Big IQ Kids is an online drill program which covers math, spelling, vocabulary and U.S. geography, for grades K and up. Winner of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Crew Blue Ribbon Award for "Best Online Resource", Big IQ Kids offers both free and priced (premium) programs.
For this review, we were given access to their Premium Math and Premium US Geography programs, which have many additional features compared to the Free versions. Some of these features include the ability to create a custom Big IQ "Buddy", automatic advancement to new levels based on performance, saved scores, and emailed progress reports... plus more! (To see a full comparison, see their Free vs. Premium Math and Free vs. Premium U.S. Geography charts on the Big IQ Kids website). We also used the free spelling and vocabulary program.
Each subject is designed to be done once a day, with each lesson taking no more than about 5 minutes. I had my testers (Isaac (10) and Ezra (9)) go through Geography, Math, and Spelling and it always took them less than 15 minutes to complete the entire cycle. For each lesson the student completes, they are rewarded with a coin that can be used in the game room, or used to enhance their Big IQ Buddy. Most of the games in the game room cost one coin, and there is a large variety of games available, so the boys enjoyed that aspect quite a bit.
Math is set up just like a page of drills. I was easily able to adjust which math facts I wanted each boy to review, and how many they were required to do in each lesson. I appreciated that it went beyond just the 0-12 facts and the kids were able to practice multiple digit facts, with borrowing and carrying! Once they showed mastery at a certain table, they were moved onto the next one, automatically, and I was sent an email report letting me know. This made it very easy for me to keep track of their progress! One trouble they did have was when it came to typing in multiple-digit answers - it had to be typed in order of units, tens, hundreds (right to left, as when figuring out a math problem) The boys were using scratch paper to figure out the actual problems and would get frustrated when they would try to type it in as a regular number (left to right). Once they got the hang of it, however, it wasn't a huge issue.
U.S. Geography was probably their favorite portion. For geography, they would select a state to learn about, and the program would tell them a few facts about that state. Then they would be quizzed on a fact to see if they were paying attention. There was a rapid "place the state" game in each lesson, in which they had to drag a state to it's proper location within the time limit. It would only do a few states at a time, not all 50, so it was quick and fun. Also included was a state capital review as well as a state abbreviation review - these were both similar to the "place the state" game. If they did poorly on recalling the state facts, I was sent a progress report letting me know.
The spelling program is great, as well! I could either enter my own spelling lists, or choose from a generic grade-level list. I decided to go with a grade-level list and felt the words were grade-level appropriate. The spelling incorporated games with pop quizzes, and tests. I received progress reports emailed to me to let me know how each pop quiz and test went, as well as words that were missed and how the attempted spelling the missed words. I enjoyed that part, because it was helpful to see their weaknesses, as well as rather funny to see what spelling the boys would come up with!
The one complaint from the kids about the overall program was that the computerized voices were annoying. Other than that, they really enjoyed Big IQ Kids! The game coins were a huge incentive. They quickly figured out that some games lasted a rather long time, and learned to budget their coins wisely on games that were worth their while.
You can read more about how it works, see the various pricing options, and read the FAQs and more on the Big IQ Kids Website! Also see what other TOS Crew members thought by checking out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog!
Disclaimer: I was given this product specifically for the purpose of reviewing here on my blog as a member of TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.
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1 comment:
Love the comment about learning to budget their coins for the games that last awhile. My boys did that too, but I hadn't really thought about what a cool little lesson that was in and of itself!
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