I was never one who enjoyed math or whom it naturally came easy for. As a homeschool mom to six, I do not want my challenges in math to hinder my children from learning and loving it. In fact, I am always looking for new phone apps, programs, and manipulatives to get my kids to really drill their math facts and get them down pat as I know that higher math will come much easier for them if they know the math tables seamlessly. I had the opportunity to review the Mad Dog Math Anywhere Subscription and flashcard sets. After reading the website and learning more about the purpose and goals of the program, I was eager to get my children started on it.

The program is designed to be a supplement for any math program that you are already using. It focuses on the importance of memorizing and mastering the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts since they are the foundation to all higher-level math. The facts are learned in manageable chunks, introducing new number families one at a time. The student drills these facts at their own pace in timed drills starting with 2 minute drills, then 1 minute, then 30 second drills. They can move on when they are ready. If being timed stresses your child out, there is an option to do it untimed as well, which is how we started out. The creator, Julie Kotoff, was very available for questions and guidance. Her passion for the product and children learning math was very evident in our conversations. The website, once subscribed, offers several teaching videos with useful tips and tricks as well.

To put it simply, Mad Dog Math was a total hit for my children. The “Anywhere Subscription” is set up on the website as a game where the kids drill their math facts and earn “dollars.” These dollars can be spent to buy items for the dog such as food, bed, toys, skateboards, and many other fun things. It was motivating enough that my kids spent hours drilling their facts the first few days so that they could get their dog all set up with many comforts. At first, the idea of being timed was intimidating to them so we didn’t do the timed quizzes. But after a few quizzes, they were much more comfortable and we did do the timed quizzes. They were so surprised that they could do 20 something problems in one minute or less. We took a long road trip last month that put us in the car for over 55 hours. We brought the Mad Dog Math flashcards along so that they could keep up with their progress, even though we weren’t at home. Once we were home again, they picked up right where they left off on their subscription quizzes.

The beautiful thing is, this product works! I was impressed and amazed at how quickly my children were able to pick up their math facts when there was something fun motivating them. I am still in awe at the improvement in their math skills that I saw in just the first week of using Mad Dog Math. It truly made math fun and gave each of my three children a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their math skills. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun supplement to help drill in those math facts!

-Product review by Audrey Tolle, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2017.