Educational Software

In New York, Illinois and many other states across the nation, newspaper writers and professional educators are lamenting the fact that lowered expectations have hindered math curricula. Simply put, teachers and legislators have lowered the bar in terms of what they expect from students in math, and tests have been made easier to compensate. Not all the blame should be placed on teachers, and children cannot be held culpable for losing interest in a subject that doesn’t seem to relate.

It’s up to parents to foster their children’s academic growth out of school. What’s the use of sitting in a classroom all day if most of the material “learned” is forgotten as soon as the bell rings? Educational math games on the computer can help get kids engaged in the learning process in a way that rote memorization and vague chalkboard equations simply cannot. Here is a case of technology being put to good use.

You may have noticed lately that many people would do anything to avoid attempting a simple math problem. It’s astonishing how many adults are worried about experiencing embarrassment once their ignorance is revealed. The issue can be traced to a lack of math fundamentals, which should be learned early in life. Some people simply lack a solid foundation.

With this in mind, it’s important for parents to encourage their children to embrace math as a fun concept that deserves to be studied. Math games for kids can be thought of as a welcome change from rote memorization and other techniques that don’t appeal to young children. With any luck, your kids will grow up to take pride in their math skills and they won’t have anything to hide when the topic arises.

Chances are if you were in school in the last decade, you’ve heard of the educational math program Number Munchers.  While this rudimentary effort in interactive math games wasn’t all that brilliant, it did make math fun for kids who didn’t think the subject could be.  When it comes to interactive math games, it’s more about generating interest in math than it is teaching it.  Children learn through study and through a process like osmosis, in which knowledge is absorbed into the brain through mere contact with the subject matter.  Like immersion in a foreign language, children might find themselves understanding math they didn’t even know they could because of subconscious memory of the subject matter. 

Number Munchers pit the protagonist against the evil Troggles who would attempt to capture him at every turn.  The protagonist would ‘munch’ the correct numbers, and then gain access to some amusing scenes where those devious Troggles would be tricked.  While not innovative in the sense of modern games, this first effort into interactive math games had children interested in the game as well as the math, and through that osmotic process, were able to learn a great deal.