Math Games

When I was growing up I do not remember ever playing with a toy that had to deal with math. The only learning game I can recall is where you put the different shapes into the correct hole that matches that shape. Today there are so many different learning games that teach children basic math skills. For example the Leap Frog. I always see little children playing with it. I have seen somewhere it is an actual stuffed animal frog that talks to you, and also ones that are like a mini computer. I think that it was a brilliant idea for whoever thought of it. It is not only entertaining children, but teaching them as well. My younger brother who is now 14 years old used to have a leap frog computer that he loved. His favorite section was the math part and today he is better at math then I will ever be. I am not saying that it made him ten times smarter, but I am sure that it helped him at a younger age. Today my brother still plays math games on the computer and competes with his friends. I also have a cousin who is 2 years old and has the stuffed animal frog who talks. He loves his "froggie" as he would say and repeats everything he says. He goes around the house saying "2+2=4 Yahhhh Good Job." This is a good thing because he will always have it in his head that 2+2=4. Today companies are making more and more toys that have math and all types of learning skills.  This will hopefully improve students in the future with all test scores and just being able to memorize math equations like I myself am not able to do so well. However I believe that is because I lived in Florida until I was 8 years old, which made me in second grade. I did not learn any math skills until I moved to New York where all the other students were able to multiply and divide, where I was just learning how to add and subtract. This was a huge disadvantage for me and some how I had to catch up. Because I was so behind, they ended up putting me in "special ed." in which I was only in there for 3 months. I caught on to things pretty quick. My favorite thing we would do in class was the Mad Minute quiz with adding and subtracting. I was always the first student done and they realized that I should be in the regular class now. What upsets me is that this could be happening to other students as well who move to a different state. It is known that Southern schools are a little slower than others and it should not be that way. There needs to be a change in this for not only students who move, but for students who are being taught at a later and slower rate.