Math Arena
© 1999 Sunburst Technology
Finally! A rock-solid way for children to practice with essential math skills, including geometry, money, probability and more. Kids can play in training or competition mode, solo or with up to two friends. In fact, the game is most fun when played in small groups, with kids racing each other to see who can hit their buzz-in key first. The range and innovation of the game's 20 puzzle types are what makes the program a real winner. Kids practice their geometry skills using various types of angles to swat a fly on a sun dial, or by choosing quilt squares to achieve a symmetrical pattern. There are Venn diagram sorting puzzles, probability exercises, multiplication games using arrays and practice with decimal and percent conversions. The action is fast and furious in the competition mode, with timers ticking down the seconds. In Training mode, kids can turn the timers off. Teachers will especially appreciate the password protected management system that lets them prescribe activities for individual groups of kids, or checkup on their progress. Also nice is the teacher's guide, complete with a set of related reproducibles. Yes, the price is high, but all-in-all, this is one of the best upper elementary math program to come along in several years. Note that a home edition is available for $29.95 (call Sunburst for details).
$89.95, Win 95, 98; Mac OS (CD-ROM)
Teaches: math, geometry, statistics, addition, multiplication, percents