August is Get Ready for Kindergarten Month

Tracy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:41:15 +0000

Parents, start your minivans -- August is Get Ready for Kindergarten Month. How do you get your child ready for the beginning of their academic career? How do you prepare yourself for this life-changing transition?

Prepping for the first school send off

We've all seen those movies and T.V. shows where the child clings to his parent's leg, weeping and refusing to go inside the kindergarten classroom. There are a few things you can do now to quell your child's fear and ease him through those big, scary doors. Read him books about kindergarten, such as The Night Before Kindergarten or First Day Jitters and gently get him familiar with the concept. Storytime is a good way to get your child talking about the new school. Take a walk by the school, play on the playground, and maybe take him inside for a special tour. Adjust his sleep schedule gradually to the school's schedule. And if your child is going to take the bus, take a practice trip on the school bus or point out (and count!) buses you see on the road.

Kindergarten math

Math can be integrated into many daily activities. You can start prepping your child for kindergarten with kindergarten-appropriate math games like Uno and number Bingo. Practice counting by asking your child to count the buttons on your shirt, the daisies in your lawn, the candy in a dish. Use our Math Development Growth Chart and find out where your five-year-old is in math before school begins.

How do parents get ready?

August summer math calendar

Kids are the ones who have to face a whole new routine, but parents need to prepare too! During the school send off, you'll probably cry more than the little one. Invest in a giant pair of sunglasses to hide those tears. And definitely have a video camera handy. Questions to ask yourself before your child begins kindergarten:

What forms do you need to fill out?
Do you have a kindergarten yearly calendar and daily schedule?
What are the procedures for getting your child to/from school?
What immunizations are required for school entry?
How do you register?
What's the principal's name and the name of the kindergarten teachers?
What is the policy for school snacks and lunches?

A new month means a new calendar, so don't forget to download our August activity calendar. Have a wonderful and stress-free Get Ready for Kindergarten Month! Feel free to comment if you've been through it before and want other parents to know what it's like.

Bringing DreamBox Learning's Online Math Games to Thousands of Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade Students!

Casey — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:31:02 +0000

This was a very exciting week at DreamBox Learning. When we launched DreamBox K-2 Math we heard from hundreds of kindergarten, first and second grade teachers around the country telling us that they wanted to use DreamBox and our online math lesson games in their classrooms. Since our January launch we have been piloting our DreamBox math games in 150 kindergarten, first and second game classrooms around the country. Teachers are using DreamBox in their math clubs, with their math all-stars and high achievers, as well as with their math intervention students who need math tutoring. Yesterday we introduced the DreamBox Math Classroom program, which allows pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grade teachers to use DreamBox in their classrooms. As part of our commitment to supporting teachers and making excellent math education accessible to all children, DreamBox is offering any pre-K to 2nd grade teacher at a public, private, or independent school free use of DreamBox K-2 Math in school through the end of this school year (June 30, 2009). In the past two days we have had over 150 new teachers sign up on DreamBox and create classroom subscriptions adding over 1000 students! Teachers are finding that DreamBox is an incredibly effective way to teach 4-8 year olds math in a fun way.

Why DreamBox is the Online Math Learning Game for Your Child!

Our amazing team worked hard to create a classroom version of DreamBox Learning K-2 Math, because the game allows every kindergarten, first, and second grade student to progress through hundreds of online math lesson games at their own pace! When they begin to play, each child is assessed and started at just the right place in the curriculum, and gets different lessons, hints, level of difficulty, and much more. Teachers have an online Teacher Dashboard where he or she can view individual student progress and completed lessons in the DreamBox math curriculum. Every teacher is given a personal internet address for their classroom that they can pull up on school computers and have up to 32 students in their class playing DreamBox math games at the same time. Teachers are also able to play sample kindergarten, first grade and second grade math lessons with their classrooms by bringing them up on any interactive white board. And teachers can invite parents to try DreamBox at home so students can play DreamBox and learn serious math after school, on weekends and over the summer, in addition to the time spent at school, and have one record of their academic progress and game play. If you know a teacher who would like to use DreamBox in their classroom, please tell them about the free DreamBox Math Classroom subscription! Teachers can sign up for a DreamBox teacher account, preview and evaluate our curriculum, and apply for a free classroom subscription, good through June 30, 2009, at www.dreambox.com/teachers.