DreamBox Learning®» Early learning

Sometimes Things Just Don't Compute…

Nigel — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:49:23 +0000

How does a teacher, who doesn't realize a student has a problem, help them overcome it?

The genesis of how DreamBox does assessment, and one of the reasons I am with the company, occurred over 30 years ago when one of my relatives was diagnosed with a learning disability. This surprised us and shocked his teachers, who considered him to be in the upper middle to top third of the class for math. His test scores consistently supported this. In many areas he was significantly ahead of his peers. Yet a detailed examination with an expert showed that for him division just didn't compute. Put another way, his brain simply wasn't "wired for division". What does this mean? Well, you could ask him something like "If there are four children and each one has three oranges, how many oranges are there in total?" and you'd get the correct answer every time. If you instead asked "If I have twelve oranges and am going to give an equal number to each of four children, how many does each child get?" you might just as easily get an answer like "seven?" or "six" as "three". How had all the very good teachers at a very good school missed this through most of primary school? As it turns out, for a lot of years you can do pretty well at math tests if you get close to 100% of all the questions correct that don't involve division. Or if the teacher only removes a few points for the "one little mistake" you made in the division part of a problem. Or if you have developed strategies to compensate that often approximate the correct answer, without understanding what you were doing. The simple fact was that no-one over the years tracked the specific type of problems that caused difficulties for this student. And - this being a traditional "English" school - most teachers were more interested with how many answers were correct than how those answers were obtained.

DreamBox Learning Personalizes Online Math Education

So when we started working on what became DreamBox math I wanted to develop a system that would analyze each action the student took as they made it and respond accordingly, adapting automatically to provide the structured support each student needs as they need it. I also wanted a system that could provide specific feedback to parents and teachers identifying not only areas of strength but also weakness. It didn't take long to realize that a system that adapts like this would work for all ages and skill levels. DreamBox Learning K-2 Math is our first small step towards this goal and by all accounts is helping children across the spectrum learn math. Though specifically designed for home use, this version is already in use in over 800 schools and is proving particularly valuable for teachers of remedial math. No child should struggle with math because a learning problem goes undiagnosed and unaddressed. However, recent studies (such as that by the Education Trust that detail how some teachers "are just one chapter ahead of their students") show that in some communities this is unfortunately not only possible, but likely. So I am personally looking forward to working on a more school-oriented version of DreamBox, and to the day when DreamBox math is a valuable tool in every teacher's toolbox for ensuring each of their students is successful at math, no matter what difficulties they may face. Oh, and how did things turn out for my relative? Things were tough for him for a while. Eventually he became a spreadsheet guru and has created inventory and financial management systems for corporations in the U.S. and overseas.

How Young Is Too Young to Begin Computer Learning Games?

Sue — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:28:42 +0000

I know parents wonder what’s the appropriate age for their children to begin learning to use the computer. Common sense dictates that there’s probably an age at which it’s too early to begin exposing children to computers, even though children are often attracted to it quite young because they see family members using it; and many parents quite naturally see the computer as an opportunity to make learning fun for their children. I recently came across a great resource for answers to this question, published by the Illinois Early Learning Project. They begin with the premise that children under 3 are better off interacting with adults, other children, and toys. But they go on to suggest some ways that computers can benefit children ages 3-5, and some excellent guidelines.

Tips for Young Kids and Computer Games

Use computers for short periods of time, about 10-20 minutes at a time.

Choose software and web sites that are age-appropriate and "open-ended," that encourage creativity and problem solving, language and early reading skills.

Apply the lessons learned on the computer to other activities and games, like identifying shapes, letters, and numbers; writing and acting out stories; or everyday household activities.

Sitting with your child or encouraging children to work in pairs means computer time can also improve social and language skills.

Put the computer in a public area of your home.

And of course be sure you're familiar with the content of the software or Web site before your child uses it.

This site also suggests a number of other resources for learning more about young children and computer use. Check it out!

Pushing Kids From an Early Age?

Valentin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:32:43 +0000

A few days ago I read an article about gifted kids and the meaning of the word these days. I’m not a parent, but I can understand why many parents want to believe their children are exceptional. However, I think some are trying to convince themselves of that by pushing their kids in various activities from a very early age. I can share my experience with this. I am the second of two children in my family, and my mother is definitely one those parents who try to make their kids geniuses when they're young. As a second child I was lucky, because most of this parental ambition was poured over my brother; by contrast, I was not reading large books or doing well in math before first grade. I really did have a lot more freedom than my brother to choose what I was interested in. At first, my parents thought that I was going to be good at literature, because I had the ability to talk for hours if there was someone around unlucky enough to listen. Growing up in Bulgaria math is stressed in school, and from the beginning we had many math problems to solve every day. As time went on, I started to like math and many of my friends also liked it. I attended extra math and informatics programs in the Math High School in my city. I found math to be fun on my own, without being pushed so hard like my brother was.

Encouraging Kids Through Fun Learning Games and Imagination

Now, I am a silver medalist from the International Olympiad in Informatics, a Computer Science graduate, and a software developer for an online children's education start-up. I have been seriously studying math for around 10 years, and I really enjoy it! In spite of the fact that I haven't been solving linear equations since the age of 5 . The bottom line that I want to emphasize is: let's keep learning fun for younger kids. Childhood should be a time of exploration and discovery. And what could be better than to combine fun with serious learning? This is what we’re doing here at DreamBox, and every time I see a child enjoy our product, I am happy for at least two reasons: this child is having fun and he/she is also learning something useful. I wish my mother had this product when I was a child...

Fun Math Game

Healthy Choices for Food…and Screen Time

Sarah — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:00:48 +0000

Just as parents need to make sure their children eat a mix of healthy foods - with reasonable limits on junk food and sweets - we need to have the same mindset about what our children watch. That’s the message of a recent New York Times article: Limiting, and Watching, What Children Watch, by Lisa Guernsey, and I couldn’t agree more! Most, if not all, of the parents I know have implemented a “screen time” limit for their kids, where screen time includes watching TV or movies, and playing games on the computer or handhelds. Most parents also want to make sure these screen time choices are age-appropriate, but find it difficult to really know which TV shows or movies are “healthy” and which are “junk food”.

Knowing What Games and Programs are Healthy Screen Time for Kids

Lisa’s book Into the Minds of Babes was an eye-opener to me about the available research on what makes a TV show or a computer game healthy or not, and what children can learn from them. I recommend to it all parents. It influenced how I choose what my two young sons are watching and doing at home. Her point of view has been influential here at DreamBox Learning too. For example, learning about the the intensive testing that Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues have done to understand how their shows impact kids has led us to do even more testing of our product. Our goals are very much in the spirit Lisa describes - to make our product “healthy” screen time, helping kids learn real math and have fun doing it, so that parents will offer it to their children on a regular basis without viewing it as “junk food for the brain.”