds complicated, but once your child gets the hang of it, they’ll enjoy the challenge.
Skills practised:
Additional skills gained:
Cost: Free, however, there are in-app purchases. Available on Apple and Android.
The app: Mathmateer
Suitable for: 5 years and over
What’s it about: Mathmateer gets children solving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. Every time a problem is solved, you earn ‘money’ to build a rocket. The more complicated a problem is, the more ‘money’ you deserve. The rocket building element is fun as children can design their own and launch them into space. There are missions when rockets are launched to getting children to solve other problems, covering odd and even numbers, shapes, time, fractions and decimals. So much is covered in just one app. Brilliant!
Skills practised
Additional skills gained
Cost: £1.99. Available on Apple only.
The app: Math Balance
Suitable for: 5 years and over
What’s it about: Math Balance is excellent for practising additions, subtraction, division, and multiplication. You have a yellow character who’s trying to get to the end of a cave. However, inside the cave are unstable bridges to cross. To stabilise the bridges, you have to balance equal numbers either side by adding and subtracting numbered blocks. When your character successfully reaches the end of the cave, there’s a timed, one-question maths test to further engage your child with the numbers they’ve interacted with.
Skills practised
Additional skills gained
Cost: Free, however, there’s a subscription option that increases you access to other apps from the developer. Available on Apple and Android.
I’d love to hear how your child gets on with these apps. Get in touch if you’d like me to recommend more.
