The iPhone Mom

iLiveMath Ford Cars is an app designed for helping children practice word problems. “Word problems” was always a dirty word to me. Give me a straight math problem and okay, I can handle that. But start throwing in nouns, adjectives and verbs and you’ve lost me. Which is why I think apps like this are so great. They provide practice outside of the classroom for all sorts of different skills. Plus you’re not tied to a worksheet or website, the practice is completely portable.

In iLiveMath Ford Cars the word problems all center around Ford Cars. Know going into the app that it’s sponsored by Ford so the product placement is prominent. The problems are divided into three different levels. Level one deals with addition and subtraction problems. Level two throws some multiplication into the mix. Level three takes things way up a notch. You’ve got advanced addition, subtraction and multiplication, mean, median, mode and range problems.

Each problem is presented over a background that shows a Ford vehicle. On the problem screen your child can solve the problem or watch a You Tube video from the Ford Company. They can send out the word problem via Twitter and read educational information about Ford. They’ll also have the option of removing the word problem from the screen so they can see the vehicle without any obstructions. I almost forgot – there are also car sound effects to this app.

I liked seeing an app that is completely dedicated to word problems and iLiveMath Ford Cars covers a broad range of mathematical skills. I like the car slant to the content, this would definitely appeal to my son.

This is a universal app and will work on all your devices. I tested it out on my iPhone.

Price when Reviewed: $3.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: iHome Educator

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review

Fast Flash Cards was created by a twelve year old iPhone app developer. The app focuses on using flashcards to practice math facts and I’m very impressed by what Jake Heis has done. You begin by choosing which operation you’d like to work on – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or a mix of all. Next you choose your difficulty level. Easy will feature the numbers 1-6 in the problems. Medium works with 1-12 and hard has problems that go from 1-18. The final step before you begin is to select a time limit for yourself. You can give yourself either 30 or 60 seconds to run through as many flashcards as possible. Now you are ready to practice. The flashcard presents the math problem. Enter in your answer and then tap the “Check and Continue” button. If you answered correctly the app will tell you so and will then give you the next problem. If you were incorrect you have a chance to answer again. If the problem seems too difficult you can tap the “Skip” button and move on. At the top of your screen you will see a running score of how well you are doing. Your time also counts down at the top.

Fast Flash Cards is a simple and effective way to practice math facts. Gone are the days when I practiced my skills with dittoed work sheets and 3×5 cards. I think it’s terrific that kids today are not only kids with the iPhone they’re creating apps of their own for that purpose. Well done Jake!

Price when Reviewed: $.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: Heis Games

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review

Intro to Math by Montessorium was developed by Montessori teachers and parents. The app is beautifully designed and I love it’s look. I’m not familiar with the Montessori methods but I was able to get the hang of most of the activities. Reading the app’s description in iTunes will help familiarize you with the basics. The Intro to Math activities move from basic to more advanced concepts. Your child will begin by arranging simple rods from longest to shortest. Next they’ll work with rods that have numbers on them. They’ll then have the opportunity to practice writing numbers and match those numbers to number rods. The final activity works with number sequences and odd/even numbers.

I quite enjoyed the look of this app, the design is terrific. The sound effects are soothing and there’s no loud and annoying music. For those of us who aren’t familiar with Montessori methods and teachings it would be nice to have instructions within the app. Intro to Math is a bit on the expensive side but it appears to do an excellent job of putting Montessori on the iPhone.

Intro to Math is a universal app that will work on all your devices. I tested it out on my iPhone.

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: Montessori, LLC

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

I love Math Bingo! And even more importantly my kids are enjoying it too. To find a math app that my kids enjoy is terrific!

Here’s how Math Bingo works. First you’ll enter in your player name and choose an avatar to represent yourself. The game supports up to six different players. Then you’ll choose whether you want to play with addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Finally you’ll choose a level of difficulty – easy, medium or hard. Now you’re ready to play! Math Bingo gives you a bingo board with a twist. At the top is a math problem, it will be an addition problem if you chose to play with addition, or subtraction, etc.. In the board’s squares are 25 different numbers. At least one of them is the answer to your problem. To play you’ve got to solve the math problem and tap on the square with the answer. Then you’ll be given another problem to solve. When you’ve lined up five squares in a row you get Bingo and you win the game. Strategy comes into play when you have the same numbers in different squares around the board. You’ll want to choose the one that will be most likely to earn you a bingo.

