I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Does your kid like dragons, board games, and strategy? Are you looking for a way to help them boost math skills while also having fun? We had the chance to try out Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online from EdAlive this past month, and my 10-year-old increased math awareness while collecting hero cards and really enjoying himself.
Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online Review
What is this online game? It can be played in single-player mode (against the computer) or with other players online. For the majority of our review, we did this in single-player mode, as it just was easier and it was engaging enough for my son to enjoy. It's available as an online subscription.
You start by selecting a level of difficulty, number of players, duration (by number of turns or time), and the board you want to play. Dice are automatically rolled, and you move the number of spaces on the dice. Answer a math question, and collect points, cards, and build strength. If you answer incorrectly, you can lose strength points.
This plays a lot like a board game, and many of the elements were familiar for my board-game-loving son. There are neat sound effects, too.
The game is made by an Australian company, so there is a UK spelling option. You can change this to an American spelling before you play, which I highly recommend to avoid confusion.
What can kids learn?
This math covers a variety of topics, and each problem comes with an option to indicate if it's too hard for the child. This is consistent with the adaptive learning method used by the program. The child can work on problems that they somewhat understand, and the program will keep advancing the problems to help them achieve new math skills without becoming overwhelming or discouraging.
There is also another way to use the program without the game aspect. If you just want your child to practice math and not go through the rolling of dice, gameplay, and time it takes to play a complete game, you can have them just do the problems. Select the "Questions Only" button from the home screen to access, then select the concepts you want your child to go over.
(Note: We didn't do this with our kid, because we found the appeal to be in the game. It's what got him excited about playing and learning. If you are short on time, consider the "Quick Game" option, which takes less time and still offers some of the gameplay appeal)
You an also set up the game to play for a set number of minutes or a set number of turns. It's set at 20 by default, but you can adjust it to fit into the timeframe you have available in any given day.
How parents and teachers can use it
The best part of this game from a teaching perspective is the progress report page, which you can access from the home page upon logging in. Click it to see where your child is on several grade and age-level concepts. The green means they have mastered it, and the yellow shows that they need more work. If there is no dot, they haven't encountered that type of problem yet.
The game randomizes problems from different areas of math, so the most your child plays, the more of these categories will be filled out (This photo is from my son just using this for a week.)
Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online Summary Review
Did my son enjoy this math program? He sure did! While it does take some time, it's a good substitute for boring flashcards or math drill programs. Be sure to use this program with sound on, and understand that it may take time for the program to understand where your child is at their math understanding. Once they play a few times, it becomes much more engaging. With hero cards and points and all the good things about a board game, this has appeal for the right kid and a neat progress tracking feature that parents will find useful for assessing progress.
Learn more
See all of the programs EdAlive has to offer, including Volcanic Panic Reading and Words Rock, at their website and social channels:
Read more parent reviews here.
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