This app for the iPhone/iPad was just launched on August 7, 2012 and it has already been offered for FREE twice. There are 3 levels with several math concepts covered within each level. The easy level covers counting 1-120, skip counting by 2 & 5, addition 1-20, subtraction 1-20, and greater/less than 0-20. The medium level covers: skip counting (10 and 100), addition 0-100, subtraction 0-100, add/subtract by 10, greater/less than 0-100, multiplication 1-10, and division 1-10. The hard level covers: addition 100-500, subtraction 50-200, multiplication facts 0-12 and division facts, 0-12.

Kids earn treasure from the magician as they solve problems in the magic crystal ball. As kids answer correctly, the magic meter bar fills so they can keep track of their progress. Correct solutions are shown in the meter bar after the question is answered. Kids have to answer about 30 questions correctly in order to earn a treasure – which seems a little high to me. The other concern I have is that the answers do not reflect common mechanical mistakes. Kids can arrive at the correct answer by just adding or subtracting one’s place. Example:  386 + 199 = ?? and the 4 answers are 586, 585, 587, 589. If a student knows that 6 = 9 is 15, he/she will pick the answer with the 5 in one’s place. The more common error that kids make is forgetting to move the 10 over. So… 4 better answer choices might be 485, 585, 575, 475. That being said… there is a lot of good practice in this app.

Common Core Standards met:

• 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.
• 2.OA.2 – Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
• 3.OA.7 – Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

Keep reading my blog to find out when apps are offered for FREE.