Math Bingo uses “bugs” as markers. They’re cute and animated and they add charm to the game. Each time you win a round of Math Bingo you also collect a different bug. You can view them from your player profile and tilt and tap your iPad to move them around. They bounce off each other and make noises, my son really gets a kick out of this part.

I found Math Bingo to be completely charming and I think it’s a must have app if you’ve got a child who needs a little extra help with their math skills. I’d say the best age range for the app is from late first grade to fifth grade. Love, love, love this one!

**Update 8/13 – Math Bingo now has a bonus game – Bingo Bug Bungee! After you play a round of Math Bingo you can play this bonus game. In Bingo Bug Bungee! you launch bugs onto the screen and they bounce around collecting coins. The bugs are adorable and it’s a fun little break from math. The bonus game is a fantastic addition to this terrific app.

*Math Bingo works on either the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. I tried it out on my iPad.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: ABCya.com

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

KosmicMathHD Family is an updated version of the iPhone app Kosmic Math, specifically designed in HD for the iPad. I really like the look of the app on the iPad and the game play works very well on this device. I’ll give you some highlights:

-KosmicMath is designed around a space theme. It features planets, astronauts, space ships and aliens. Much of the app is played as if you are looking out the front of a space ship, the Math problems framed by instruments, buttons and dials. The graphics are well done, I especially like the way the planets look out your space ship window.

-Players can choose to work on Math drills or embark on a Math mission. A mission will have them traveling to the different planets in the solar system, solving math problems. When they complete the problems they’ll see an astronaut plant a flag on the planet. They’ll also receive a piece to an alien puzzle.

-The difficulty level for the Mission questions can be adjusted. The app works with levels Pre-K to 4th grade. The app allows for multiple players and each one can have their own difficulty level. Information about how players are doing, including their scores and percentages, is easily available within the app.

-In Drill mode players will be given Math problems to answer. You can choose how many problems will be on each test as well as the number range you’d like your child to work with. Problems can be given in addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.

-When you are entering in your answers to a drill problem you must input the answer from right to left, just like you would if you were solving the problem on paper. For example, if you are solving the problem 14+3 you must tap in 7 and then 1, making 17. Think of it as you’d see it written out on a paper. First you add the 4+3 to get 7. Then you ad the 1+0 and now you’ve got 17. It took me several tries to get used to answering the problems in this way. These were Math facts that I’ve memorized so I wanted to quickly input the answer. I had to think of it as a child would if they were actually working out the problem. Once I got that I could appreciate the way the drills enforce the learning and practice of math skills.

-You can connect to Mission Control at www.kosmicmath.com. Here you can check in for more detailed information and statistics about your progress throughout the app.

KosmicMath has transitioned nicely to the iPad. The larger screen adds much to the app and I think it’s easier to navigate and use on the iPad. If you’re looking for a detailed, thorough app to help reinforce math skills this will have you covered.

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: SlothMedia, LLC

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

*A note about the name of apps – you’ll notice that many apps have very similar names. In some cases the different apps are only distinguished by spaces. There might be an app called Mom’s Favorite Chocolate and another named MomsFavoriteChocolate. Two totally different apps with very similar names. KosmicMathHD Family is a good example of this. I use the app names as they are shown in iTunes so if you’re looking up an app that I’ve featured you’ll want to type it in exactly as I have. Even better you can always click on the link “See the app in iTunes”. This takes you directly to the app in the iTunes store.

EZ Percent is a very handy app for your iPhone. It allows you to enter in a number and then set a percentage. The app then tells you several things about your numbers. It will tell you the result of your original number minus the percentage. You’ll also see the result of your original number plus the percentage. Finally, you can see what number that percentage equals. I’m not sure I’ve explained that as well as I could. This may be the gazillionth time I’ve said this but math isn’t my strongpoint. Which is exactly why I need EZ Percent on my phone. If I’m shopping and something is 30% off but the sales price isn’t marked I can enter in the original price and the 30% and EZ Percent will tell me what my sales price will be. The app is also great for figuring out sales tax or tipping amounts. It’s a simple, straightforward app that does exactly what it says it will and it does it very well.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: Reem Almugbel

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

The app Jungle Fractions comes from Andrew Short, he is the developer behind the app Jungle Time. Jungle Fractions has been developed for the iPad and the graphics work beautifully on the large screen. The app features circles to represent the fractions and in the middle of each is a jungle animal’s face. Their expressions will reflect whether or not your answer is correct. Here’s an overview of the app.

