The Math Shark is not really a toy, but a tool. Basically it is electronic flash cards. My son didn't want to do traditional math flash cards and he is more willing to do this form instead, so it is well worth the money. Not sure it would make a great birthday present since it is not "fun" but might be something elementary teachers may like for their classrooms or parents for their homes since it has addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and percentages. It can be used for multiple grades and grade levels.

I purchased the Math Shark for my son who needs to practice math facts. I had previously used it in a school where I taught, so I knew the product well. The best thing about it is that it is well, a Math Shark. It's difficult to make this kind of learning FUN, so we do our best. The nicest thing is that it times you, so you can beat yourself, good for developing automaticity with math facts. There are levels too, which help to judge what you know and what you need to know. Least likeable feature is the difficulty of Level 1 fractions.

this product was recommended by my child's 2nd grade math tutor to help him with his math. he has had over 6 months and still in perfect condition and that is alot to say because my child or 2yo brother destroys most of their toys. has addition, subtraction, multiplication and division which will be of help throughout elementary school. though screen is small and gray and numbers are in black need good lighting when practicing with it. also, for all those new parents or small children starting math teach your child math fact families if child learns that mostly likely to struggle less with math.

When I was a kid there use to be a math game like the Math Shark that was in the shape of an owl. I loved practicing my math with it. The display on the screen was in red so you could easily see it. The Math Shark is a close second though. The display is somewhat hard to see at times, but I love the fact that my son can grow with this and practice decimals, percents, and fractions. The owl couldn't do that. It is a little big for little hands to hold but my kids manage. My son does not seem to be as excited to use it, but I am hoping that he will magically acquire an interest soon. As far as being durable, I have three very active boys and so far it is still in tact. Overall, well worth the money and hopefully it will survive when all three boys start practicing math with it.

The Math Shark is an incredible tool! My son's skills and grades improved nearly immediately. I never have to fight with my little "gamer" to study his math facts anymore. The only problem we have found with it is the screen... it's very dark and difficult to see. You have to get the lighting around you just so or you can't see what's showing on the screen. Overall, it's great, but that's a real pain in the butt!

Thanks to the others who took the time to review this product, I decided to purchase it last November for a grandchild who was having difficulty with math facts and had been scoring very low on her weekly timed tests. The other reviewers indicated that the children's scores soared when using this toy. This is the amazing effect that I am now seeing happen for my grandchild. As soon as she started using the Math Shark, her tests jumped up to A's, completing all in the time allowed, whereas formerly she would only get half done with many errors. She forgot about it for awhile and her scores dropped back down. After starting to use it again, her scores are back up to A's. The Math Shark is a great investment for helping children succeed in school! I have just ordered another one for another grandchild. The price is also good for this kind of an item. The screen? Yes, it is dim for Grandma with aging eyes, but the children don't seem to have a problem with that at all.
Update, June, 2008: I have just ordered a third Math Shark for another grandchild who has just completed first grade and needs much help with his math skills. The first 2 grandchildren have enjoyed using it and have both claimed that it helped them tremendously. A wonderful educational tool!

My son needed help with his math along with building his self confidence. He is working daily with Math Shark and he is beginning to enjoy doing math and realizing that he is capable of doing these calculations in his head. This has been so much help. I wish I would have known about this game much sooner.

Not impressed. The graphics are very hard to read and all it is is numbers! In this world of amazing graphics this should not be an issue. My kids love math but this only holds my 7 year old attention for a few minutes. I would not recommend.

My 8 year old doesn't mind using this a few times a week. They do a lot of math drills in school, but she was getting stuck. This is a different way for her to practice, in addition to old-fashioned paper and pencil. The screen is difficult to see if you are not right in front of it (I can't watch over her shoulder), but she says she can see it just fine.

I got this for my son for his birthday when he was turning 7 and in the first grade. I was looking for something electronic to help him learn/practice multiplication and division before 2nd grade. The addition and subtraction were way to easy for him. He was at the time slighty above his piers in math.
The multiplication mode goes in the same sequence which made him memorize rather then learn. He could spit out his multiplication tables in 1st grade after using the math shark, but I didn't get the feeling he understood what mutliplication was after using this product.
I also don't feel it was good value for what he learned compared to so of teh other products out there.

I bought this for my 11 year old grandson struggling with math. I knew his addiction to electronic games and decided this might be the thing he needed to motivate him to learn math functions. I had it sent to him in San Diego and was told that he loved it, and the last I heard he was doing better in math.

This is an excellent concept. It has every feature that you could think about. My kids liked this very much (5 and 7 year olds). However, the screen is worthless. It is faint and hurts the eye. There is no way you can turn up the brightness (no buttons for that). The numbers on the outside can't be seen at all. The window is the exact size as the screen so that light from any side casts shadow on the screen. Kids even when they are squinting to understand if the number is a one or seven make mistakes. I would have happlily given double this price to get a version with the screen resolution issue resolved. May be this would get resolved in the next version. Till then it is as worthless as a 74 inch plasma hdtv with a dead screen.

