Common Sense Note
Parents should know that this educational game entices kids to play math games by rewarding them with fake money to spend on in-game arcade games (which are somewhat educational). A good on-the-go option, but parents who own computers might want to check out the computer games on which this title is based -- they provide a more indepth math practice.
Families can talk about how they use math in their own real life situations (going to the store, taking a bus, etc.). What are some offline activities you can do to keep working on the same skills that this game targets?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
In 2003, Scholastic released two excellent Math Missions computer software titles for kids. By partnering with Leapfrog, Scholastic now brings some of the content and characters from the original Math Missions to the Leapster format, and the result is an outstanding hand-held math video game for first- through third-graders.
Leapster MATH MISSIONS transports kids to Spectacle City, a metropolis notorious for its poor math skills. Kids are employed by four businesses, and at each they use their math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and geometry) to solve everyday problems.
At the seafood market, kids help the clerk weigh fish by dragging the seafood onto a scale until it is balanced. At another store, kids help tag merchandise for sale by matching a target sale number. Kids will see the target number represented in multiple ways. For instance, if the target sale number is 12, kids must find objects that show "12", 6+6, 15-3, or even 3+3+3+3.
The other two businesses need help matching geometric shapes in a tangram puzzle, and using logic to fill candy orders to match customers' feedback.
When kids have earned enough money, they can spend it at the city's gaming arcade. The three fun arcade machines provide great motivation to earn money, and the arcade games all require thinking to win.
Leapster Math Missions is an excellent choice for families who own a Leapster or the Leapster L-Max. These on-the-go math games can be played on three levels of difficulty, and they have built-in tutorial help.
This is an outstanding way to provide kids with a hand-held educational math experience. However, if you own a computer, you might want to purchase the less expensive Math Missions: The Race to Spectacle City Arcade for grades 1 and 2 or the Math Missions: The Amazing Arcade Adventure for grades 3 and 5.
These older PC/Mac titles will provide a richer math experience for your children because the computer software versions offer much more content than is available on the Leapster hand-held format.
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