.: #Multibandz Math Learning Silicone #Handband Review

Last year was a hard year for schooling. The Big One had to be pulled out and home schooled because she was falling behind from lack of concentration and effort on her part. And Punky had a hard time with her math and struggled to keep up with the other kids. Actually, Punky wasn't alone in having trouble with math. The Big One is having trouble in the same areas as Punk, though she is two years older.
And the kind of math they are both having problems with? Multiplication. I don't remember having trouble with it, but I can understand how it might seem daunting. All that memorizing and all those numbers... The pressure to remember it and be able to use it, it's all stressful, I'm sure.

I'm so busy most of the time trying to entertain them with going places and seeing new things that I don't think to ask them if I can help them with the things that really matter, like school work. When I do think to help them, I try games like Yahtzee, 10,000, or Monopoly. Sometimes I will try computer games and have had some success, though most that I have come across are not for multiplication. I always like to keep things light and fun so that my kids don't feel like they are back in school.

That's why the idea of Multibandz struck me as one that I could really get into. They are made by the makers of Jellybandz, the fun shaped silicone bracelets that we have all seen in stores everywhere that our kids beg us for. There's something about those silicone bands that kids adore.

The Multibandz are a set of silicone bracelets that the child earns as they progress through the times tables. So when these came in the mail, I tested Punk on her multiplication. She made it through the two's with ease, but struggled with the three's. So I gave her the first two bracelets as something earned for learning those sets, and gave her the third bracelet to help her learn the three's. Each bracelet is adorned with each multiplication fact in a set. So the first bracelet says "1x1=1 2x1=2 3x1=3", etc. So all Punk has to do is check her bracelet a few times a day and review, the bracelets left to earn serve as incentive to keep learning.

And it works! She was pretty excited to earn the first ones and she has sworn not to take them off til she gets all 12. The cool thing about them is that after the first five sets, they start to earn glow-in-the-dark bracelets, so the drive to earn them is refreshed. She will especially appreciate the glow-in-the-dark ones because she is nervous about her dark room at night. The eleventh bracelet is silver and the twelfth is gold, symbolizing the gold medal.

   Punk has already tried to earn her fourth bracelet, and did so with a valiant effort. I see these bracelets definitely helping her to learn the times tables. We're anxiously awaiting whether or not there are division bracelets next!
   How do you help your children learn math? Any suggestions for a parent with struggling kids?

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