What Is Elephant Learning?
Elephant Learning was established in 2017 by Dr. Aditya Nagrath. It was designed to “Empower children with mathematics,” and guarantees that kids will gain an entire year’s worth of mathematics knowledge within 3 months of using the program. Elephant Learning is for children of all ages and covers basic knowledge such as counting, all the way up to algebra levels. It encourages learning through fun and is supposed to make kids feel like they are playing a game more so than learning. The word used regularly on the descriptive parts of their site is “gamification,” further emphasizing the focus on gaming.
How Much Does Elephant Learning Cost?
Compared to other online curriculum, Elephant Learning is expensive. One child is $50 every month, or $500 for a year. There is also a family option which is $900 for up to 3 children for a year, or $90 each month.
It should also be noted that there are scholarships available for some families which CAN take the price down to $10 per student per month.
How Much Time Is Required?
Elephant Learning’s guarantee is that children will gain one grade level worth of mathematics knowledge if they use the program for 10 minutes a day, 3 days a week, for 3 months. If that doesn’t happen, they claim they will gladly refund your money, or help you troubleshoot how to get better results.
There are options on the website to choose how much time children are allowed to “play”. If a time limit is reached, it will inform the child that “play time limit” has been reached and will return them to the homepage.
Is Elephant Learning a Full Curriculum?
According to the website, Elephant Learning is considered to be a supplement. While it teaches mathematics basics, it does not teach EVERYTHING a child is expected to learn and understand in regards to math standards.
How Does Elephant Learning Work?
Elephant Learning is a game-based mathematics program. Each child will take a placement assessment and then will immediately begin working on “course-work”. The program uses an algorithm that slowly increases difficultly when children do well, and decreases difficulty when children are struggling.
It uses digital manipulatives which kids are able to move to different locations on the screen to help understand the problems. Students may choose from a variety of different types of manipulatives including animals, food, monsters, and more. They can change what type of manipulative they use whenever they desire to do so.
The primary mode is designed for kids to do on their own, without parental interference. When the parent looks at the child’s dashboard, however, there is a list of what the child has been working on and mentions of what they may need help with. This section also includes a video designed for the parent to teach them how to teach the concept to the child. From that screen, you may enter “parent mode” which gives the parent a time to work with the child without affecting the algorithm.
What Devices Does It Work On?
Elephant Learning can work on any device with a Chrome browser. It also works on Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire devices, making it a truly versatile application.
What Level Should I Place My Child?
After inputting their age, Elephant Learning automatically starts a placement test for them. It will ask them questions and increase or decrease the difficulty until the program ascertains the correct placement. Don’t be concerned if your child’s “elephant age” is lower than their actual age. It seems to be quite common but kids should “catch up” quickly.
Do Kids Like Elephant Learning? Let's Ask
I have allowed four of my kids to try Elephant Learning for this past week. Here is what they have to say about it.
Charity (Age 10)
Oh no! Elephant Learning? I hate it! Please don’t tell me you’re going to make me do it again! Those faces and voices are so creepy! And the questions don’t even make sense sometimes. I don’t think they teach really. They just ask questions and you get them right or wrong. It’s more like tests than games! Can we do Khan Academy instead?
Kirsten (Age 9)
It’s so funny! I like the hamburger one because sometimes they stick out their tongues! It is annoying sometimes when I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but I think I like it.
Makayla (Age 6)
Elephant Learning? What do I think about Elephant Learning? I love Elephant Learning! It is so much fun! I get to use unicorns, or puppies, or kittens and I get to do math. I really like when I get to do adding! And it says I’m as good at math as a 7 year old but I’m only 6! I like when I get to move around the pieces, and I get to put more on there than it asks for! I do it on purpose just so I can take some away!
Abbie (Age 4)
It’s school and I always like school! I’m good at counting. Can I do it now?!
My Overall Review Of Elephant Learning
What I Love
Elephant Learning has a great premise behind it. Teaching the “language of mathematics” as they say is right up my alley. I love that they teach math using word problems and manipulatives that lets the questions come to life and encourages kids to interact with and to see what is happening.
I also love the algorithm that adjusts itself, repeating what the kids are struggling with and moving ahead when they show a good understanding. It makes for an excellent review method of concepts already taught.
Probably what I love the most is the fact that it doesn’t pester them. If they get a question wrong once, they are given a second chance. If it is wrong again, they simply tell the correct answer and then move on to the next question.
I also truly love that I can set a timer and the game will automatically turn off at that point. That way the kids know exactly when they are finished.
While I have not yet taken advantage of it, the option of scheduling a coaching session with an educator is another big plus.
The videos that come with the program, designed to teach the parents how to help the child is great!
The scholarships offered for low income families is absolutely amazing as well. There is no way we could afford to use this program without a scholarship.
