A little out there!

As I work my way through various tools that can be utilised in a classroom or with students, I thought I might share something that I tried with a couple of learning support students that I work with.

Nintendo DS. Yes you read correctly, Nintendo DS. My children have DS's and even I bought myself a DS. I pondered over whether to buy them a DS as a present until I found out that there are some educational game packages available. There are games available for spelling, math and LOTE. I found a great Math Personal trainer that the player can progress through number, addition, subtraction, double digit add and subtract, multilplication and divison. It has time play, flashcard play and the player needs to write their responses with a stylus.

With permission from the Learning Enhancement department at school I took my son's and my DS to school. I have two boys in year three who struggle with mental math problems. I figured what the heck, let's use something that will excit them. In one session they improved their 5 times tables from 1.5min to 45 sec. Imagine with just a small amount of time each day their math mental skills would improve dramatically.

Who would have thought learning could be such fun????

Sometimes you have to think a little outside the box and use tools that they are conversant with and that are engaging to them. I know that it is a learning experience that they will talk about and will remember in the future.