TEACHER AND COMPUTER MAKE MATH FUN
Connie Potter  -  Freelance Writer
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    Don Domes figures learning math should be just as much fun as
playing Nintendo.

    So the Oregon teacher teamed with a computer programmer to
develop Math Strategies!, a software program that combines the
fast-moving action of video games with basic math concepts.

    Aimed at children age 5 and older, the program guides children
through problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
and number recognition.  Students run, shoot and blast to get through
the doors, mazes and teleporters that stand in their way.  They get
immediate feedback as they solve the math problems they encounter,
with the correct answer displayed in words and as a math equation.

    "The kids love it," said Pat Yoes, owner of Sylvan Learning
Center in Vancover, Wash.  "It seems like something that speaks the
kids' language."

    Math Strategies! was piloted in public elementary schools before
it was introduced to the market.  It drew high marks from both
students and teachers.

    "The kids love the game," said Karen Buchzik, a media specialist
in Hillsboro, Oregon.  "They will play it for hours.  Meanwhile, they
are almost effortlessly learning their math skills."

    "They beg to use it," said Jim Paterson, a second-grade teacher
in Aloha, Oregon.  "The first thing when they walk through the door,
that's what they want to do."

    As a parent of young children, Domes was frustrated at the lack
of quality educational software on the market.  As a high school
teacher, he was concerned about the number of students who lack basic
math skills.

    "If the kids don't have basic skills," he said, "it's very
difficult for us to teach them advanced concepts.  Math is the
language we use as the basis for understanding."

    Math Strategies! is a non-violent computer game, with plenty of
action, but no characters being eaten or destroyed by vicious-looking
assailants.  It's auto-boot feature enables a child to use the
program simply by inserting the disk in the floppy drive and turning
on the computer.

    Music and sound effects play in the background if the computer
has a SoundBlaster sound card.

    Teachers like Math Strategies! for several reasons, said
Paterson.  They say the constant repetition is important in learning
new concepts. And it's self-monitoring, which allows a teacher to
work with students in another part of the room, while a child uses
the program.  Students can't advance to the next level of difficulty
until they have solved a certain number of problems at the current
level.

    Parents who home-school their children also find it a good
learning tool, said Denny Woods, who teaches his son at their home in
Clackamas, Oregon.

    "I have been very impressed with the versatility of the program
in adjusting to a wide variety of skill levels," he said.

    Math Strategies sells for $34.95 plus $3 shipping and handling
and may be ordered directly from PixelGraphics by calling
1-800-GAME-345.