I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Smartick prior to doing this review, but I am glad they got in touch as it is well worth knowing about! In brief summary, Smartick is an online maths program for children ages 4 to 14 years old. It is rather cleverly designed to be based on ability and progress with the child at their own pace, using latest Artificial Intelligence technology. This means it is not restrictive and challenges the individual child to go as far as they are capable.
As an ex- teacher and home educator, I really like this program. I feel it teaches methods and skills clearly in a simple but effective way. It is quite focused and maximises learning, but it does have visual aids and some basic gaming elements that aim to help keep children engaged and improve concentration levels. I think the way it adapts itself to the individual to personalise their learning is really impressive!
Each session lasts 15 minutes per day, set for maximum concentration and motivation. This is great as it is just a short, manageable burst of learning and isn’t ‘too much’. Smartick recommends that children do a session at least 5 days a week to truly experience the benefits of the program. This is fine for most children, but I knew we might find that challenging personally because if Squiggle perceives it as a demand, her anxiety goes up and she avoids it. As predicted, this happened very quickly!
We also weren’t able to make best use of the program because it is intended for the child to work on independently. Squiggle was not able to do this though because she felt that she needed me to explain it to her, which then added more time, so her speed and other data were inaccurate. Obviously this affects the function of the AI. I should point out though that this was not a reflection on Smartick; it is very clear and I think the majority of children would have no problem using it independently whatsoever. It was simply down to her anxiety and the high level of support she needs.
However, I totally admit that I knew from the outset that the structured approach might not really suit the nature of Squiggle’s particularly complex SEND needs, but I decided to trial it anyway because I was curious if we could make it work for her, and I was also interested in reviewing it generally for others too. So regarding the above comments, we are a very tough crowd to be fair! And we did find it very beneficial in our own way. Whilst we weren’t able to take full advantage of some of the best features of Smartick, it still motivated and inspired her, and provided an excellent springboard for maths practice off- screen. This is really valuable, and was totally worth it just for that!
Anyway, I feel that I am digressing a little now as this is probably not relevant to most families! Back to the review…
Parents receive an email as soon as their child completes the daily lesson with a summary of performance. This is really useful! Plus there is a parent dashboard, so you can log in and see study plans, questions and units that the child has answered, data about performance and other things. Also, there is a team of educators behind the scenes to answer any questions that parents or children have, via phone or email. I found the lady I emailed with was absolutely lovely and very helpful.
Overall, I do recommend Smartick – it is a great tool for learning maths. If you would like further information, or to subscribe, see their website: www.smartick.com
To be in with a chance to win a 3 month subscription to Smartick, enter my rafflecopter giveaway below!
Last but not least, there is also a referral program whereby parents can benefit from a £20 discount if they recommend a friend, and the new friend that subscribes will receive 25% off the first subscription they buy. So do feel free to mention me for a discount!
*Disclosure: I was given a free subscription to Smartick for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Just what iv been looking for, for my 4.5 year old son – Thank You! x
This would be perfect for that extra help my daughter needs x x x
Great idea xx
My daughter (age 5) has really gained confidence in her abilities and is really determined to learn which I think is fab. We do reading eggs and mathletics but would love to try something different and a little more interactive to help her with maths.
Looks really good
What a great idea
This is great, I have a 6 year old and a 14 year old so this would be great for both!
Awesome. We are a Home ed Family, Have 3 sons aged 6,9 and 11 , Have had them at Home for coming up 5 years now..well I say had them at home but we are more often out at educational workshops mixing with people. Thanks always on the lookout for new programs!
looks a great programme really handy with 2 lots of sats this year
yjis would be fab for my daughter,she struggles at school so this might help bring her on a bit more
Great idea
great prize thank you
Thankyou for your the review with the problems you faced. My son has SEND needs though he does like to play maths games and should be with this program as his anxiety peaks when he gets things wrong or doesnt understand what he is supposed to be doing properly. He is slower on the reading and understanding what the question wants but he needs lots of practise for next year when he does his SAT’s
I would love to try this program with my youngest whom I home educate. She is dyslexic so really struggles with English but I think she could do really well with this program to help with her maths
i would love to win this for my daughter she loves maths
brilliant! we have 6 children, 3 of which are home educated so this would be perfect
This would be brilliant for one of my two kids 6 or 12 yrs. They are both home educated and this would be very appreciated.
great competition 🙂
Oh, woooow! It would be absolutely perfect for both my daughter (9) and my son (5). I am keeping my fingers crossed :).
Thanks for the great prize and competition. Good luck everyone.
Awesome Prize
This looks such a great way to make maths fun! My little girl would love it!
this would be great for my daughter, she is currently in year 5 and struggles with maths
lovely prize x
This is a great giveaway, thank you
My son loves trying new methods in maths and this looks fun so would be ideal for him.
My daughter is 4 and loves maths, this would be great for her.
This would be great for my son!
My grandson would benefit from this as he’s sitting his 11+ exam this year.
My grandson would love this
it’s his birthday soon so this would make a great birthday surprise
this is great. thanks
Thanks for the chance this would really help my little sister
My son would love this!
Would be very useful for my son to help with school work
fab, thx for the chance
My grandson would enjoy this and his dad would love being able to track his process
My son tried it for 15 days and it was great but I found it a bit expensive, now, because he is struggling with his maths I am reconsidering giving it a go.
Great idea to encourage kids to practice maths 🙂
Looks great for fun learning 🙂
sounds fabulous, would be perfect for my 3 youngest
Great giveaway thanks
Fab giveaway thanks
Anything that can help children get to grips with Maths is a great thing!
that looks like a great app! my 7 yr old is struggling with maths and we tried alot of things so far nothing really successful!
What a wonderful idea, Perfect for my daughter 🙂
what a brilliant idea/! thanks for a terrific giveaway x
if l were lucky enough to win this prize l would have a very happy grandson
my son loves maths and i want to encourage him this looks great for him
This looks fun and something both my children would have fun doing and learning.
Perfect for my 6 year old!
What a fab idea and just the right amount of time for children to be engaged at any one time. Thanks for the chance to win!
Great giveaway thank you
I’d love my son to better at Maths than I ever was.
This would be great for my daughter
Always great to start at a young age. Wonderful prize.?
This would be great for my son, I’m trying to help him but as things have changed so much since I was at school, I worry I’m just confusing him!
This look fantastic
This would be a great help to my 9 and 6 year old sons with their maths
I loved maths at school, but the things they teach now bear no resemblance to what I was taught
Great educational prize, I love how parents get the feedback sent to their email address
This is a fantastic way to help the kids with their maths
Maths is an important subject, so good to encourage children to learn at a young age.
This looks like good fun and I think 15 minutes is a great benchmark for attention span. I think my 6 year old would enjoy doing this on his tablet.
Looks fab. I would love to win for my kids
Interesting; it looks like something similar to mathletics. Curious to see my kids trying this out and getting their opinion:)
This is amazing..could help my son conquer his fears of number
this could really help my niece with her maths
This would be fantastic for my 9 year old son. He has some learning difficulties and is currently two years behind at school. He struggles with maths and I currently do extra maths with him at home, in hopes he will catch up! X