Online Games to Improve Your Child's Math Skills

Do you remember your days as a student? Did you fear math class, loath math homework and dread the inevitable math test?

I did. I still get nervous if someone asks me anything that requires a little quick computation and promptly excuse myself from the conversation. I do not , however, want to pass this fear down to my children. I want math to be a positive experience. I'll settle for not excruciating!

We are all gifted in different areas, and for the child who is not a math whiz, there are plenty of resources to help them survive and maybe enjoy the process of learning the essential and sometimes irritating math skills.

If your child is struggling with math, or even if they are great with numbers online games and math homework help websites can help them catch up or excel in Math.

Let's get right to the point. I searched far and wide to find the best sites that are free, child safe, contain limited advertising and provide excellent content and games that will keep my kid's attention for more than 30 seconds.

My all around favorite site is Math Playground. Designed for elementary and middle school students, this site has features your child will enjoy and really learn from. It offers games, help and activities from basic computation practice to learning programming.

Here are a few examples:

• How to do (almost anything) in math: a video collection that thoroughly answers questions submitted by students
• Logic Games
• Math at the Mall: percent shopping game
• Word problem games
• Timez Attack: a game to master multiplication
• Collaborative math project
• Printable worksheets

Math Playground is a highly rated, kid safe site.

These sites have a wide variety of activities to offer your child. If they get bored with certain games, they can move on to another. Also, as their skills develop and advance, different sites will fit their needs.

It is possible, that no matter how you try, your child will still not believe that math is fun. Math is usually fun for people who are good at it. For the rest of us, it is best to try to limit the pain of math by making it easier to understand. Reward and encourage your child for their efforts. Math phobias are born out of a lack of confidence, and are difficult to overcome. Daily encouragement and enthusiasm will be remembered and leave a lasting impression on your child.