Vendor Name: CapJaxMathFax
Vendor Contact: CapJaxMathFax Contact Page
Name of Product: CapJaxMathFax
Price: $29.95 (add $5.95 if you want it shipped)
Age Range: any student who needs math fact practice and can use a computer
CapJaxMathFax is fun, computer based math fact drilling program that has several ways to use it. As the parent/teacher you don’t have to do any generating, you simply input what guides you want the child to use, such as just addition or any combination of addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction. I will begin by saying that the CapJax program is very easy to install – either via download or with a C.D. that is shipped to your house. After downloading the license agreement you then download the actual program which took only about 20 minutes from start to finish for me. Any questions I had about the program and downloading it were promptly answered via email.
At first I thought the animation quite crude but again, sometimes it takes me awhile to put two and two together, so once I understood it’s a sailor motif and sailors are rough around the edges (I should know, I used to be one), this program does give a sense of being at a beach side shack. To begin you or your child will enter their name – then you, the parent, will set the parameters for your child’s time on the game. Choose which facts need drilled, what level (1-9 for add and subtract and 1-10 for multiply and divide), do you want them to do twelves, negatives, single level, word thinkers, how many facts in a set then decide how many seconds you’ll give – anywhere from 3 up to 10 seconds and then you can decided if it’ll be play for rating, practice or keyboard practice. Once you decide that then your child will be able to begin their math drill.
Once your child finishes their drill you can then print off a record of their achievement, which is great if you need to keep track of what they do in a year for an assessment. You can also access a detailed report which will tell you the problems given, how long it took to answer it and if they got it right. This can also be printed if you prefer a black and white print versus the bright and colorful one that is more geared to get the child excited about their progress. There is also a progress graph that you can view and also print if you like, to see how their progress goes up or down accordingly.
If your child isn’t completely comfortable using the computer, you can have your child start with the keyboard practice which is them simply entering a number and hitting enter. Once the child gets a super they are ready to move on to working on the actual drills. My 7 year old enjoyed using this program and it did seem to really help her retention of math facts and helped us get more quickly through her school work in math. My 10 year old wasn’t as impressed and my 5 year old got easily frustrated since he hasn’t began working on math facts – but I’m sure he’ll be enjoying it once we get to an area in math where he is learning addition.
I think this is a great program if your wanting to have your child be drilled, in a fun, non-frilly way and improve his or her time of bringing those facts to mind on a second recall. While my daughter did enjoy it I think it will appeal to boys as there isn’t your typical girly stuff around but it’s definitely usable for both boys and girls and a variety of ages and grades depending on the needs of your child. If you’d like to see what other homeschooling parents had to say then check out the TOS Homeschool Crew Review blog.
**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.
GrowingForChrist 