Wonder Number Learning System

Wonder Number

The Wonder Number Learning System is a board game and much more. The board is basically a "100's chart, but it also is color and symbol coded for learning and playing. For example, the number 5 is colored green and has a circle around it to indicate that it is a prime number. Every other number on the board of which 5 is a factor then has a small, green 5 with a circle around it in the upper right hand corner. The number 25 has a green square drawn around it to show that its square root is the number 5.

In the game box are a large board that folds to one-fourth the full size to fit into the box, full-color Game Directions & Teaching Guide book, custom spinner, large poster of the game board (that you might use for reference when teaching math), two mini-game boards, 8.5" x 11" reproducible blackline master of the game board, colored chips, and a DVD with lessons, game instructions, and background information.

Four different games can be played with the board. You can begin with young children as soon as they can recognize numbers, colors, and shapes. They don't have to understand concepts such as prime and square numbers even though they will be working with them. They can identify these by color and symbol rather than their function in the games. All of the games are designed to help children grasp simple counting, factors, multiples, odd and even numbers, square numbers, and prime numbers but you can teach the various concepts as children are able to understand them. This means you can use the game with children preK through high school, although grades K through 8 are the strongest audience.

In addition to the games, the Wonder Number board is used to teach sixteen different topics. (The publisher tells me that additional topics will be addressed with lessons on the website in the future.) Most of these are core concepts, so the Wonder Number Learning System might actually become one of your teaching tools for math alongside your core curriculum. It has lessons on basic counting, addition and subtraction (with both single digits and double digits for each topic), patterning, multiples and factors, multiplication, prime and composite numbers, square numbers, division (both without and with remainders), simplifying fractions, and finding least common denominators. All these topics are taught visually and with manipulatives which is very helpful for many learners. Even division with remainders looks simple when demonstrated on the board!

The Game Directions book has detailed, illustrated instructions for the four games and each of the 16 lessons, plus a reproducible worksheet for each lesson.

The DVD also has complete instructions, but they are presented in a way that many might find even more appealing than the book. Games are demonstrated by a family actually playing each game, with voice over instruction added as needed. Games are relatively simple to learn, so this does not take much time to explain. The lessons are also taught with explanations and demonstrations.

Wonder Number's website has PDF files for each of the worksheets in case you want to print directly from your computer.

The two mini-game boards might be useful for students as reference tools when they are working independently.

Others have used 100's charts in various ways to help teach math, but the Wonder Number Learning System takes it to a much more sophisticated level with a consistent system of identification that can gradually advance in difficulty as children are ready to learn new topics.