Review: iLiveMath Speed makes elementary math engaging and educational

One of the things I love best about my iPod is the sheer number of great educational games and apps that are available at low costs for me to use in homeschooling.  Apps that would cost a fortune on the computer often cost next to nothing for the iPod, and engage the kids in ways computer games often don't.

iLiveMath Speed is an example of this kind of high quality app that packs a whole lot of education and an impressive number of features into a low cost.

The app won the 2010 IEAR award for "best math app -- elementary" along with the other apps in the iLiveMath series (Oceans, Farm Fresh and Etomology).  It uses facts and photographs about all sorts of fast objects to ask children word problems.  With each question, a relevant, high quality photo appears behind it.  Questions deal with subjects like rockets, race cars, trains and cyclists.

The app has a number of features built in to add to its benefits, too.  For instance:

• You can program the app to show a related video (all screened for content and downloaded from you-tube) after a certain number of right answers.  The child can tap the video icon to view the video or just move on.  For kids who like the videos (especially young children), you can set it to show one for every one right answer.
• Users can select a level from one to three to determine how hard the questions will be.  This allows a wide range of ages of children to use the app, since it covers approximately grades 1-6 and even into grade 7.
• Each time it's accessed, it starts with new questions.
• The parent can email the results to herself to track how each child did at any point by tapping the counter.  The parent can also automatically blog the results.  See an example of blogged results here.
• A wide range of math concepts are covered in the higher levels, including median, mode, percents, perimeter and more.
• Children learn about speed-related subjects as they do the math problems.  The questions use actual terminology about the subjects and the photographs coincide beautifully.

The app would be an especially good fit for any child who had an interest in subjects like race cars, rockets, airplanes, trains and such.

Homeschooling dad Andy told me that he developed the app to work well with their homeschooling curriculum, and some features were specifically requested by his wife.  He said, "I chose not to store anything on the iPod, iPad, or iPhone itself.  Unlike other apps we have no high scores, trophies, etc... We decided not to do this and kept it more of an academic tool.  We homeschool and wanted the record keeping - my wife gave me this feature requirement.  The benefit is you have a record for teachers to go back and analyze how your child responded.  The downside is you do need wifi or at least a 3G iPhone or iPad."

Since we use the iPod a lot during long car rides, I was disappointed that my kids couldn't use it when we were on the road.  That said, there are plenty of other apps they can use in the car and it's a great tool to use for homeschooling when we are at home (or someplace with wifi).

This is not an app that will seem like a game to many children.  My 7 year-old son, Jack, tried the app and did well at it, but he also asked if he could play Harry Potter soon.  That said, it's a true educational tool that is engaging, informative, well designed and excellent at not just giving children math practice but also giving parents records of their progress.

iLiveMath Speed is available at the iTunes store for $4.99.

Curious about the math standards in Minnesota for public school children?  You can view those online at the Minnesota Department of Education.