I had a terrible time teaching JellyMan his math facts. First I tried silly songs. Then I tried bribery – “You tell me what 8×7 is, JellyMan, and I’ll give you this Hershey’s Kiss.” Then I tried flashcards. Then I added bribery to the flashcards. And then, in despair, I forced him to write each fact ten times. And I let him eat Kisses while he wrote them. Not my proudest parenting moment, let me tell you. And it was all for nothing, because he still didn’t know his math facts, and worse still, he was under the impression that math = chocolate.
Embarrassing fact: I never learned my math facts as a child. I didn’t learn them until I started drilling JellyMan!
So I bought Math-It, and I went with the timeless ”you will learn this and you will learn it right now or else” approach to teaching. Math-It is a little program designed to teach children their math facts and how to figure quickly and accurately. It’s supposed to be fun. It isn’t really, unless you’re the sort of person who thinks it’s fun to beat your own time record in anything from the 300 meter dash to how many boogers you can pick in 30 seconds. No matter, though. JellyMan knew his math facts cold inside a week, and that’s all I cared about. He could also add a page long column of six digit numbers quickly and accurately without having to count on his fingers. He could also double any number without thinking much about it and he could subtract any number from any other number without error. All this in a week! Anemone had the same success a few years later, only we were starting from scratch so it took her a normal school year to learn the material.
I bought the basic Math-It kit from the Elijah Company way back when. (They are no longer selling curriculum, but they still have a website with free homeschooling articles and inspirational home-business materials for purchase.) Basic Math-It comes with a guide book for use with Pre Math-It, Math-It, and Advanced Math-It, a booklet called “How Stevie Learned His Math” and three math fact card games called Addit, Dubblit, and Timzit. (Don’t ask about the spelling, because I just don’t know.) It also came with an audio cassette, but I don’t remember what is on it. I remember listening to it once and not particularly liking it, so I never used it again.
The above picture is of the Timzit game. The Addit and Dubblit games look much the same, so I won’t bother posting pictures of those. I have just one complaint about the materials - the little cards just don’t hold up to the abuse a couple of six and seven year olds can inflict on them. I was always having to replace cards. It would be much better if the cards were laminated. If I were going to buy this set again, I would laminate the cards myself right away.
I consider the real gem of this program to be the “How Stevie Learned His Math” booklet. It is written as if the instructor is speaking directly to a child, and it blew my little mind. So this is how my grandparents can figure so quickly in their heads! I chucked all the basic math I learned in elementary school and now I do it his way. It’s so much quicker and easier. The Guide Book is good, too – it sums up what kids “should” know by what grade up to grade 8, and serves as a quick refresher course for those of us who spaced out on math the first time around. (I’m betting there are a lot of us!) There aren’t any worksheets; if you want your child to practice on paper you’ll have to make your own. We frequently used a whiteboard.
I’ve hung onto Math-It over the years because I always planned on purchasing Advanced Math-It as a refresher course before starting algebra. I forgot, of course, and JellyMan has gone on to algebra without it, but he doesn’t seem to be suffering for it. I could go ahead and buy it and then take a Math-It vacation. I’m sure the kids would enjoy a week away from Saxon – I know I would.
Hmmm, maybe I’ll look into this again. Thanks DuckDuckie.
It looks like only two places sell this. I am going to take a few minutes to decide if I should get this. Your post looks very promising.
UGH! I had this program YEARS ago, but never used it with the kids because it looked too simple. K1 was pretty solid in her math facts so we moved onto other things. I sold it and many other things…at Dh’s insistence, because we were over our weight limit when we PCS’ed from Florida. I think this might be a great program for K3, she struggles terribly with her math facts. Thanks for the review!
Good review. Makes me want to buy it. I think that Timberdoodle may sell this program Applie. Have you checked there?
Timberdoodle doesn’t have it. I am afraid to buy it and it just becomes another thing I bought because a good friend says it will work, and it doesn’t work for us.
Applie, there is a Math-It program going for $50 on ebay right now – if you bought it and didn’t like it, you could probably get most of your money back by selling it.I understand your reluctance, though. I bought the Bible Study Guide for All Ages program after someone recommended it, and we all thought it was lame. It was expensive, too.
If it makes you feel any better, it isn’t just me who recommends it. I first learned about it by reading the “better late than early” guy. Is his name Raymond Moore?
Melanie, I saw that ebay this morning and went back an hour later and it was gone. sniff.I might ask for it on vegesource, but I don’t like doing that.
I’ve never heard of Math It but am writing it down so I can use it once we adopt. Thank you for the ideas!Blessings!Lacy
Hey Melanie, I found a Math-It through Vegsource for $43.00 that includes shipping. She says it is in excellent shape, but missing one cassett tape. She says it is only verbal instructions that I can get off the tape. Is that true? Let me know, like right now. K?
Okay, I just put the tape in. No wonder I didn’t remember what was on it – I must have blocked the memory on purpose. LOL She’s right. You really don’t need the tape.By the way, I just looked in RR and it appears that the guide book is sold separately for about $10. Check and see if that comes with her set – I don’t remember if I bought it separately or not.
Thanks for all the help, Melanie. I just bought it complete with book and tape for $43.00. She was mistaken about the missing tape.
She’ll also mail it Monday. WooHoo. Oh and Melanie, this had better work. 
Don’t forget to use the “you will learn this and you will learn it right now or else” approach. 
“you will learn this and you will learn it right now or else” I have already tried that and it didn’t work. Maybe this time, I’ll use that, the Math-it and the evil eye. That should work. Thanks for the tip, DuckieDuck.
Hey Ducky, just letting you know I got the Math-It in the mail and so far my children have not learned a thing!!Do you think it would help, if I opened the box?
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