During our time at school most of us found math to be the toughest subject in our curriculum. We dreaded the teacher calling our name, and taking the long trip to the black board. We spent days and nights preparing for the tests, while some even had math anxiety. And all that, because math was something very distant, abstract and very boring. Luckily, our kids have it better. Learning math has finally caught up to the digital age, and there are great ways to make it fun and interesting both in the classroom and at home. These are the gadgets that will help kids conquer math and even get them to love it.
Smart Board
Introducing smart boards into kids’ educational program will bring the math curriculum into the 21st century. The gadget for the next generation of math learners makes the entire experience more interactive, and fun. No more will kids fear being asked to come up to the board to solve a problem. The board is connected to a PC and projector, and uses apps and a smart pen to present kids their daily curriculum. The smart board will allow for more diversity with the application of videos, pictures, and games into the study program, helping the new visual generation connect to math. Applicable at home as well, it can help parents aid their kids with math learning, and bring a new level of creativity into playing pretend school.
Osmo iPad
Osmo iPad is one of the more versatile gadgets for kids out there. This learning tablet provides kids with mathematic material and games. The pad is great for classroom, allowing up to four kids to use it simultaneously. Since it is designed with kids in minds, Osmo has built-in safety features which means it’s child friendly both at school, and home. Also, secure internet access can provide kids with further math learning by enjoying cool online math games. The gadget can also be password protected, allowing only adults to access the settings menu, and updates. Finally, Osmo can easily be connected to smart boards, projectors, and computers, both online, or via Bluetooth, making learning fun and interactive.
Boogie Board eWriter
Teching up your kids’ math experience, you might want to consider giving them a Boogie Board eWriter. This simple kit lets kids solve problems throughout the day, without going through an entire forest’s worth of paper. Boogie Board is a hand-held pad, and using a smart pen allows kids to write around on its surface, solving math problems. You can give them an assignment, and lock it until they are done. Then just check their solution, click a single button to erase, and pass onto the next problem – it’s that simple. The key feature is the battery that lasts up to 50,000 erasing, so it will be days before you recharge it. In this way, learning math doesn’t just become fun, but also helpful to the environment.
Smartphones
With everything going smart now-a-days, helping kids become accomplished mathematicians, you might want to consider giving them their own smartphone. The boom of smartphone apps means there are a lot of helpful math tools, and engaging online math games, that make learning math fun. And because math is a universal science, even social media can help kids learn math. They will stay in touch with their teachers, which can help them keep up with the curriculum during sickness. Just remember to add some child safety software, to make sure kids stay out of harm’s way when online.
Fun Techy Toys
Kids adopt new materials better through games and toys, so incorporate techy toys into your child’s play time to get them involved in math. A perfect DIY kit for the future electronics wiz (and math genius) can be littleBits Electronics Kits. Using the provided material, and instructions, kids can get interested into computer sciences by making simple synthesizers, and even remote controlled devices. Another great toy is Kano’s DIY Computer Kit, letting kids build their own computer from the ground up. The computer is completely usable, and can later be the tool that kids can use when learning math.
In the end, it is important to realize how our children are brought up in the digital age. Combining amusing things like technology, and games, with something not so interesting like math, kids can have a blast learning it. It allows parents and teachers to sleep soundly, knowing kids are having fun learning math.
