How Recent Math Education News is Relevant at Home

In spite of recent news from the “nation’s report card,” that fewer than 40% of 4th- and 8th-graders are proficient in math, parents clearly want to help their students be successful in math. The just-released results of an Intel survey found that almost 9 out of 10 parents believe parental involvement is crucial to their children’s academic success, and stressing the importance of math and science in the real world would help improve their children’s performance and interest.

Many parents, however, struggle to be involved in their child’s math and science education, even though they believe it’s important. Some cite their own lack of knowledge about these subjects or struggle with math anxiety.

Try thinking of math as problem-solving

While math is a specific area of knowledge, the critical thinking developed in mathematics can be applied in all facets of life. Math teaching now emphasizes problem solving, developing and evaluating mathematical arguments, and communicating one’s ideas. Basics like learning math facts and standard methods of computation are no less important, but students also need to learn the skills, flexibility, and logical thinking that will help them adapt quickly to dynamic environments.

If your student is struggling to solve a problem you can help them learn to try different strategies. You want them to think, “This is hard, but I know I can solve it if I stick with it because I’ve solved problems before.” This develops mental flexibility, independence of thought, self-esteem, and the ability to persevere.

The key: find simple ways to incorporate math into everyday life

It’s easy to find opportunities to relate math to family activities once you start thinking about it! Every month DreamBox Learning’s Parent Update is full of math learning ideas. Here are a recent few:

• Make the Most of Your Math Moments — in the car, at bedtime, or on family outings
• Kids’ Kitchen Math — offers ideas on word problems and fostering creativity
• Music Unlocks Doors to Math Learning — highlights strong connection between music and math

At DreamBox we know that kids will be more receptive to learning if they’re having fun! Studying math has an element of repetition that’s an important part of learning new concepts and developing automatic recall of facts. But when it’s part of a game, children accept and even enjoy working through it.

Kids love to play games with the family and there are many that incorporate math. Games with dice and spinners use mental addition and subtraction. In Dominoes, scoring is based on the landmark number five. The card game “War” helps kids master “greater than/less than”. Sports involve scoring, timing, counting and measuring. Tangrams, Mancala, and Yahtzee are classics, and undoubtedly you can think of more.

Share your ideas and you could get a free DreamBox month!

Click here to tell us how you encourage math learning through your family activities. We’ll share some of your ideas with other DreamBox parents in future Updates — and if we include your idea we’ll give you a free month of DreamBox Learning K-2 Math!

Share your opinions and you could win a gift subscription!

At DreamBox, we’re committed to supporting parents’ efforts to participate in their children’s math learning at home. To help us do that, we’d appreciate your opinions about your 4-8 year old children’s math homework, math in school, and the role of technology in learning. The DreamBox Parent Survey will only take a few minutes, and you’ll be entered to win a free 6-month DreamBox Gift Subscription (a $99.95 value) — so you can give the gift of learning this holiday!* Click here to begin the survey.

Math Learning Tips for Busy Parents

Because parents want to be involved with their child’s education, we include simple activities parents can share with their young children during everyday activities as a regular part of our monthly updates. Parents can support the development of children’s mathematics skills at any age by being aware of the math in the world around them! Download the November Activity Calendar, and you can celebrate Look for Circles Day, solve a math problem on “alternate” Pi Day the 314th day of the year), and count everything you’re thankful for on Thanksgiving!

Find more parent tips at www.dreambox.com/parent_tips

Did you know?

The Dream Big video contest ends November 30. You could win $1,000 or FREE DreamBox subscriptions!

Imagining what you want to be when you grow up is a powerful motivator for learning. And the chance to win $1,000 is a great motivator for shooting a short video of your kids talking about what they want to be when they grow up! See how easy it is to enter the DreamBox “Dream Big” video contest. Click here!

Tell your kids’ teachers about the new free DreamBox Teacher Tools!

Because at DreamBox we’re dedicated to bringing math to life for all students, we have created free Teacher Tools — virtual manipulatives that teachers can use in large- or small-group instructional settings. Teachers can use these math tools — tenframes, mathracks, and other innovative tools — with an interactive white board or projector to make math lessons clear for the whole class. Click here to forward this article to your child’s teacher.

DreamBox has been awarded more top parenting and education honors

With 2 more just-announced honors, the number of awards won by DreamBox Learning K-2 Math just keeps growing! Most recently DreamBox was awarded Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products Award for 2009, and was recognized with The National Parenting Publication Award (NAPPA), which is given to the most fun, safe, educational, age-appropriate and enduring products. Click here to read more about our latest awards!

* The winner will receive a 6-month family Gift Certificate for up to 4 kids. One winner will be chosen by a random drawing from all survey participants. The survey will close on Friday, December 4, 2009. The certificate will be awarded via email on Monday, December 7, 2009. If you’d like to know the name of the winner, email respond@dreambox.com.