Mathkinz.com motivates youths for math lessons

PHOTOS BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Varun Jain, 10, of Millstone, Abheek Pandoh, 10, of East Brunswick, Arjun Sehgal, 10, of Millstone, Shreyash Singh, 8, of North Brunswick, Swapnil Singh, 12, of North Brunswick, and Maansi Singh, 12, of North Brunswick, helped create Mathkinz.com, a Web site kids can use to develop their math skills. MILLSTONE — Having fun while learning math is possible and that's exactly what one Millstone family is helping kids do.

Nirlesh Jain was intrigued when he saw his children and their friends enjoying themselves while learning how to navigate the Internet with Webkinz, stuffed animals that come alive online to help kids learn how to use computers.

"What I saw was that they were learning a lot, but no math," Jain said. "From that, I decided to develop a site where it's fun to learn math."

The result is Mathkinz.com, a free Web site dedicated to teaching math to children in grades pre-K- 7. Jain and Chetan Gain, a student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, created and maintain the site, but Jain's children and their friends are the source of its content.

A Millstone family and their friends developed Mathkinz.com, a free Web site where children in grades pre-K- 7 can complete worksheets, take tests and play games to learn math. For the past six months, Jain has worked to develop over 2,000 math worksheets for the Web site with his children Varun, 10, and Maansi, 7, and Arjun Sehgal, 10, of Millstone; Yash Daftary, 8, of Millstone; Swapnil Singh, 12, and Shrevash Singh, 8, of North Brunswick; and Abheek Pandoh, 10, of East Brunswick. The worksheets were created with content the children are learning in school and for state examinations.

For example, a preschool-aged child can work on tracing numbers, a child between the ages of 3 and 4 can count shapes, and a child between the ages of 7 and 8 can work on decimals.

"What they learn in school is amplified," Jain said.

Varun said the Web site helped his NJASK score jump from 238 to 265 and helped him get into the advanced math class at school.

Jain said the Web site has also helped his family save money and gas, as prior to its development their children were attending test prep learning centers.

"At our site there's no money used at all and you can do the work right at home on your computer or print out the worksheets and take them on a road trip or wherever you are going," Jain said.

The children who are using Mathkinz. com aren't just learning, they're having fun. The site offers numerous math games and math jokes, as well as a forum where youths can post math questions for others to answer.

Kids aren't just going to find wellknown math puzzles such as sudoku on the site either. Those involved have come up with other games such as "Who wants to be a Math Millionaire?" which has similar rules to the popular TV show but deals strictly with math lessons.

The site also offers lessons in practical math, such as using math to make purchases, give change and estimate distances, temperature and volume.

Jain said he included practical math issues because he once asked his daughter Maansi how much a pair of shoes cost and she answered $1,500. He said he made the site free and playful after researching other sites that weren't kidfriendly or easy to use. Rakesh Singh said he likes that the Web site does not hold his children back from learning.

"If a kid is good, they can immediately go to the next level," he said. "Everything is in one accessible place."

At this time, there are thousands of

math questions for every grade level up to seventh. Jain said he intends to offer more grade levels as his children advance in school.

"We want to expand little by little," Jain said. "My resources are my kids."

The Jain family also wants to start a math competition in Millstone where students can compete for prizes in math contests.

"The best charity you can do is education," Jain said, adding that everyone needs to learn math.

"Math isn't just for scientists," Jain said. "If you're good at math, you can be good in any field."

Abheek agreed and said, "Without math there's no life."

The Web site is already catching on with kids across the United States and in other areas of the world. The children involved have used the forum to keep in contact with youths in countries such as Canada, India, Singapore, Afghanistan and Jamaica.

Arjun said, "Mathkinz rule the world."