Math Fluency with Sports: +,–

What is Math Fluency with Sports: +,– app?

Math Fluency is an app to help kids develop their fluency in addition and subtraction calculations. Each level features a sport, which becomes the basis for the calculations. Each one is cleverly chosen to provide a scale of difficulty.

An early level is soccer, which uses this sport's typically low goal counts to provide arithmetic practice at an easy level. Darts provide the focus for a later level which allows for three-digit calculations.

Altogether there are eleven levels which provide a range of challenges for players to unlock. The app encourages players to repeat levels to improve accuracy and speed, which will see the player climb through the leaderboards.

This review focuses on the premium version of Math Fluency which you unlock from the free download by paying for a single in-app purchase.

What we love about Math Fluency with Sports app.

Kids' interests have the potential to be a powerful inspiration for learning, and sport is something that many kids love. Kids will likely recognise the sports in this app and have a general understanding of their structure. If not, each one also has a short overview to explain it.

Even when kids can do more complex arithmetical calculations, they benefit from practising simpler ones as they develop fluency or what is sometimes known as automaticity. Just as we can read high-frequency words as a whole without working through each letter, we can do the same with arithmetic.

When most of us see 3+2, we don't need to make a calculation; we just know it. This is because we have encountered it so often that it has become automatic. The only way to build up this fluency is to practice, and Math Fluency does a great job of providing this practice and making it feel less of a chore.

Kids can improve their speed on levels they might judge as easy while improving their mental arithmetic techniques on challenging levels. The link with sport provides an interesting basis and lends itself nicely to the idea of competing for a personal best or against others.

Players in this app can challenge themselves to do better than their old scores and compete on public leaderboards if they choose to register an account. Competition isn't for every child, but for those who do like it, the Math Fluency app provides entertainment and motivation.

What skills does it teach?

As you can tell by the app's subtitle, it focuses on math, specifically addition and subtraction. A strength of the app's approach is that as well as asking kids to make relevant calculations, it also develops their knowledge of keywords in arithmetic.

For example, when it gives a score between two teams, it might ask what the difference is or the total. This is important as kids need to link the arithmetic operations to the words that indicate their use.

The complexity of the math increases as players unlock subsequent levels. The earlier sports have single-digit problems, such as those enabled by a typical soccer score. The app gradually introduces higher numbers with sports that use them, such as darts.

There is a companion app available that covers multiplication and division.

What age is it appropriate for?

Math Fluency's approach, which presents an array of unlockable levels gradually increasing the complexity of their calculations, makes it suitable for kids across the elementary or primary age range.

Naturally, some kids will find the earlier levels too easy, and some might find the later levels too tricky. In practice, this is not a problem as kids will quickly complete the easy levels before reaching the ones they need to put in more effort. The more challenging later levels give kids space to progress.

Arithmetic practice also benefits kids, whatever its difficulty, as the more they do it, the more fluent their answers become, and they will be able to answer the questions with less thinking time.

Is Math Fluency with Sports app easy to use?

Math Fluency uses concepts that will be familiar to kids. The app awards their performances a star rating, their scores appear on leaderboards, and interacting with the challenges is straightforward.

Navigating the app is easy as the app has a clear and well-defined user interface that does not require players to switch screens constantly.

How will students benefit?

Repeated practice is boring, but it is also essential to improve some skills, such as arithmetic. Math Fluency encases the practice in an attractive sport-themed competition that makes it much more enjoyable.

Kids will enjoy improving their skills in working with higher numbers and increasing their speed in lower number calculations. Just a couple of taps get the user from opening the app to practising, making it easy for kids to dip into when they have time or want to try a new speed attempt.

How will parents benefit?

Math Fluency is an ideal app for home use as it provides practice in an area where parents will feel comfortable supporting their kids. Parents can give their kids tips to improve their mental calculations.

Additionally, anyone can practice and improve their mental maths, so the app provides an excellent opportunity for parents to offer some friendly competition for their child and improve their math too.

How will teachers benefit?

Usually, we look for a way that apps can reset their recorded scores to make them usable by different children in a classroom. Math Fluency doesn't need this as its option of creating an account or not makes it ideal for classroom use.

In schools, using the app without an account means that the app won't store scores and times, so kids can attempt to complete the levels with maximum stars, starting from a clean slate.

When a user who is not signed in shuts down the app, it clears the data recording their position on the leaderboards and their level star ratings.

In practice, this makes the app a great classroom tool where there is not a one-to-one device ratio or if they are shared across different student groups. Teachers can easily set their kids some practice without worrying about administration.

What can Math Fluency with Sports app improve on?

In-app purchases are often difficult for schools to administer, which is a pity as it might mean that some schools choose not to use this app. If the app had a full version available for schools to buy outright, especially if it were part of the volume purchasing program, it would find a place in more classrooms.

Math Fluency's focus on sports is an excellent way to get reluctant learners to engage with the app. However, these reluctant learners may also have difficulties in other subjects, such as reading. If this app narrated its explanations and questions, it would contribute to breaking the link between poor literacy and progress in math.

A minor point is that the games do not show the number of remaining questions which feels like an omission for anyone who has played similar games. Users like to see their progress and what is left, so displaying this on the screen would be ideal.

How much does Math Fluency with Sports app cost?

Math Fluency is free to download, with the first two levels playable. These levels take soccer and hockey as their inspiration. A single in-app purchase unlocks the rest of the levels, which cover basketball, baseball, running, swimming, darts and more.

Math Fluency does not allow Family Sharing, which is a pity as it would work well for friendly family competitiveness. It is unlikely that parents would buy multiple copies of the app just to allow for this.

Is Math Fluency with Sports app safe to use?

We liked that this app did not insist on users creating an account. If you want the app to store player progress, you will need an account, but if you do not, you can skip it. Putting this decision of convenience versus privacy into the hands of the users is one we would like to see more educational apps utilise.

Accounts only require an email address, password, and username.

If players do create an account, the app shows their performance on a public leaderboard. As this is viewable by others, we recommend that kids not use their real names or anything identifiable for their usernames.

The app does not have any advertisements in the premium or free versions. There are no external links or prompts to use social media.

Overall rating of the app.

Math Fluency is a great self-contained app that does not require a complex set-up, accounts, or subscriptions. The practice it provides will raise kids' skill levels and improve those they already have.

The two levels available with the free download make it very easy to try this app with your child, so download it and see which of you is the fastest at arithmetic.