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About this game
Parentheses first: a free Grade 5 math game for ages 10-11. Kids work out the parentheses first, then multiply. Each round brings 10 fresh questions with new numbers; instructions are read aloud and every answer is checked.
Two calculators can give different answers for the same keys, and parentheses are how math settles it. Parentheses first shows one expression per card, such as (8 + 6) × 7, with new numbers on every card, ten per round. Your child types the value in this Grade 5 game, each answer is checked straight away, and the hint on every card gives the rule.
Order of operations is a promise about how an expression is read. Without parentheses, multiplication comes before addition; the parentheses override that, so the sum is done first: 8 + 6 is 14, then 14 × 7 is 98. Each card puts the addition inside the brackets, so every card practices the override itself.
Habit pulls toward multiplying first. On (8 + 6) × 7, a child who skips the brackets works 8 + 42 and types 50. Ask, "What do the parentheses tell you to do first?" Cover the × 7 with a finger until the sum is done. Close with, "You did the brackets before anything else."