Name - In this section you are shown a circle divided into different sections. Some of those sections have been shaded in and you need to determine the fraction of the circle that’s been shaded.

Compare - Here you are given two fractions and you must compare whether the first is equal to the second, or greater than/less than. The fractions are represented graphically (circles that have been shaded) and written out numerically.

Convert - In convert you must convert a fraction into it’s improper form. The fraction is shown as shaded circles and also written out.

Add - Here you are asked to add two fractions together. Once again you’ll see the fraction written out as well as represented by shaded circles.

Animal - This section lets you choose the jungle animal face that will appear in the middle of the fraction circles.

Learn – Learn is a wonderful part of Jungle Fractions. It’s an interactive lesson that teaches about numerators, denominators and fractions.

Score - The score section lets you know how you’ve done answering the fraction questions. It also lets you choose which level you’d like to work on. As the levels increase so does the difficulty of the fractions.

I remember being in school and hoping that I would never have to use fractions. I understood the ideas but like other Math concepts, we don’t have any easy relationship. Ironically, thanks to the amount of cooking I do for my family, fractions are one of my most used math skills. My eldest has already tackled fractions in school but my second child is just beginning to learn about them. I’m looking forward to assigning her practice time on Jungle Fractions, it’s a terrific app.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: Andrew Short

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

If this website has done anything it has certainly documented the fact that I’m not great with math. I feel like I type a variation of that sentence every week. Math is my achilles heel in life and unfortunately my eldest daughter has the same issues. It’s hard to help a child who’s struggling with concepts that you struggle with yourself. Add to that the fact that math is now taught MUCH differently from when I was in school and you’ve got a recipe for frusturation. But I have to say thank goodness for all of the wonderful app developers out there who create tools for math skills practice. These are tools that are absolutely needed in the iPhone Mom’s house. And so much the better if the practice comes in the form of a game!

Last week I had the chance to try out the new app Name That Number. In this game you are given four random numbers and a “goal number”. You must use as many of those random numbers as you can to either add, subtract, multiply or divide your way to that goal number. Along the way you earn points for your solutions. I have to admit that I found this game to be TRICKY.

Name That Number does give you practice at those math skills and I like the way it combines addition, subtraction, multiplication and division into one problem. I would have liked to see a way to check my answers and also see the correct answer when I got the problem wrong. I think a “hint” option would also have been helpful. I don’t think this would be a good app for children who are truly struggling in math, I think it’s better for those who are confident in their skills but still need extra practice. They’ll get that practice along with a challenge from this game!

*Name That Number is a universal app developed for both iPhone and iPad. I tried it out on my iPhone.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Stacey Jett

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

The My Numbers app gives your iPad the look of an electronic child’s toy. The middle of the screen looks like a Lite Brite that has ten images on it. Around the side of the screen are buttons with the numbers 1-10 on them. Underneath the screen are three more buttons. One has a bird, one a flower and one a fish. When you tap these buttons the ten images change to match the symbol. The idea of My Numbers is to count the images on the screen by tapping on them. They light up, the app counts them out loud and the matching number button lights up. You can also tap on a numbered button and then see that number of the images light up on the screen. For example if you tapped the number seven then seven fish (or birds/flowers) would light up on the screen. There’s also a music button that will turn on some lively music to listen to while you count. Finally, you can change the color of the buttons on the screen.

My Numbers is a simple app that would be good for toddlers. If the app added a few additional features I think it would appeal to older children as well. Right now you always see ten of something on the screen. I think it’d be nice to have some variety and different numbers to count up to – maybe one time it’s ten and another time it’s three. The type of thing that would challenge preschoolers a bit more than counting to ten again and again.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

See the app in the App Store

Seller: Emantras

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Silly Numbers is a new iPad app that wants to teach your children the numbers one to twelve. The app goes through each number at a time, showing you a silly character on the screen and something to count. You can also tap the screen to make silly things happen. I really like the feel of the graphics in this app. When you reach the number twelve you’ll have twelve donuts to count. Tap on each donut and they’ll disappear one at a time. The number on the screen will also count down. When you reach zero the app automatically starts back up with the number one’s screen. I thought this was a clever way to restart the game.

I had a little bit of trouble getting Silly Numbers to open up at first. I restarted my iPad and gave it a little breathing room and then it opened up just fine and ran smoothly without a problem.

Price when Reviewed: $3.99

See the App in the App Store

Seller: Brighter Minds

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.