Use this PlayTogether guide to learn how you can help your child turn Mathmateer play time into a positive learning and relationship-building experience. To learn more about why playing games with your children is so important, check out our Science of Play page.

Talk Before You Play

Take a minute to talk with your child about how Focus and Planning work, and why these Thinking Skills are important for success in school and at home.

Set Gameplay Goals

Mathmateer is a single-player game, so take turns playing with your. After reading over "How it Helps," see if you can team up with your child, each taking turns between levels to try and achieve the objectives listed below.

Gameplay Goals:

• Alter your rocket to achieve an altitude of 200 miles
• Earn $100 by playing the mini-games
• Medal in all math categories
• Score 40 points in "numbers mode"
• Build a second rocket

Stop and Reflect

After you have played built a second rocket in Mathmateer, take a minute to pause the game and talk with your child about how the game is exercising your Focus and Planning skills.

• Discuss the importance of having a quality rocket before take-off. Remind your child that a hastily constructed rocket will prevent him from getting a medal. Be sure to illustrate the importance of playing mini-games to prepare a rocket for travel -- just like doing practice worksheets to prepare for big test.

• With your child, compare this type of game preparation with a real-life example - like raising his hand before he speaks. Hand raising allows your child to gather his thoughts, and refrain from acting impulsively. When your child raises his hand, he will more apt to deliver a well thought out answer.

• Stress the importance of goal-directed persistence, or starting and finishing a task. Give your child clear reasons why he should strive for gold medals during gameplay. Gold medals mark mastery of material, and show signs that your child has learned and internalized new content.

• Talk with your child about how different game modes required different levels of focus. Choosing numbers may be more “read and react,” while summing equations may take a more intense focus. Ask your child if scores higher when he must take his time to choose and answer or if he is better at reacting.

Our Make it Work activities are designed to transform your child’s gameplay to real-world improvements in thinking and academic skills. If you’re just getting started with LearningWorks for Kids, we suggest you try them all to find which are the best for you and your child.

Introduce the Thinking Skills

Read over the Focus and Planning pages, then take some time to introduce these thinking skills to your child.

Explain that:

this game is also good for kids who need help with:

Mathematics

As the name would imply, Mathmateer incorporates key math concepts into an interactive, gaming environment. Players can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, and telling time. Gameplay is timed, so players cannot deliberate for too long. They must react quickly - almost instinctively to earn a medal. For extra work, players should try the mini-games, where there is an infinite amount of time to practice the logic and quick thinking necessary to get a gold medal. Even building a rocket tasks players to combine spacial intelligence with a basic understanding of physics, in order to propel the spacecraft into the atmosphere.

Mathmateer and ADHD

Children with ADHD struggle sustaining the necessary mental focus to complete a task. Their impulsivity is often accelerated by competeing outside stimuli. Children with ADHD never completely master a subject due to their inability to complete an assignment in one sitting. Mathmateer is an engaging math app, that will absorb children into practicing math techniques without realizing it.

How to Use Mathmateer for Children with ADHD

• Mathmateer's touch based method of answering questions, challenges children with ADHD to apply consistent and uninterrupted focus at the task at hand. Because missions are so short, children must use their time wisely; quickly calculating numbers, and responding with the appropriate answer.

• Children with ADHD have a hard time envisioning a plan prior to engaging with a task. Mathmateer encourages children to design a spacecraft that will propel them into space for as long as possible. However, to build such a craft, children will have to play the mini-game to accumulate cash: Step 1. Step 2 would be to design a rocket with an equal distribution of power and steering - necessary for a high score.

• The pace in which the game moves really makes it suited for children with ADHD. There will be moments where children will be so captivated by the touch screen commands, that the need to entertain outside stimuli will not longer threaten children playing Mathmateer.