 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Personal Trainer: Math
- Nintendo DS
- Price: $19.99
- Genre: Educational
Common Sense Media says
Not really a game, but a fun way to drill math facts.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know
that this is a more of a learning aid than a video game. This product turns
your Nintendo DS into a high tech way of drilling math facts and covers addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division. It encourages kids to practice these
math drills daily by playing with the game for 10 minutes. The game introduces the 100-Cell Method
of doing math facts on a grid, which can be played with up to 15 other people using
one game cartridge where all are vying for the best time.
What's it about?
PERSONAL TRAINER:
MATH is a high tech way to drill math facts. Instead of using math flash cards
to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, this game provides
a systematic way to review math facts. And it takes about 10 minutes a day.
Narrated by the cartoon version of Professor Kageyama, a pioneer of the
100-Cell Calculation Method, kids take a daily math test, and then practice
math by choosing from 40 different exercises or exploring 100-Cell Math (a
process that involves placing answers to math questions on a grid).
To play, kids write
answers on the DS touch-sensitive screen. The Daily test involves three
exercises geared to your level of math mastery. You start on Level 1 and work
your way to Level 20. Examples of exercises includes identifying groups of
objects, or writing the answers to addition facts as fast as possible. The game
keeps track of accuracy and time.
Is it any good?
This game is pretty
dry and not as engaging as other brain-training games like Big Brain Academy or Brain Age. But compared to math flash cards, this method is more fun because the math drills vary.
The video game format helps to take some of the drudgery out of memorizing math
facts. And it is helpful that the game keeps track of how you are doing and
records your daily testing on a calendar.
The writing recognition software works pretty well, but occasionally your scores will get
bogged down because the game fails to recognize your handwriting even though you wrote a correct response.
What families can talk about
Families can talk
about how the Nintendo DS can be used for more than video games. What is the
strangest use of the DS you have heard of? Did Professor Kageyama make this fun
enough for you to follow through every day?
- Show:
- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
Kid, 11 years old
July 16, 2011
AGE
great for all ages
I Really enjoy this game. Very educational.
Was this review useful?
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|
| Platforms: | Nintendo DS |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Educational |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
| Release date: | January 12, 2009 |
| Price: | $19.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E for (No Descriptors) |
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