Sumdog is a fantastic website that uses motivating games to encourage students to practise their mental maths skills. The children love it as they are able to play against each other and they can practise any skill with any game. This ensures Sumdog is never boring - and always relevant.
Each child has been given their own login and unique password. This means that when they log on to the Sumdog website (www.sumdog.com) they will automatically see their own personalised home screen. From here they can scroll across the screen to choose games that appeal to them. Whichever game they choose they will still be given questions relevant to their level so it doesn’t matter if they prefer some games over others.
The first few questions are aimed at finding the right level for the child so they may vary in difficulty at first. Once they have completed this diagnostic test, the children will be given questions suitable for their level and based on a target skill that Sumdog has identified as needing further practise. Each time a child becomes confident at answering questions about that skill, Sumdog automatically selects a new skill to develop.
Below is a picture of the personalised home screen that your child will see when they log on. I have included some labels to help you to understand the different features of Sumdog and how you can adapt it if needed to help your child practise specific skills such as their times tables.
I think Sumdog is a fantastic tool for keeping pupils engaged in maths and we hope that this factsheet will enable you to get involved too. If you have any further questions please ask your child’s teacher or myself.
Mrs Napolitano (Maths Subject Leader)