Math Worksheet Software

[asher63]

You get good at anything by practicing it a lot, and that includes mathematics. I wanted to bring my foundational math skills up to a good strong level, and I didn't want to schlep around a lot of textbooks. So after a little poking around I discovered Kuta Software (based in Istanbul), which markets a line of "Infinite" math worksheet programs

Comments

[carriea31]

That sounds like a very good program. Math is a weakness of mine. Something like this could really help!

[asher63]

Definitely. You can build proficiency and confidence with easy problems, and then gradually dial up the challenge level.

Practice problems to build proficiency

[veryty]

...are so much better in the electronic-interactive-digital age. Do you fill in your worksheets online and get the corrections that way?

Last summer I downloaded Memrise, a free app for foreign language study, to learn the Arabic alphabet and some basic vocabulary plus brush up my Spanish. Way better than flashcards. My difficulty with the vocabulary was the randomized rather than systematic presentation, so for that I fortunately found a book organized by topics. (I had to track down the author, a retired professor living in Haifa, and bought multiple copies plus several other titles directly from him.) So I'll never totally give up books.

RE: Practice problems to build proficiency

[asher63]

This series is mainly geared toward creating printed worksheets, but you can refresh the screen to generate new problems without printing to paper. I do that sometimes to work problems in my head.

You are right, the interactivity of electronic media opens up whole new possibilities that I think we've only begun to explore. Thanks for recommending Memrise, I will definitely have to check it out!

I've found Quizlet generally very useful and flexible.

I tried using Rosetta Stone software for foreign languages, but I think it too suffers from the lack of a systematic presentation, and I ended up going back to traditional textbooks. RS is great as a supplement though.

Arabic is HARD!!! The grammar is a lot more difficult than Hebrew, I think.

[galadrion]

Kestrelcat sends her thanks for this; she's our son's primary summertime educator, and as she puts it "I'm a liberal arts major! Not a science/math/whatever major!" (Never mind that she got her education in the classical meaning of a liberal education; it doesn't mean what today's leftists mean by liberal education.) Anyway, she's planning on checking it out and probably using it.

[asher63]

That is awesome, I'm so glad it was helpful to you and Kestrelcat and your offspring!

A liberal education in the classical sense is a rare and precious commodity. (And don't even get me started on the debasement of the meaning of the word "liberal".)

[galadrion]

Trust me; I know. As a matter of fact, a true liberal education can no longer be found available through the system - if you want you or yours to be able to acquire such, you're going to have to put in a considerable degree of work

[asher63]

Yay! Congrats. There's a real feeling of accomplishment when you finish something hard.

[asher63]

What was the accident?

[deloric]

That sounds like fun... I almost wish I had more time on my hands to play infinite math puzzles. Perverse?

Where are you thinking of finishing your degree? Online, PSU, .... ?

[asher63]

Math puzzles can be fun, and I think the more time you spend with math, the more it grows on you. If I finish my degree, it'll probably be at PSU. I have a ton of random credits there, but I really want to focus on the engineering side. I've completed calculus, basic physics, and mechanics, but I need to pass modern physics before I can go on to the upper-division stuff.