I'm writing this review to help other people make a purchase decision.if you have a question about the program or my review, please leave a comment below.I will be emailed by Amazon and I will update the review or answer your question.
If you have spent any time checking out this product, you will notice that there isn't a matrix to help you to know if this is appropriate for your child.
Here is what I would recommend:
Buy this product if:
1) Your child has mastered addition and subtraction, and at the very least has a VERY GOOD working knowledge of multiplication tables.Memorization of multiplication tables would be better (this is per the parents manual, I am not making this up).
2) Your child shows a preference for doing math already (in my opinion).
3) You want your kid to be able to do a lot of math-based parlor tricks.
Do not buy this product if:
1) Your child needs remedial math help.If your child struggles with basic math I recommend Hooked on Math (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division).
2) Your child needs an introduction to multiplication.All the lessons teach formulas.For example, to learn the "parlor trick" of being able to tell anyone what day of the week they were born on, the first half of the formula is to multiply by 5 and divide by 4.There is no explanation at all of what multiplication is or what division is.This is for kids who are already VERY aware of those basics (that trick is on DVD 1 by the way).
3) Your child is not going to continue practicing math to keep the lessons fresh in their mind.
If your child is brilliant but doesn't like math, and you want this program to "turn them around", then this program might work.They work hard to show you some math tricks and make math seem more enjoyable.A big emphasis is made on impressing others (although we all know that in "real life" you have to play to your audience).
By the numbers:
The DVDs have 15 hours of instruction.
The exterior box and flash cards say ages 9 to 99.Actually, these items aren't age-sensitive, they are ABILITY based.If you are already decent at multiplication and you are 7, then, you should buy this.If you are 11 and the problem "whats 9x7?" scares you then this is probably not a good product for you.
That concludes my basic review.For a more detailed review, read on.
To start off with, I have uploaded a picture showing exactly what you get out of the box.2 books, a parents manual, 5 DVDs (in 2 boxes), and 2 decks of cards.The 5 DVDs include about 15 hours of instructional time.That boils down to $10 per hour for instruction, which is a "fair" price in todays world considering you can watch them, resell the kit, etc.
The Parents Manual.
The first 5 pages of the Parents Manual is a bit of fluff, congratulating you on your purchase and giving you some explanations why you should believe Mike Byster's program is "da bomb".The remaining 7 pages guide you in knowing what to ask your kids after they watch each part of each DVD.Certainly, followup is very important.
It says right in the Parents Manual (page 7) that this program is for children who have a "comfortable understanding" of their multiplication tables.Kids who KNOW them.This is NOT for remedial students who need help over a hurdle.The parent's manual is quick to point out that DVDs 1 and 2 can be enjoyed by anyone, but DVDs 3-5 will be difficult for children who have poor multiplication skills.I don't agree, multiplication is in the second trick on DVD 1.If you dont' know multiplication then there is a good chance your train will be derailed right there. I wish that this information was better represented on the Amazon product page and the Brainetics website.
THE DVDs.
The basic format is that 4 teams of kids are competing, with Mike Byster as a sort of coach/referee/teacher.Your child watches the other children learn the strategies.I have uploaded a picture of this.Ocasionally, there is a sidebar where Mike Byster addresses the viewer directly.There are also little "commercial breaks" which have jib-jab style animation.These commercial breaks tend to have trivial information that is vaguely related to the topic, but serve to stave off monotony.To me the commercials were very ADD, which means, most kids would like them.I guess.Your child will use a workbook along with the DVD.
DVD 1 talks about magic squares and moves on to a calendar trick where you can figure out the day of the week from any date in the last 100 years.This is a "parlor trick" which you may use for a practical purpose once a year as an adult, if you don't just check the calendar on your cell phone.But it relies on a FORMULA, and your child must MEMORIZE the formula or they are just "watching a math movie".(By the end of the program your child has to memorize dozens of tricks or formulas.Otherwise, its just expensive infotainment.)
By the second DVD your child is learning about Fibonacci numbers, adding doubled numbers, square roots, and 5th root tricks.These aren't the sort of things your child really NEEDS to know, its more like geeky math fun.And fun it can be.Does DVD #2 really "help students overcome math anxiety"?I think "mileage may vary" on that one...
The other three DVDs get into some serious math tricks, how to square numbers easily, how to divide large numbers easily.Its all legitimate.Actually, I'm getting something out of it myself.But some of these things would not be used by a child until they were much older.Other of these tricks fall into the category of "knowledge for knowledge's sake" which can easily be re-labelled "trivia".I could memorize the trick/formula for squaring a number between 100 and 125.But since my occupation doesn't require that I don't think I would bother to learn it.I just used pi-r-squared yesterday as part of my job but knowing "many tricks" for squaring "many numbers" is not very practical for me.
I don't think that Mike Byster gives us anything NEW or AMAZING here.What he DOES do and this is important is to repackage the facts up in a way that modern kids like to see it.You should not underestimate the importance of this.
So did it help the kids?Well, the one who was the oldest knew his multiplication tables, and he's learned a few of these tricks.But, he will forget some of them if he doesn't practice them, just as if I taught him French for a month and then ignored it for 2 years.Thats sad, but its true.
