Learning mental math, which is the ability to do math in your head without pen, paper, or finger counting, requires lots of practice. Unfortunately, many children are simply not getting the practice and repetition they need. In 2017, over 50 percent of 4th graders were not proficient at 4th grade Common Core mathematics standards. Slower students, like those with disabilities, end up falling further and further behind.

Fortunately, new educational programs for iPad, iPhone, and Android are taking math learning to another level. Kids can use these programs at college or at home to learn, practice, and learn mental math.

If you have an iPad, iPhone, or Android apparatus, think about giving your children any of those 6 best math apps for math drills and mental math practice .

1. Math Ace

Launched in the summer of 2018, Math Ace is one of the latest and most effective mental math practice apps for gifted and autistic children alike. There are programs for each grade. Each app is a full Common Core mastery workbook disguised as a game.

Math Ace breaks the frequent Core mathematics standards for each year into minute-long mathematics challenges. They're like electronic worksheets, that adapt to student mistakes to improve learning.

What sets Math Ace the top of the list is that it excels at both learning and fun. For each minute of math practice, students receive a token to burst into orbit in a fun jetpack mini-game which usually lasts under one minute. Students earn medals doing math practice to level up their jetpack and fly into space.

Within 10 minutes of app usage, pupils answer between 100 to 200 math facts, greater than the other apps we've tested. And the dynamic nature of the challenges is very effective.

The app design is amazing, and easy to use. There's one large collection of challenges which makes it easy to keep track of your child's progress.

We recommend setting a goal for you children to earn 10 medals daily. They will be on a fast path to mental math mastery. Start a free trial with Math Ace for a week, which provides you complete access to all Ace Apps including Math Ace and Spelling Ace. After that, full access is $19.99 / 3 weeks.

2. Splash Math

Second on our list is Splash Math, a wonderful all about mathematics learning program, with a broad selection of questions and entertaining, colorful design. Within each class, there are numerous levels. Students have to answer around 40 or 50 questions correct per degree.

While slightly less powerful than Math Ace for mental math mastery, Splash Math is a great tool to allow your child to use daily. Contrary to Math Ace, which reproduces questions that students get wrong until they achieve mastery, Splash Math appears to select questions randomly. The Splash Math challenges will also be untimed. If your child feels too much pressure from timed challenges, then Splash Math is a wonderful casual alternative.

Start a free trial for one week. After that, complete access costs $19.99 / 3 months.

3. Children Academy Talented and Gifted

Kids Academy is an e-learning platform for Pre-K through 3rd grade. It's a fun visual design, and provides thousands of challenges. Each challenge comprises a set of pages using a number of cute problems on them. Students answer the problems by circling with their finger.

In 10 minutes of usage, students can answer between 50 to 100 math issues, which is great. The worksheets do not appear to be as lively as in Math Ace. Mistakes don't cause problems to be replicated.

While Kids Academy is a great general e-learning platform, it's less effective at creating mental math command quickly than the apps above.

4. Prodigy

Prodigy is a fun role playing game (RPG) with mathematics problems folded in to the battles. While not as useful at helping pupils achieve mental math mastery quickly as Math Ace, Prodigy deserves attention as it makes mathematics practice super fun. And it is free.

In 10 minutes of play, students will answer about 30 math questions. The actual amount varies depending on how many battles students get into.

Prodigy is free and widely suggested by teachers. It gets third place on our list because of how fun the RPG game is, although it's less effective at mental math mastery. Kids who may be resistant to learning can get sucked in to the game.

The developers earn money by selling in-app upgrades and real world toys.

5. SmartKids

SmartKids offers an impressive selection of mini-games to teach a broad assortment of topics. Kids go crazy for this app. While SmartKids is a great general e-learning platform, the speed of this mini-games means that students only answer a couple of math problems per minute of program usage.

If your child wants to catch up, we recommend one of those other apps above. Each mini-game requires the player to learn the rules of this game, and leaves less space for studying mental math. Tracking a child's proficiency is also harder.

We hope your child enjoys using the apps above to develop great mental math skills.