Coolmath – Still Making Learning Fun
Coolmath is a website that's been around for more than two decades focused on math instruction and games.
Coolmath is a website that offers “math learning for ages 13-100.” It has been in existence for more than a quarter century and through all the changes we have seen on the internet over the years, Coolmath doesn’t appear to be slowing down. So, what exactly is Coolmath and why would students, teachers, and even parents flock to it?
COOLMATH IS AN EDUCATIONAL WEBSITE FOCUSED ON INSTRUCTION
When Coolmath was first created back in 1997, the internet was not even remotely as advanced as we see it today. Things moved at a snail’s pace (trust us) and options were very, very limited. Back then, there was no Google, there were a little over 100,000 websites (compared to the nearly 2 billion we see in 2022), people mostly used dial-up internet connections, and screen resolutions had only barely gone up from 640×480 to 800×600 – it was the Jurassic era of the internet.
When Coolmath entered the fray in 1997 and with it, the slogan “Where logic & thinking meets fun & games” it was billed as a math learning site. Nothing fancy, as fancy couldn’t be had at that time, but it offered enough math to make it a popular site. Then, as seen today, the Coolmath site presents math lessons as well as gives tools for learning that are easy to grasp.
The Coolmath website is set up neatly and pretty straightforward to follow. Users are greeted with a landing page that shouts out “Math Lessons & Games” and then has many options to follow. Across the top of the page, users will see selections such as Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Practice, and Tools & Reference.
Scrolling down the page a bit, users will see on the left-hand side of the page “Math Lessons.” Here there are options like What’s a Prime Number, Converting Fractions to Decimals, Order of Operations, How to Multiply Decimals, and The Quadratic Formula. A simple click on those links will take users to a page where they can begin to learn about their chosen topic.
On the right-hand side of the page, users will see “Popular Lessons.” This is broken into three smaller sections, the first being Pre-Algebra Lessons. Here, Coolmath gives a couple of their most popular Pre-Algebra lessons – Factors and Primes, and Decimals.
Under Pre-Algebra Lessons, users will then see Algebra Lessons. Again, Coolmath offers their most popular Algebra lessons. These are Exponents, Lines, and Functions.
Finally, under Algebra lessons, users will see Pre-Calculus Lessons. Again, Coolmath presents the most popular Pre-Calculus lesson. This one is called Algebra for Calculus.
Not much has changed with Coolmath in the quarter of a century since its inception. In 2014, Jonathan Keefer took over as Head of Product at the company and steered it through a number of issues such as the COVID pandemic and the shutdown rumors when it was announced that Adobe Flash Player was being discontinued because of massive security issues.
The rumors eventually were false with Coolmath moving to HTML5 for their new games and lessons and also converting their old Adobe Flash games and lessons over to HTML5.
As far as the COVID pandemic went, it actually boosted Coolmath’s traffic. The site became a popular landing spot as students were dealing with lockdown and self-isolating while still trying to maintain a sense of learning. The Coolmath website helped tremendously.
COOLMATH GAMES FOCUSES ON LEARNING THROUGH PLAY
Another major part of the Coolmath network is Coolmath Games. This is a separate website from the original, however, from the original site, users can follow a link to get to the Games website. It is a popular website for kids and Popular Mechanic named it one of its “50 most important websites” in 2019.
This site is described by Coolmath as its “brain-training site.” It offers thousands (yes, that many) of games that fall under categories such as strategy, logic, trivia, and of course, numbers.
The games chosen for the website were carefully selected, as they do not include any violence or any empty action, but instead games that build users’ skills like logical reasoning, pattern recognition, memory recall, strategy, and yes, math. Here are a few of the Coolmath Games’ top selections.
Run 3 – This is the most popular game on the Coolmath Games website. Addictive as can be, the object here is to move around the map while trying to not fall off into outer space. Users can play for hours on Run 3, as it offers hundreds of levels to try to master.
Fireboy and Watergirl in The Forest Temple – If you have a buddy and wish to play a game together on the same computer, then Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple is the one to choose. Together, Fireboy and Watergirl must work to get through the map and escape the Forest Temple. It builds teamwork and dexterity.
Chess – Who doesn’t love a good game of Chess? Need to work on your concentration? Give Chess a try, as it is one of the most concentration-heavy games of all time. Coolmath Games Chess is a crowd-pleaser.
Moto X3M – Talk about the exact opposite of Chess. Moto X3M is one of the most action-packed games on the Coolmath Games website. The goal of this game is to make it to the finish line as quickly as possible while avoiding things like deadly spikes, giant chasms, and 360-degree loops. Master the front and backflip to shave off some of your time.
Snake – Talk about old school. Snake is a simple game in terms of layout. In Snake, the user is the snake that goes around eating apples. The more apples the snake eats, the longer its tail grows. The issue here is you don’t want to run into the edges of the map, nor do you want to run into your own tail.
THE COMPANY HAS OTHER WEBSITES
Along with Coolmath and Coolmath Games, the website also has a few more options. You can see these options on the Coolmath landing page. Across the very top of the website, users are given links to more sites the company runs and hosts.
Math4kids takes users to a math gaming site (real math games) with titles like Grand Prix Multiplication, Alien Addition, and Demolition Division. Gaming while learning, nothing wrong with that. Another link users will see is called “Teachers” and it takes teachers to a landing page that can link them up to Coolmath4Kids, Coolmath, or Coolmath Games. There is also a “Parents” link. This does the same thing the “teachers” link does.
If coding is something that is of interest, then Coolmath also has a link to coding. On this website, users can learn how to code Minecraft and Roblox for a nominal fee. They offer pricing plans for individuals as well as for the entire family.
