One Dad. Two daughters. 4,817 free math worksheets... and counting!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you and why did you build DadsWorksheets.com?

I'm a father of two girls in grade school. When my wife and I split the roles up for raising our kids, 'Homework Dad' fell on my side of the chart. I'm also a software guy, which led to me code up worksheets for practice tests and to work out funny corners of learning math for my oldest daughter. Eventually I automated a lot of the test generation, and that was the genesis of this web site.

Why printable tests? Shouldn't you do online tests?

Maybe someday I'll look at adding online testing. Nothing against the trees, but the reality today is that your child is probably doing pencil and paper tests at school.

Aren't you emphasizing rote learning?

Much of basic math is rote memorization, but it's also learning to recognize numeric patterns through repetition. Scientific advancement is built on average people being able to find patterns in data that people just didn't see before, but you have to play with the data in the first place to have that opportunity for discovery. You can talk all day long to a kid about the relationships in a series of math facts, but unless they're cranking through the problems none of it is likely to sink in. And worst case, I'd go for rote memorization over not being able to multiply any day.

Have your kids completed all of these tests?

Not yet, but I'm ready when they catch up.

Aren't you missing an apostrophe?

Yeah, okay. It's a math website, not grammar-central here. Beyond that, apostrophes aren't allowed in URLs. So while technically it should be Dad's Worksheets in singular possessive form, I didn't want to contend with everybody trying to reach the site by keying in invalid URLs. The apostrophe is intentially dropped anywhere the site name is mentioned more for my sanity than anything. Sorry, Mrs. Sharpe, where ever you are.

What sort of technology do you use to build the site?

The site is generated using some custom Python I wrote specifically for the purpose. It renders everything as static HTML; there's no server-side magic producing all the worksheets. This helps the site run on a relatively lightweight hosting platform, which keeps the expenses down. The artwork for the worksheets is principally done in the GIMP, again using Python scripts.

Cool. Will you post the Python code?

I'd rather not deal with the questions or comments that invariably come up. You wouldn't want to read it even if I did. Also, I'd be a little bummed to see UncleBobsWorksheets.com pop up two weeks after posting the code, even if Bob used an apostrophe in his logo.

Why does the site looks funny in my old, crufty browser?

The site uses CSS and small smattering of XHTML that renders a bit oddly if you're not on a modern client. If you're still running Internet Explorer 5.x or NetScape or Mosaic or some other stone-age browser, you'll find the experience much nicer both here and a lot of other places if you just upgraded to FireFox.

How do I get rid of the page number, date time and other header and footer stuff that appears when I print a worksheet?

The browser adds these when you print any web page. You can disable this via the "Page Setup" command in your web browser.

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