Manager of Secondary
Curriculum
Red Clay Consolidated School District

“NumbersBee is a game, where children are given a set of numbers. They have to get to a desired result or what is always said to the kid as target number and they can use any of the four operators – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, to get to that target number.

First of all it is online, so children with the new age of technology, I’m sure it is lot more fun, because they are answering the questions online and another reason why I think it’s different is because of the different levels. It has 24 different levels. In order for the children to advance they have to solve five problems in a row. It really helps them with the basic skills, the basic addition facts, basic multiplication facts and so on and it’s also really good for problem solving. It really makes them go back and look at how it solves certain problems. There are some levels that require them to do more than one step to solving the problem, to getting the target number. So that really helps with mathematical reasoning.

In 24 they are giving numbers also and they have you get to the target number or desired result. In the 24 game the target number is always 24 for the upper level children. They are given 4 numbers on a card and they have to take these 4 numbers, use 4 operations and use any of the 4 operations, I should say and get to the desired result. So I guess it’s somewhere in that way. As far as comparing the two I simply couldn’t do that, because I think in 24 game you have actual cards, visual cards, the kids are actually touching the cards as they solve the cards. NumbersBee is all computerized, that is the only difference.

Another difference is with 24 they are not time, they are not given that time, that 100, 50 seconds as they are with NumbersBee. 24 game starts off pretty much of given, this much time you want to solve the cards. When you’re competing in a tournament style then there’s only time and the competition….

I like it simply because it really allows teachers that extra opportunity to give children work, and when I say that I’m thinking of children that have finished their work in class and you know, need something else to do, they can always go to the computer and play the NumbersBee game. One good thing about it is it actually tracks the levels for them. If they stop in level 2, in the middle of level 2, when they go back to the game they are still on level 2. So at least the kids are learning at each level and you know and it really helps them again remembering the basic facts and with reinforcing basic facts.

Now the good thing about it is children doing their 2nd grade have used the NumbersBee game and have become great professionals….

Yes, I have played NumbersBee and I’ve become pretty good at NumbersBee. I started with level 1 of course. Just to see the game and when I did that last year I was a class I teacher last year, 5th grade.

As an adult, yes I find level 24 challenging. Some of them and I think, luckily with that you click on one or two, you do fine with it and may be I guess the more you play, ya…. I just find some….

I think parents find NumbersBee equally challenging and I think parents would appreciate that because, simply because it does challenge the children and it also makes them think. If their children really want to persevere they can really do that, they continue to work at it to get the target.

In the past we asked children to solve problems, but I don’t know if we ever gave them the answer and that is what we are doing here. We are giving them the desired result. We are giving them the answer and you are making them talk about how to solve the problem. In this case, with NumbersBee they are actually looking at the steps going backwards in the sense and combining the skills of all the process.”

Ms. Shirl Ellison

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“I think NumbersBee is very well organized. It’s created with the teacher in mind. A lot of programs were presented with just the game. This is really a game and what happens after, the results are emailed to me instantly and the children know exactly how they do it. I can change the student levels. We set up a tournament last week for 30 students and had the students’ logon in 3½ minutes and that’s how simple it is. Very well designed. Very well thought of. Very useful.

The students know NumbersBee as a game, which is the beauty of it, because it’s a game working on basic math skills from a get go. The first time we had it here in the tournament students were actually pleading the teachers to go back and do it again in the classroom. The beauty of NumbersBee is, I can set up a tournament at 7 o’clock at night and they can go home, login from their computers and play.

I teach 5th grade, NumbersBee has helped their basic skills tremendously. They can go head to head with the students in the school and succeed very well. It has really helped their self-confidence tremendously.

It’s been overwhelmingly positive from all aspects. I’m going to buy the home version for my family, for my daughter. My daughter looked at, at the Internet and absolutely loves it and she wants it. Any child who played the 24 game will love NumbersBee.”

Mr. Rob Grey

“I really support this product. This really develops individuals’ skills, problem solving at each of the different levels. They’ve been working to try, they work & try and just naturally they try and develop strategies so they can better perform….”

Mr. Michael Ruth

“I was first introduced to NumbersBee during this school year. It’s been implemented and it’s been used in all of the Middle Schools Grade 6 – 8. The teachers have seemed to, you know, have really latched on to it and do enjoy it. 24 game is very popular and this is a similar program.

The kids seem to enjoy it. We had lot of kids who came out for the tournament, which was on a Saturday. So yes they do.