I bought this for my step-daughter who is twelve. She has struggled for years in shcool due to dyslexia. When she came for the summer, we were shocked to find she still counted fingers for the most basic math facts! I ordered the Math Shark and made an agreement with her to do 4 sets of subtraction problems each day (10 per set) on level 3. When she reached a certain time goal I rewarded her with something she'd been asking for. Math Shark is MUCH better than drilling with flash cards (which is painful). It corrects wrong answers immediately, then puts that fact back in the queque for the child. It has drills & functions for fractions, percent and basic math operations & they can all be set to many different levels of difficulty. I would highly recommend this to anyone whose child is struggling, especially with memorizing basic facts.

We tried out both Math Shark and Light 'n' Strike Math games, and I preferred this one because it challenges you to correctly complete math problems within a set time. Basically, it's like electronic math flash cards, which is just what I wanted. You can choose difficulty levels, and in addition to adding, subtracting, division and multiplication the Math Shark also has decimals, percentages and fractions. This means you can get a lot of years of usage from this great educational toy!

This is a great product. Getting my 9 year old son to study his math facts is not such a struggle anymore. The Math Shark with its sounds, levels, and timed challenges makes it more fun for him to learn math.

Math Shark's low resolution screen discourages kids from using it. Compared to any other game I rate the screen for Math Shark the worst.

I bought this for my nine year old who thought she knew her facts, but couldn't do her tests on them fast enough. One can tell the Shark exactly what skill to test (for example, subtracting "3" from all the one digit numbers in random order). It sets the ten questions (each one is either in vertical or horizontal format - one can't specify that), and provides immediate feedback as the child enters each answer. It asks any incorrrect questions again. Once all the questions have been answered correctly, it provides the time, for example, 43.3 seconds.

My daughter enjoys seeing her time get better each time she repeats a skill. We have an agreement that she does 5 sets each day (total 50 problems). She usually does 3 sets on the same skill, and each time gets faster. Then she reviews two other skills she's already mastered.

My only complaint is the display screen can be hard to see, especially from the side (so I can't tell what problems she gets wrong, sitting beside her). Sometimes she'll get a problem wrong because she thinks a number is something else. I think the problem might be when the LED is right next to the edge of the screen, it can be in shadow or something.

You can turn off the sound (which isn't all that loud anyway). I really like how specific you can be in setting the level of challenge. This is a valuable tool for drilling math and getting immediate feedback.

I ordered 5 math sharks for my inner city classroom. My students were having motivational issues and this really helped. I used it in centers and during indoor recess. You can turn the sound off if your student/child is using it during a quiet time. It tells the student what their score is at the end so they can keep track. My students were at different ability levels and they could choose something that was challenging for them. I did find that by the end of the year, the display was not as clear.

Our 6 yr old is enjoying this product. She needs help with getting quicker at drilling addition and subtraction and this is helping. She likes when the green light lights up to tell her she is correct. The levels are very good since my niece (8 yrs), nephew (10 yrs) and the adults have all tried it. If it's durable enough, it should last her for years as she gets to multiplication etc. She doesn't think it's FUN though - it's just something to do when she is bored. For this reason we keep it in the van. Our plan is working though because she climbs into her seat and immediately turns it on. We had it in our home for awhile but there were too many other FUN things to do besides Math! If your child enjoys challenging math facts, they will think it's fun though - our 8 yr old niece did and so do myself and my husband.

I bought this for my 5-year old daughter. She really enjoyed using it and actually enjoyed the challenge of having to figure out the answers in the shortest time possible. The different levels of difficulty are useful so she can keep using it over the years.

I bought Math Shark for my 3rd grader. You cannot imagine how quickly her math skills improved! The ability to pick different math functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and different skill levels has allowed her to be successful as she continually challenges herself. The timing feature is especially fun because she sees it as a game and works hard to beat her previous time. With Math Shark, my child has gone from being behind in math, to now being at the top level - and enjoying it!

I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT IN MY EARLY THIRTIES WHO IS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH PRE-ALGEBRA. I JUST RECEIVED MY MATH SHARK TODAY AND ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT REALLY GIVEN IT A CHANCE, SO FAR I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT IT IS NOT VERY CHALLENGING FOR ADULTS, BUT SHOULD BE A WONDERFUL PRACTICE TOOL FOR YOUNGER KIDS AND TEENAGERS. I DO RECOMMEND THE MATH SHARK TO KIDDIES WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH BASIC MATH SKILLS.

I am a college student who seems to have gotten by so far without the ability to manage numbers at all. Finally disgusted with myself and needing basic numeracy for jobs and school, I found this toy on sale one day. It allowed me to learn, then practice basic number skills, and teaches all the day-to-day math people need. I still remain shocked and horrified that I got through life thus far without knowing how to do things like calculate percentages in my head etc. but I am glad I decided to learn. I have a friend who is a math teacher and my scores on this toy were actually BETTER than hers, because she needed to rely on pen and paper whereas I was doing it in my head through this method. Only flaw---I wish it had the ability to save high scores, as it is now you must track it yourself...and a headphone plug would be nice. Otherwise though I really recommend this!

Math Shark is fun to play because it helps you learn math. Math Shark is educational and is for kids of all ages