Do your kids dream big?

Imagining what you want to be when you grow up is a powerful motivator for learning. While few of us end up doing the job we visualized when we were young, having the vision fosters curiosity, and helps us understand who we are and what we could be. By entering the DreamBox “Dream Big” video contest, you can help motivate your kids to imagine what they want to be someday. To help motivate you, we’ve created a few too — take a look!

Want to start a child thinking? Ask what he or she wants to be someday. And if you want a chance to win $1,000 or a free DreamBox subscription, shoot a video of your child talking about it, and enter the DreamBox Dream Big video contest!

At DreamBox we know that all kids are going to need math in their future careers. The news provides steady drumbeat of reports on the jobs of the future — they increasingly will not only require math, but also the kinds of analytical thinking and problem-solving skills that studying math helps kids learn.

So we’ve created a series of short videos asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. We did “kid on the street” interviews with future experts across the career alphabet — from archaeologists to presidents to princesses to zoologists!* They’re fun to watch, and you can use them to start your kids talking about what they want to be someday.

Your Dream Big video could win!

When you enter the Dream Big video contest, you could win big (read the details)! And talking about what kids might grow up to be, then shooting your own video, can be a wonderful opportunity to explore their future together as a family. Like so much in learning, the key is to motivate curiosity and discovery. Through conversation, family activities, and “field trips,” you can help your kids think about what they’re good at and what they enjoy. Exploring future vocation possibilities can open up new horizons for kids, helping them dream about what they can achieve.

It’s easy to enter

  1. Shoot a short video of your child (or children) talking about what they want to be when they grow up!
    • It should be no more than 2 minutes
    • Don’t have a digital video camera? Many newer digital cameras will let you shoot a video!
  2. Put your video on YouTube — it’s really easy!
  3. Go to http://www.dreambox.com/dreambigvideo to enter to win
    • Be sure to fill out the 2-line form on our site — if you don’t, you won’t be entered!
    • You’ll need the URL for your video on YouTube. (It’s in the column to the right of your video, in the field labeled “URL.”)

You can enter as many videos as you want, and families, homeschoolers, even classrooms are eligible to enter and win. And every family that enters will get a free 1-month trial of DreamBox Learning K-2 Math!

Once you’ve entered, ask your friends and family to vote!

Videos will be judged on a combination of popularity, creativity, and a compelling story. The videos that get the most votes in each category (family and classroom) will be finalists from which a panel of independent judges will select the winners.

So the key is to get your friends and family to vote for your video! After you’ve entered, just go to http://www.dreambox.com/share_video and fill out a very short form that will allow you to easily send the link to your video!

Have fun — and we’re rooting for you to win!

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* We shot many of the videos at the KidsQuest Museum in Bellevue, WA — and we’re grateful for their help! Go to www.kidsquestmuseum.org.

Parent Tip: Get the DreamBox September Math Activity Calendar

Now that kids are back in school, it’s the perfect time to celebrate Fight Procrastination Day! You’ll find this and other notable dates (Ask a Stupid Question Day!) and fun math activities (Help make dinner, and see how many different measures you use!). Download the calendar here, then, hang it on your fridge, and you won’t run out of math fun all month!

Find more parent tips at http://www.dreambox.com/1st-grade-math-tips

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DreamBox has been awarded top education and parenting honors

DreamBox Learning K-2 Math has been awarded many of the industry’s highest honors, including 9 awards in recent months! We received the prestigious AEP 2009 Golden Lamp, the AEP 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Parent’s Choice Gold Award, among others.

Click here to read more about our recent awards!

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Did you know?

As kids head back to school, give them a head start in math!

If you subscribe to DreamBox before September 30, you’ll get the Back-to-School Special: 9 months of math learning fun for the price of 6! (Offer expires September 30, 2009. Click here to subscribe.) Or, give the gift of learning and you’ll get the same great deal — just click here!

DreamBox lessons are based on key national standards

The DreamBox curriculum develops computational fluency, conceptual understanding, and problem-solving ability. Lesson content is aligned with the Focal Points — such as Number and Operations Focal Points and Algebra Focal Points — for each grade set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Want to learn more? Click here!

You can earn free DreamBox months!

When you become a DreamBox subscriber, you can earn free DreamBox months by inviting friends to try it too. As soon as you start your subscription you can offer your friends 1 extra free month when they subscribe to DreamBox Learning. And for every new subscription from one of your friends, you’ll get a free month of DreamBox too! To earn free months just click here, log in to your Parent Dashboard, and invite your friends to try DreamBox.

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