Parents' Guide to Arcademics

Website https://www.arcademics.com/
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Common Sense Media Review

Erin Brereton By Erin Brereton , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 6+

Get helpful practice with lively math and language games.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 6+?

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age 6+

Based on 2 parent reviews

 

 

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age 5+

Based on 2 kid reviews

 

 

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What's It About?

ARCADEMIC SKILL BUILDERS is a website featuring games that can help first through sixth graders practice math, language arts, and critical-thinking skills. More than 55 games are grouped into more than 15 subject areas, ranging from shapes to algebra and geography. Each is labeled with the skills kids will utilize and the number of players. Games are listed by grade, and kids can choose their desired difficulty level. Kids get immediate, detailed feedback after each game, including correct answers to any questions they missed, an accuracy score, and a per-minute response rate to help them improve their performance on future tries.

Game themes vary and star aliens, octopi, kittens, and Jet Skis depending on which game kids are playing. For example, in Dolphin Dash, kids add coins correctly to make a dolphin win a race. Capital Penguin helps kids learn state capitals. Most games include thorough instructions. Kids can customize the game speed and difficulty level; they also can see correct and missed answers and other performance data after playing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say ( 2 ):

The fun, fast games on Arcademic Skill Builders are a clever way to get kids interested in math, English, and geography. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but they're charming enough, and the design is simple for kids to navigate. The site's games effectively reinforce key skills such as addition and subtraction, and kids should enjoy competing against other players from all over the world.

Arcademic Skill Builders also deserves some kudos for its safety precautions. Kids can play the games without entering anything but a temporary username that isn't saved in the system. If their teacher has an account, kids' performance can be tracked -- but they can still safely play multiplayer games without any concern that other users will try to contact them.

An educator-oriented paid version of the site, Arcademics Plus, has a number of extras to help kids learn more, including lessons on items they missed and the ability to save and monitor game performance. The free version doesn't offer the same tracking capabilities –- kids will need to print out their stats to gauge progress. But they'll still get plenty of critical thinking and skills practice, which is valuable even if they don't create a system to chart their improvement.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about which games your child found most helpful. Which helped your child understand math better? Did any games help your child learn new words or concepts?

  • Site games are timed, so kids are working against the clock. Ask your child which is more important: doing something quickly or doing it well? Talk about balancing time and accuracy when taking a test or performing a task.

  • Kids see the answers at the end of each game. Which questions did your child think were confusing or hard? Ask why; discuss your child's line of reasoning; and explain the answers to any questions your child missed.

Website Details

  • Subjects : Language & Reading : letter or word recognition , spelling , vocabulary , Math : addition , counting , division , fractions , money , multiplication , ratio , shapes , subtraction , Social Studies : geography
  • Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : applying information , solving puzzles , thinking critically , Self-Direction : academic development , personal growth
  • Genre : Educational
  • Pricing structure : Free (basic version is free)
  • Last updated : November 11, 2020

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