What I Hate
I’m not going to lie, there’s a lot lacking in this program.
I hate that they don’t actually teach anything. It’s very much trial and error. While it does show the math fact being taught after the kids use the manipulatives, the problem is shown in small font at the top, where my kids honestly don’t even seem to notice it.
I also hate the price. $50 a month is simply too much for a single subject when compared with other online programs.
While we haven’t used the program long enough to be confident in this statement, I do not believe children’s math levels would progress using this program alone. It leads to a lot of frustration when kids don’t understand what they are being asked to do if they have not yet been taught the material. All of my children’s “elephant age” (their math level as defined by the program) has increased as we have used the program. However, my fear is that this is simply a “trick” of the program and not an actual indication of mathematics growth.
Kids can get good at guessing and at manipulating the way they get answers. For example, while they are supposed to be skip counting (which my 6 year old truly struggles with), she has learned she can just count by ones instead and still get it right. So she progresses quickly, but is she gaining new skills? It doesn’t seem as though.
Finally, I hate the way the parent section is set up. It is very hard to navigate as it’s difficult to scroll through the skills.
What I Wish Was Different
I LOVE the idea behind this program but there are definitely some things I wish would change.
The biggest change I would like to see is a learning side to the program. After a question is answered incorrectly, I wish it would be shown to the child what they did incorrectly so they can learn how to fix it the next time.
A “repeat the question” button would be appreciated as well, especially for younger students who cannot yet read on their own. My 4 and 6 year old sometimes are distracted when the question is first asked and then have to either guess or come and find me or a sibling who can read in order to know what they are supposed to do.
Furthermore, I would like to see a big change in the parent section. I would like to see a more user-friendly interface. I also hope to see the parent section capable of “pausing” the screen at any moment, and having the ability to go over multiple examples without having to go back to the dashboard and search for the “try this,” button. As it is currently, I struggle to find the section they’re struggling with, then having to go back and find that section again is stressful.
The final thing I would like to see is either a major decrease in price or an increase in subjects. I simply cannot justify spending $500 for one year’s curriculum for only one subject and one child.
What's the Best Way To Make Use of This Program?
If I were to use this program long-term, I would set a personal timer for 10 or 15 minutes for each child and I would sit with them as they were doing it. This way I can see first hand why they’re getting certain things wrong so that I’m able to help troubleshoot from the parent section. Rather than waiting for the timer to end, I would suggest stopping the program as soon as you see frustration from the child caused by a lack of understanding. I would return to the home screen, find that skill, and teach them the proper way of performing the task. Then I would return to the student part and give them control again after you are sure they know how to complete the task.
Is Elephant Learning Worth the Money?
In my personal opinion, Elephant learning is NOT worth the price. I believe it is a fun supplement and can definitely help kids who are struggling with “math sense”. But due to the lack of actual teaching, and the price, I cannot honestly recommend it as a favorite. If you are really wanting to try something new as a supplement or review material, and are able to afford the hefty price tag, there’s certainly nothing wrong with giving it a try. I may even say it is a GREAT resource for younger kids. But if you are looking for a program to help older kids who already don’t like math, I definitely think there are some better, more economical options out there.
I agree with you. If we hadn’t qualified for the scholarship we would not have done this.
Most of the things that you talk about as a dislike are the same things that I disliked about ST math. I do like how it keeps giving different puzzles/games for the same concept until the kids figure it out.
When I’m teaching them I feel like I show them they concept that works best for my brain and sometimes that’s not what works best for theirs.
So on some of these puzzles I would have to set and stop for a minute and they are just getting them instantly.
I have one that is loving this and it seems to be working great with him and the other one that is so so about it at this point.
And a note that my boys hate math!
Especially one of them, that would be the one that is so so about it at this point 😂
So far this and ST math have been the two closest things I have come to find to get him to enjoy it in some way.
He does like the duck duck moose apps so I guess at least we have that 🤔😉😂
Thanks so much for your reply! Kirsten is my math hating child which is why I tried this one. She really loved it the first couple of days but after a week she’s losing enthusiasm already. I really hope your boys stay excited about it. Anyway we can make learning fun is a win in my book 🙂
Exactly!
They were the same with ST math, it was fun until it wasn’t lol
Thanks for the review, I’ve been really curious about it, but now I know it’s not going to meet my needs. On a side note, one thing we did love was all of the math books that stick (Addition Facts that Stick, etc.) they’re basically math drills turned into games. Really helped when we were struggling to find our math joy.
So glad I was able to help a bit. We are really looking for a good program for Kirsten (my 9 year old). She is NOT a fan of math lol so we are going to try new things until we find what works best for her. Those are from the Well Trained Mind, right? I might look into those for my oldest as we definitely do need some review in the multiplication category 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation!