Maths Circus - Acts 3, 4 and 5
Outstanding programs to develop problem-solving skills

Varied maths and logic puzzles with graded levels of difficulty - preschool to secondary school! Educational authorities around the world recommend Maths Circus! Maths Circus was recently chosen for use in the Khanya Project of the Western Cape Education Department and rolled out in 20 selected schools, with many more to follow.

Teachers in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and South Africa all love these features of Maths Circus:

* the programs focus on developing problem-solving skills, and
are superbly designed for Outcome Based Education - learners
with a wide range of abilities can each progress at their own pace

* the problems range widely in type - they involve logical
thinking, sequencing, spatial awareness, manipulation of variables,
recognition of patterns in size, order, numbers - and other skills

* each concept is introduced at a simple enjoyable level

* the software develops confidence and mathematical strategies in
the average learner and challenges exceptionally gifted learners

* teachers can choose which problems to offer, and check progress. They also receive photocopiable worksheets which extend theme work and computer lessons to classroom

Who uses Maths Circus?
Many many primary schools, many special schools, some high schools, anyone who wants their students to develop their real Math thinking skills.

Is the latest release - Maths Circus Act 3 - all we need?
Each of the 3 Maths Circus titles is quite different from the other. All of them develop problem solving skills, but they emphasize varied perceptual skills:for instance Act 2 is particularly useful for visual perceptions and spatial relationships - important basics for future learning in Geometry and Trig.

Look at the special features of Act 3, 4, and 5:

Maths Circus Act 3

This time there are two degrees of challenge (Basic and Advanced).
There are five Basic levels of each puzzle. These are particularly aimed at children in the first two years of schooling, but also serve as an introduction for older children.
Then there are five Advanced levels, aimed at middle and upper primary, right through to adult. The hardest of these levels will challenge children of any age.
This means Maths Circus Act 3 contains 120 individual tasks, twice the number in each of the earlier packages. Between them, they cater for the whole range of age and ability from those who find maths rather a mystery and who need a confidence boost, right through to those who need a really tricky challenge as an extension activity.

Maths Circus Act 3 provides practice and enhancement for a wide range of skills.

Spatial awareness is needed when building paths for the lions, arranging the acrobats in a pyramid, and using the fork-lift. Three-dimensional geometry is introduced in the dolphins puzzle. Practise addition and multiplication with the jugglers and the clowns. Investigate direction and angle when crossing the river, and at highter levels explores compass bearings, time and vectors in a very simple way. Controlling the elevator involves positive and negative numbers.
Several puzzles even include simple programming - planning a sequence of moves in advance, and executing them later on.

Maths Circus: Act 4

Maths Circus Act 4 combines all the fun of the circus with the thrill of solving a wide range of fascinating maths problems to develop maths and problem-solving skills.
There are twelve puzzles, each with five levels of difficulty that range from very simple (for pre-schoolers) to very challenging (even for teachers and parents). The problems range widely in type, involving spatial reasoning, perceiving patterns in size, order or time, and manipulating a number of variables in order to help the circus performers do their tricks.

The package includes lots of black line masters and other resources, plus facilities that enable teachers to adjust the level of difficulty of each puzzle to suit each student. It also keeps a record of which problems each student has solved, and saves up to two hundred circuses.
The teacher's manual contains dozens of teaching ideas for all age groups.

Teachers around the world have praised it for the way it encourages children to take risks when solving problems, for its ease of use and for the confidence it gives children to tackle challenges they thought they couldn't handle.
Maths Circus also offers the ability to have the text on the screen spoken aloud if required.

To see an example of the problem-solving puzzles in Maths Circus, please click here.

Maths Circus: Act 5

Maths Circus: Act 5 brings twelve more puzzles to tease, confound, entertain and educate anyone who enjoyed Maths Circus. Each puzzle starts out at a very simple level which introduces the controls and helps the student identify the problem. More elements are added as the level gets higher.
The highest level puzzles have been designed to challenge even the most experienced problem solvers.
Maths Circus: Act 5 places a lot of emphasis on developing spatial, logical and sequencing skills, as well as including problems which encourage facility with numbers.
Even if students are unfamiliar with some of the terminology when they first see a puzzle, a few moments of experimenting will reveal how different devices affect their strategies.
The package includes a very comprehensive manual containing instructions and solutions, with many suggestions for extension work related to each puzzle.

TEACHER CONTROLS & SPECIAL NEEDS
Teachers can control which puzzles and levels are available, and can inspect or print pupils' progress.
Teachers can also arrange for the software to be driven by a touch screen, or a single or double switch, instead of a mouse.
The package includes black-line masters which may be photocopied for classroom use, and which are also included on the CD in PDF format. The manual includes hints and solutions for each puzzle.

To see some examples of Maths Circus puzzles, please click here.

Maths to win: Games of strategy and The Land of UM are other titles developed by Greygum Software and are great products to teach logical thinking and reasoning to your students. Contact us for more details.

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