Homeschool Review: EdAlive Math & Typing Programs!

Math and Typing are both things we should practice regularly, but they don’t sound like much fun do they?

What if you could get your children to practice these skills while also enjoying it? By putting the practice into a game or challenge environment, we turn practice into playtime. When our kids WANT to practice these skills, it makes it so much more enjoyable for everyone! No more nagging them to “please work on your math facts flashcards” or “please just practice your typing for 5 minutes, then you can play”.

EdAlive has generously provided us with one-year subscriptions to both Typing Tournament Online and Maths Invaders Online so that we could use and review them and share our findings with you!

Typing Tournament Online

Let’s start by taking a look at Typing Tournament Online. This is a complete 10-finger typing course that is meant for ages 6 and up, even adults can benefit from using this program. You work at your own pace through 128 lessons, games and drills in a medieval tournament theme. After setting up my parent account and creating profiles for each of my children they were able to log into their own accounts and get started. As the children complete the lessons and drills they earn badges and tokens. When all the tokens are collected they will have access to “Typing Tournament: The Movie”.

How We Used It

I had both of my children use Typing Tournament Online almost daily on the weekdays. I asked them to do at least one aspect of the lesson per day, the lesson, a drill or game, or the test. If they didn’t pass the test, they could try again another day after a few more practice drills.  Starting with a bit of typing practice in the morning is a great way to get their little minds working and all warmed up for the rest of the day as well!

My son, who is 12, found the typing program to be “okay”. If you have a pre-teen in your house I’m sure you know how hard it can be to get much more than one word answers from them, am I right? Okay, so he may not have had too much to say about it, but he didn’t tell me he disliked it, which is what I’m aiming for with him. He is a pretty avid typer already but it did hold his attention, and he never once complained about doing his daily typing practice.

My daughter on the other hand, who is 8 really enjoyed the typing practice. She found the games to be fun and even though she didn’t always pass the lesson test the first time, she didn’t let it hold her back from trying again. Of all 3 games in the typing program, her favorite was “Seige”. In that game there are words or letter groups climbing the castle wall. You have to type the words/letters to make them disapear before the reach the top of the wall.

I have to add that my personal favorite is the “Powder Keg” game. You have to type the letters as they appear on the powder kegs to put out the fuse with water. It was fast paced and fun, even for me as an adult!

Maths Invaders Online

The second program we had access to was Maths Invaders Online. This math program is designed for ages 5 to 15+ and is meant to quickly develop automatic recall of essential maths facts. By clicking the “start here” button in Maths Invaders, you can choose the Zone (or year level) that you want your child to start at, there are even sample questions to give you a better idea of what each zone includes. As they work through the levels (known as the Galactic Campaign) they earn access to the Space Rescue game which can be played on their own, or against other players. Along with the campaign and game, there is also a practice section where students can practice by level, topic, or the times tables.

How We Used It

With the math program, it is recommended that they use it 2-3 times per week, so that is what we aimed for and were able to easily accomplish. Because Maths Invaders Online is set up more like a game than lessons, I think this was my son’s favorite of the two programs. He and my daughter were able to set it up so that they could play the Space Rescue game together, which they (and I) thought was super cool. My son was even able to invite a homeschooling friend of his to play the Space Rescue game with him, even though the friend didn’t have the Maths Invaders Online program which was a nice bonus for him.

I really liked the simplicity of the program and how it encourages the children to recall their math facts quickly in a game fashion. This was another program that hasn’t received any complaints from my children when they were asked to complete a level for the day. There were even times when they would ask me if they could play it more! It’s a winner in our house, and we will definately continue to use it through out the summer as a frequent refresher!

The Parent Dashboard

One thing I always appreciate as a homeschooling parent is when a program has a parent dashboard! The dashboard allows me to add and remove child accounts, add and remove programs from their accounts and review their progress in each program. I am able to see what levels they are working on and how they are progressing through the program, and how many times they may have needed to attempt a level. It also shows me what days they worked on the programs and how many activities were completed each day.

Thank you for taking the time to read our review, I hope that it’s helped you to decide if the EdAlive programs will be helpful in your home!
Please take a moment to read the reviews from my fellow review crew members by clicking on the image below!

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