In the end, I think Brainetics provides exactly what it promises.It provides a launch pad for your child to learn a lot of math tricks that can make it possible for them to do "amazing" math facts.If your child stays with the program they will feel "good" about math.They may feel like they have "insider information".It may make them feel math is "easy" and propel them toward a math-related career (which is a good thing).BUT its just as likely that your kid will go through this program and have a vague recollection of it in 15 years.
I think the price is "fair" because of the 15 hours of DVD instruction and the way its presented.
Should you buy it?Maybe not.Its not for everyone.Its really more of a "bonus-round-extra-credit-math-whiz" program.You should hold off until your kid is pretty math-savvy to begin with.
I'm a geek.I would like my kids to be math whizzes.So I gave it a try.And right now I'm not so sure its worth the $150.You can do a lot of educational things with $150, and I'm just not sure this should be in the top 5.
Back in the 1960s, homeroom elementary teachers taught longhand math (what is taught in schools today) and science teachers would teach quickhand math (aka shortcut/science math). Saw Brainetics tv ad this morning me and spouse both said 'first time I've seen it in years'. We immediately recognized good ol' quickhand math, or science math. Remember Dad scribbling tax calc's and mom scribbling grocery and fabric yardage in the newspaper margins using quickmath? Same thing. In fact googlebooks has plenty of 1600's-1900's public domain science-history-math text books of elementary school instruction that include quickmath/science math (Full View too). Not a scam, not over-rated, not 'new' math, not cheater's math. The shock/scam online reviews of Brainetics appear groundless. They speculate, are ranting, frantic, suspicious, self-proclaimed non-user nay-sayers. Quickmath is old as dirt itself. An outcry over Brainetics' (one) BBB F-no reply rate is also humorous. The much-hyped issue is a nonreply, since BBB narrow codes don't have a N/A choice. BBB's edu industry/product no-review policy is clearly stated (on Brainetics' and all other BBB page).
Anyway, anyone who knows math or uses it in their career would recognize Brainetics as good old fashioned scientific-math, just relabeled. But parents who prefer dumping a hundred dollars in the newest, most up-to-date, moderne, nouveau methods may not know better than to download a vintage googlebooks math text, or spend 5 to 10 bucks for a vintage school math book on amazon, ebay, or abebooks that'd teach the same thing. I personally miss the fun days of addiators, addometers, sliderules. It'd be terrific if schools would reintroduce science math. In other countries, both are taught. It is very fun to know both ways and nice getting math done in one-third the time.
Buy Brainetics - Breakthrough Math and Memory System - Complete Set Now
I shudder to think of schools adopting this as a method of teaching math. It's simply learning shorthand math tricks that, while useful, don't contribute to a foundational knowledge in even the most trivial of mathematic concepts.
Just buy "Secrets of Mental Math" by Benjamin and Shermer for $10 and work through it with your kid. You'll both learn all the same tricks, you'll save $140, and at least they'll be reading a book instead of staring at a TV.
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We purchased this program to assist my teenage son in his recovery from a traumatic brain injury. He's on disc 4, and we've seen a marked improvement in his reading comprehension, mathematics skills, and short-term memory. While he cannot yet do all of the Brainetics concepts his head, he is making huge progress. This has boosted his self-esteem and has given him the confidence he needs to continue pushing forward toward recovery.
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I am a mechanical engineer. I was excited when I saw the infomercial and thought this would really help me get the answer quickly with some short-cuts. This would really help me with my productivity. After going through the 7 DVDs (yes, 7) of the 2011 deluxe set, I was really disappointed! This set only show 5, but I got the deluxe that had 7. Truth be told, there are no short-cuts in life and don't expect to gain it from these DVDs. Sure, these DVDs offer some fun things that are brain-teaser (such as solving magic square, a few numbers you can square or divide, a few things you can add, that's about it); you will never use them in a math class that can help you solve your textbook problems. If you want to learn math, do it right, do it the long way and practice, practice, practice and your practicing will be the short-cut. Don't get scam into putting out more than $100 on this thing.
However, I do so I have to comment that there some positive things you will get out of these videos. You will learn a few things about numbers. If you have children, they will learn some neat things that would be cool at first but useless in the end. They won't learn anything that will boost their text book skill, but they will feel that they can do some math.
We live in a digital age, if you want to see/try the videos, Google it and you will find it online for free. Try 4shared dot com. Good thing I didn't shell out a hundred buck on this thing. Don't be fool by the promo video that shows you he can divide by 91 or 143 and get the number to the 7th decimal place in his head. How many times in life are you going to need to divide numbers by 91 (not any number, only between 1 and 90)? He will also show you how to calculate the day of the week that you are born on too, but unless you memorize an entire numbers sequence for the months and day of the weeks and you have a calculator handy, it is useless! He will show you how you can square two or three numbers, again, with limited range that you will never use. Heck, I don't even remember needing to square that high of value for any test I need at school.
I've been playing Trouble since I was a kid and it's still fun to play with my brothers and my niece.You push down on the middle part of thegame with the dice in it and the dice will 'pop' and give you a number,telling you how many spaces to move.The first person to get their fourpieces around the board and to their base, wins.If you land on a spacewhere one of your opponent's pieces are already at, they will have to startall over with that piece.For that reason, some kids might get mad if theyhave to start over, but that's the only thing that I see that anyonewouldn't like about Trouble.