It’s nice because of 24 levels. So the students no matter what their ability level, they can get involved with it and move themselves up thru the rankings. So they can, you know, once they are proficient in one level they can get moved on to the next level.”

Ms. Janice McCarthy

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“It’s a great program, it’s interesting, I love it, the kids love it.”

Carol Hackett

“NumbersBee has been a very motivating game for the kids. I introduced that in the lab to all the children that come to my class and we ensure first that the kids learn the basics of the game but once they realize that they could get difficult after they finish 5 problems, it’s very motivating and want to keep going to the next level.

I can see lot of them, like to check their report, lot of them like to do that, like to see where they stand in the class, like to see, you know, what their score is which depends on how fast they have done it.

Also in the classroom, the teacher can set up a competition in the classroom with 2 people or 3 people. They have lot of fun with that.

I like that, it’s mental maths, I like their strategies, I like that it’s random,”

Janet Huckleberry

“I think NumbersBee is great; it’s really helping my students.”

Teacher

Teacher’s feedback on NumbersBee in classrooms

“I like the fact that the program is

• Usable with all grade levels
• Promotes mental math.
• Is non-threatening to lower level achievers? I find it gives them confidence to want to play the computer game and then the card game with other students. It allows the student to become familiar with the patterns for 24 at their own pace.
• Any child who is more advanced than the highest level of the card game held by the teacher can be challenged via the computer game.
• It is easier to teach to a whole class using the computer/monitor than using an individual card game.
• I also like the fact that it isn’t so fancy. Too many of the updates of tried and true learning games have so many bells and whistles that the students get lost in the program and it is hard to tell if they are really learning anything. NumbersBee can be started and ended without losing anything in the process.”

TAG Teacher

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“I’ve found NumbersBee to be challenging and stimulating for children of all levels as they can pick different degrees of difficulty to fit their abilities. Not only does NumbersBee develop children’s basic math skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but also provides them with the occasion to use problem solving skills. In addition, NumbersBee pushes the students to evaluate number sense, patterning and mental math; concepts that are found in the state and district standards.

As a third grade teacher in the Red Clay District, as well as a Member of the Integrated Technology Team, I feel that this software would benefit students of all levels in our district. I would recommend that the district purchase this software for intermediate and middle school classrooms so that the children can play a game that is both thought-provoking and engaging.”

III Grade Teacher

“The secret of math patterns and variable numbers became visual, exciting and challenging for each student. It was an excellent resource for my classroom.”

IV Grade Teacher

NumbersBee has been an asset in my classroom. Not only does it increase the students’ mental math skills, it is geared to many different levels of instruction. Students of all instructional levels have felt successful using the game.

TAG Teacher

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Fifth Graders :

“The game started hard in the beginning. Then I got the hang of it, it was really fun. I’d love to play the game again. The only thing that’d help is when you put help, it would give more information, but it is really fun.”

“NumbersBee was hard but fun.”

“The game NumbersBee is fun to play and learn. I like the game. My friend and me had a tie the score was 36 to 36. We all like NumbersBee it is really fun.”

“I really liked the game of NumbersBee. It is really fun to play it. Me and my friend liked it a lot.”

“I think NumbersBee is hard when you first get started but then you get deeper into it, it gets easier & funnier. And you get in to it and you can never stop.”

“Your game is fun and exciting but when I first started I had a hard time getting it but I now I get it and it’s fun.”

“It was fun we were getting the hang of it. I love it.”

Fourth Graders :

“Cool game. Learn math and develop skills”
“very fun & cool”
“interesting that it was developed by someone’s family”
“good”
“kind of hard”
“easy once you get the hang of it”
“helps you learn a lot”

“So far, I like NumbersBee product, It’s just very new, so getting used to it.”

“It’s been a lot of help and I like it too. Yes, I would recommend it for other children too. It will definitely get you interested in math. Like, you know, practice on the speed.” “I think it kind of challenges him, especially because of the timing, you know, it challenges him to kind of do it quickly, I think it helped him a lot. “

“My child really enjoys NumbersBee. I heard that they do have it online, but we haven’t tried it yet.”

“NumbersBee is a great program. My son is 6th grader middle school this year. It’s the first time he’s using this program and he’s been very excited about it. He enjoys working on it whenever he has some free time in the classroom and it’s just a great program. Wonderful way for him to learn math and practice his skills. NumbersBee offers them a great opportunity to practice their competition skills, they can do it independently, provides them practice with multiplication, addition, subtraction. No, I did not know that NumbersBee could be played at home and I think that my son would be excited if he knew that NumbersBee could be played at home on our computer.”