In the majority of cases, mathematics proved to be, at some point or another, a pain in the neck for each of us. No matter if it's geometry, algebra, trigonometry or whatever other fields math might have, we have all experienced bitter frustration when a problem just could not be solved or properly understood. Of course, you might say that this is all a matter of learning, but I would incline to believe that it's more a question of concentration - three quarters of it, to be more precise - and we all know that we can train our mind, especially when we are at a young age. This is why I strongly support the idea of teaching children Math in a fun or, at least, un-stressful manner. Math Educator is a piece of software that serves this particular purpose, and it is addressed to very young kids (under the guidance of adults, naturally).

This application will attract youngsters starting with its amusing icon, which will probably ease off the strain usually felt by them when starting to do calculations. Another aspect that might help them feel more comfortable when solving problems is the fact that you can change the language of the interface to another one - you can select from French, Dutch or Turkish, so that your kid won't feel restricted in any way by the default language. Once this issue is settled, both you and your child can proceed to the actual mathematical operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Taking into consideration that the interface is user-friendly and quite simple (even minimalist, I daresay) you shouldn't have any trouble finding your way around it.

Regardless of the type of operation you select, you will have the possibility of opting for one of the three difficulty levels, depending on the skill of your kid. After you have chosen what you need, make sure you stick around and oversee the way your child solves the exercises because he/she cannot move on to the next problem until giving the correct answer to the current one. Even if children were to use the trial-and-error method, they would still be able to go to the next exercise, so it's best you make sure that the calculations are answered logically, and not just by mistake.

In addition, you don't have the possibility to select a fixed number of calculations to be solved per session, which makes them seem as if never-ending - thus, bringing a sense of frustration to everyone, not just to a youngster. Nonetheless, kids will most surely like Math Educator due to the fact that it does not support complex exercises - they can't perform combinations of operations that need to be solved gradually (although this is definitely not a feature appreciated by parents, because it restricts the users to basic math).

Also right there with the aspects children love, we must mention that they will also be able to customize the appearance of the application by replacing the color of the fonts used within the exercise boxes, as well as the sounds that play when the answers are correct or wrong. This way, any parent can offer their children the perfect conditions to ensure a suitable environment for education.

The Good

One of the great qualities of Math Educator is the fact that it is an application addressed to young pupils, the children who are only now starting to become acquainted with math, and are feeling a little bit confused about it. In addition, besides the standard default operations, any adult will have the chance to adjust the level of difficulty according to the user, so there won't be any problem if several kids are to use the same computer.

The Bad

Math Educator does not offer any statistics that might illustrate the progress of a child. In other words, you, as a parent or a tutor, cannot keep track of a kid's progress unless you simply take into consideration the mistake or the success rate for each session. Moreover, keep in mind that the exercises never seem to end, so don't just leave your kids in front of a PC because they will get bored and start nosing around your computer.

The Truth

If you're not entirely convinced, you can also consider this software as a very handy utility that will help your kids become used to managing the PC, in a smooth and unobtrusive way - until they feel annoyance towards the never ending series of calculations. It's true that constant education can never do wrong, but not offering constructive feedback to children could eventually lead to loss of interest and, consequently, to lack of concentration.

In a nutshell, even though Math Educator is a free tool that will help your kids improve their math skills, you cannot use it in the long term because, since it doesn't help you track their progress, it misses the whole point of exercising.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: