The Number Gym
This is an outstanding product, once you’ve started to use it in the classroom it is hard to stop! Essentially it is a suite of interactive programs covering a wide range of mathematics topics. Suited to upper primary students as well as KS3 students - and I’m sure lower ability KS4 students will enjoy it and be enthused to learn more.
Under broad headings - counting and understanding number, number facts, calculating, shape, measures and handling data - there are many individual programs - covering a vast range of topics - from percentages to perimeter. Each program is carefully designed to make good use of the screen. The interaction is obvious and teachers will be able to make good use of it with little training and very little worry. There is ample scope for making the programs offer a greater or lesser degree of challenge.
For example - my lower ability year 8 group enjoyed the program for area and perimeter. Initially we played just with rectangles, and the software allowed me to control the two dimensions of the rectangle and ask the students to find the area and perimeter. To help understand what we were doing the software finds the area by counting squares - each changes colour and is numbered, and for the perimeter the edge of the rectangle is coloured in, as if someone was walking around the shape. We went onto the extension of irregular shapes with confidence and ease. This is a piece of software you will be returning to frequently and will grow to love
Peter Hall • Advanced Skills Teacher of Mathematics, Imberhorne School, East Grinstead
The Number Gym is a package comprising of various activities in several categories: number, fractions, decimals, percentages, geometry, time, estimating and games.
The software is simple and quick to load and each activity opens with a guiding arrow to explain how to begin the activity. This makes the software easy to use both for students and teachers!
There are activities to suit a variety of purposes from whole class teaching using an interactive whiteboard, to individual PC use.
The fractions, decimals and percentages sections are particularly strong using images to allow children to see the relationship between these areas. While the time section contains a very useful clock for whole class teaching, there are no further activities in this section. I hope that this is an area that the developers may consider extending in future versions. The lack of activities in this section should not put you off buying this software as your purchase comes with free upgrades and so as the software is updated, you will receive the new activities. This is a brilliant idea and on their website, the developers invite suggestions for further activities.
It is disappointing that the package does not feature any activities on Shape, Space and Measure, but again, I’m sure that this will come in future versions of the software.
Overall, if you are looking for a package with differentiated activities of use in both KS1 and 2 which is easy to load and use then Number Gym represents very good value for money. I would definitely recommend Number Gym, both for the activities it has now, and for the guarantee that as the software develops, so will your copy.
Fiona Paterson • Year 2 Teacher, Orchards CE Primary School
The Number Gym V2.2
CD-Rom
Melvyn Rust
Price: £35 (single user)
