Free Friday: Xtramath.org

At one of our homeschool support group meetings I learned about this handy little website called Xtramath.org.  This is a great tool to help children memorize math facts and it is totally FREE!

Because Gess has Down syndrome she has really struggled memorizing her facts, but I am giving this a try.  I figure it can't hurt.  What is really neat about it is that it continues to give you problems you miss over and over again until you really get it right consistently.  They also ALWAYS make you put in the answer, even if you get it wrong.  So, once you get the problem wrong, it not only shows you the correct answer, but you must then actually type the answer in to move on.

The other nice thing about Xtramath.org is that it takes only about 5 minutes a day and that is all they let you do.  It is simply for extra practice.  Once you complete your lesson it tells you that you are done for the day!  You can't come back until tomorrow.

Here is how it works.  When you first log on you take a placement test.  There is an online teacher to help walk you through what to do.  After that there are simply math problems to work.


Now these are timed tests.  The goal is to answer in 3 seconds but they give you up to 10 before giving you the answer.  If you have a child with special needs like Gess you can choose the "extended 6 second" program to give them more time.

As I said before, if they get the problem wrong they highlight the answer but the child still must type it in before moving on.


At the end of the lesson they see their progress.


One of the practice sessions is called race the teacher.  Gess loves this because the teacher makes funny motions and stuff while he is thinking.  While it is cute, it is a bit of a distraction for Gess.  Once you get through the first lesson or so he does stop talking and guiding them through what to do.


The parent can go to their control center each day and see how the child did on the lesson.  It seems to take about a day for it to show up though.


Again, the best part of all of this is that it is FREE!  Of course they do ask for donations.  If you find the site useful it might be a good idea to give but it isn't required.  We are fairly new to the site so I am not sure how well Gess will do with it but hey, if it lets her work at her own pace, it might just be what we needed.  Go to Xtramath.org to give it a try.





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