susiej/reviews

I have a son who struggles with Math Homework every night. His Mother, yours truly, is in the same boat. We both agonize over the night’s problem, scratch our heads, (sometimes I cry) and between the two us of neither one of us has a clue. When Dad comes home, he simply does the problem for us, and my son still has no idea how to do the problem.

Brainetics is a DVD/workbook math program designed to help kids learn math tricks and recognize patterns so that they can perform large multiplication problems in their heads. I let the Parent Bloggers Network know I wanted a copy, ASAP.

When the box arrived, I showed it my son, 12, and his face lit up when he read the promises outlined on the package,

1. “Can you add up these numbers in 10 seconds or less without a calculator?… The secret is inside this box!”
2. “What number to the 5th power gives you 69,343,957? Figuring out this problem is a snap… all it takes is a little creativity and learning the pattern.”
3. And his favorite, “Tell you friends the exact day of the week they were born, by using the birthday and year.”

The box contains a five DVD set, with a 64 page playbook that follows the DVD step-by-step. The book has step-by-step instructions to follow along with the video, and so that you can do the problems yourself, on your own. The box also included 1 set of playing cards, (for the card tricks) and custom flashcards.

Mike Byster stars in the videos, along with a group of endearing 10-12-age kids. Byster engaged all my boys right off the bat… he bursts on stage with the perfect level of energy, tells the kids exactly what they’ll learn in a way that kept my boys mesmerized and chomping at the bit to learn every single math trick and shortcut Byster had to offer. Byster comes off more as a motivating athletic coach, rather than the math genius/teacher he truly is. Mike’s “can-do-it,” positive attitude, along with the promise of learning math secrets, was a key ingredient in helping my son get excited about Brainetics.

Byster is a math genius. He began noticing complex number patterns as a young child — When he was four years old he had memorized the birth and death dates of the presidents of the United States, in order. Throughout his life, he has continued to discover number patterns that are now a part of Brainetics. He worked as a trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and later began volunteering his time in math classrooms across the country. Click here to invite him to speak at your school. Plus, he’s also been featured on the TV news magazine, 20/20.

When we watched the first DVD, my son was excited about all the magic square, birthday, and card tricks he learned. I wondered, “How is this going to help him with his math homework?” As we continued to move through the DVDs, I soon saw that my son was much more comfortable with numbers; his eyes no longer glaze over when he’s given a complex math problem. Now, when he gets a problem, he looks at the numbers with new eyes; he looks for patterns, he knows how — and does– break the problem down into subsets. Today, he sees math as more like a game. Yes, Brainetics has improved his memory, problem solving and organizational skills beyond what I thought was possible. I am very pleased.

The videos are done game-show style, with kids competing against each other on teams, and the viewers are able to play along too. Between each new game, there are hilarious animations that kept my boys laughing. The black and white graphics, with neon cartoons are first class.

Knowing the multiplication tables is a basic skill kids should have before they move through the Brainetics Program, which is geared toward 4-7th graders. I have noticed that my third grader, inspired by Brainetics, is picking up the flashcards and asking us to quiz him — he wants to master Byster’s tricks too, so he needs those “times facts” under his belt, and he’s eager to learn them.

The biggest benefit, and I can’t thank Brainetics, Byster or PBN enough, is the confidence my son now has about math. Once a child gets caught in that cycle of believing he just can’t do math, the cycle self-perpetuates, and child falls farther behind just when the homework keeps getting tougher. This program was strong enough to turn the tide the other way very quickly. After the first DVD, my son’s Math confidence shot straight up. The tricks he’s learning will last him a lifetime.

Which brings me to another important point. To keep these skills fresh, kids need to keep practicing them. This will be our biggest challenge in these first few months — his confidence is so high he thinks he doesn’t need to practice. Luckily, the Brainetics web site has fresh new math games, Magic Square and Brain Burst (beat the clock to see how quickly you can solve multiplication problems) available. Check them out here.

If you have a child who is struggling in Math, giving them Brainetics is one of the smartest things you can do for them, and yourself.

Filed under: book, elementary, products, self-help |