Race For Gold Math Challenge is a flashcard kit for learning the multiplication tables. The flashcards in a box smaller than a piece of paper with a picture of a gold medal on the top. Inside the box you will find an instruction manual, two certificates of achievement, test booklets, one pencil, and two sets of flashcards.
The kit takes 21 days to complete. After signing a contract, the student begins with the 2s, laying out the flashcards and saying the answers quickly. Then the parent-teacher times the student, acting as the child’s trainer. The student performs a few time trials, logging the best time in the training log. In the following days, the student moves on to the 3s and then the 4s. The training log serves as an accountability tool for the student. There are a few test booklets to complete along the way. The training log lists times for gold, silver, and bronze places. Students who don’t achieve mastery in 21 days can move on to phase II or III for more practice.
This kit would work well for a student who hasn’t mastered multiplication. It could also be used along with any math text, as flashcards are a great memorization tool. This kit takes flashcards a bit further, adding an Olympic medal feel. This would be a perfect program for an Olympic year or at a time of the year when your students are preparing for the Presidential Physical Fitness test. I like that there is a log, allowing the parent to work as a coach rather than a teacher. The great thing is that Race For Gold Math Challenge comes with a “Mastery Achieved or Money Refunded” policy. I thought that the price was reasonable. I also liked that the program came with two certificates.
The program focuses on the mastery of the facts, not the reasoning or conceptualization of multiplication. This would not be the program to choose if your child needs math taught in that fashion.
I would recommend Race For Gold Math Challenge. It is more expensive than making your own flashcards from blank note cards, but the kit is well worth the extra money.
—Product review by: Maggi Beardsley, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2008.
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