Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Does Dreambox Learning give accurate assessments?

We got our son a subscription for Dreambox Learning math in October. He quickly covered grade K-2, and is now (after about 6 months) finishing grade 3, while being half-way through grade 4 and well on his way in grade 5 and 6. All in all he has played Dreambox for 45 hours since October. In December, after he had covered grade K-2 and started grade 3 we got MathMammoth grade 1-3 to make sure that he also could do math "on paper" (and not only web based math). Now that he keeps speeding through Dreambox Learning I cannot help but to ask myself how accurate Dreambox's assessment is? We have not tested our son any way but I am stating to think that he may be gifted? He was an early reader (3�)and he has a reading age of about 9-10 yo (based on the books he is reading). As for math, my concern is that if the Dreambox assessment is accurate, he would be heading into grade 5 math by next term also "on paper" (Math Mammoth) by the age of 7. I am going to have to ask for support and make plans for the next term with the local school. I am asking here about your experience of Dreambox Learning. By now I would not be surprised if our son will finish all of Dreambox grade K-6 in this one year subscription. Except for that being great value for money it should not really be possible? I wounder if it is the program's "fault" or if our son really is that quick in learning math? Are there others who have had similar experiences? How did you continue after finishing Dreambox? What did the schools say as for the Dreambox' assessment? We do know that Dreambox does not cover everything bu it seems that MathMammoth is also easy for him (as he has learned most things in Dreambox before doing Math Mammoth). I am so sorry for the very long post but I just don't have the time to shorten it right now...

We've had a subscription since last summer and I really like Dreambox.I think it's a good tool for conceptual learning--it's good at the ideas, notsomuch at the procedures on paper, as it sounds like you've already figured out. So I have noticed that DD often has the higher-level concepts down quite well, and can even solve problems in her head, but she doesn't always know how to solve them on paper. So, on that level, I do feel like the assessments are a reasonable estimate of conceptual learning.

FWIW, DD (who recently turned 8) was zipping right along until she got to 3rd?? grade where the story changes and she stopped getting tokens for the carnival. She was not pleased about that. She's meandering through 4th right now; at school her 2nd grade teacher has finally let her start 3rd grade math, which she says is "too easy".

My DS, who is 4.5, also has an account and I really do feel like for him, the assessment is pretty accurate--he's about half way through Kindergarten math in Dreambox, which seems about right.

I'm curious to hear other's thoughts, too. DS5 zipped through K to half way through second grade during the free trial. He likes it, so I decided to try it for a month. DS did some Singapore Math in the past and was getting bored with it (and trying to teach himself multiplication to keep up with his older sister, which I was trying to stop until he was actually ready! Eeeek!). DS does seem to like math, and is a very advanced reader. Although I think DS is pretty good at math, I have also wondered whether Dreambox's assessments are accurate as to grade.

I do notice that concepts of time, money, and geometry seem to be missing from Dreambox. I also think we will need to go back and do some "paper math" soon and appreciate hearing what others have used. Still, I am rather amazed at what DS is learning to do in his head. He does feel a sense of accomplishment to see his progress on Dreambox and this fuels him to do more.

How old is your DS? I do think it is completely possible that he is gifted (your description of his reading ability would point to probably "yes!"), but I think I might look for additional data points (aside from just Dreambox) while you are trying to figure this out.

All the best to you and your DS!

I love Dreambox but I don't think it's enough to make the kids PROFICIENT in the various concepts. DS5.7 did a little bit of Dreambox when he was 4 ... did about half of the Kindergarten curriculum and then he lost interest. We started using it again regularly about a month ago when we put it on our iPad as part of our homeschooling routine. Ever day he has to earn 3 rewards (coins or items). He's close to being done with 1st grade and while I know he's capable of understanding the concepts, even 2nd grade concepts, I do think he needs more practice in many of them rather than keep moving up. So we use Dreambox as his math brain exercise but also do more basic math on the side just for the benefit of writing practice and to make sure he doesn't forget some of the problems he rushed through.

How does Dreambox compare to ixl?

My kids found Dreambox much more interesting than IXL. With IXL, the child is incented to answer all the questions in a grade level, even if some of them are way, way below level. Furthermore the questions are all drill.

With Dreambox, by contrast, there is an algorithm which suggests different exercises for the child based on their speed and accuracy in answering the questions. There is also much more variety in both how the problems are presented and the graphics involved. Up to about grade 3 math, it is a lot of fun.

That being said, my kids both got bored somewhere in grade 3 and 4 as the exercises got somewhat repetitive. It was good while it lasted, though.

DD8's school uses IXL and it appears more "drill oriented" from what I have seen. I have the overall impression that the school uses it as a reinforcement of what was learned in class. It does not appear to entertain the child in any way, but if your child enjoys feeling a sense of mastery they may enjoy this program. DD is assigned IXL as homework, so it has never been optional for her.

Dreambox has entertaining graphics and story lines that go along with the math - its format seems geared towards the younger set. They definitely try to instruct/explain concepts at times, rather than just asking the child questions. I do not think I would start Dreambox it with a child over age 8.

We haven't tried IXL, but we did Dreambox for a while with mixed results.

DD7 liked it at first, and the activities do teach number sense in an interesting way. The graphics and story lines were a big draw. She quit when 1) all of the games and story line movies she liked to spend her incentive tokens on were removed abruptly in January, and 2) she got bored and frustrated with being assessed on her mouse skills while using virtual manipulatives and clicking on the hundreds chart. She was approaching the end of 2nd grade and knew the material but couldn't make it through the activities.

The mouse skills wouldn't have been an issue if she could have used the iPad version, but her iPad is too old. Something to keep in mind.

Our son (6.8) had similar problems using the computer mouse so for a while I sat next to him and he would show me/point on the screen and I would use the computer mouse to move items for him. I did complain to Dreambox because this was the set of games that really relied most heavily on "computer-mouse-skills" and it is a game intended for relatively young students. Now, we don't have similar problems anymore but for younger students it is a benefit (I think) to use Dreambox on a touch screen (needs Flash though.
The games are still fun for our son but I do feel that we need to add "math on paper" and we are using MathMammoth grade 3-4 for that. He has so far flied through MathMammoth also as he has already practiced the concepts in Dreambox. We are now considering taking a break from Dreambox and instead trying EPGY over the summer as a way to revise what he has done so far. EPGY does not seem nearly as fun but we don't want our son to move too fast forward, it is more important that he has strong foundations before moving into grade 5-6.
We did also do a free web-based test last week using MathWhizz (a program which we considered before getting Dreambox) indicating that our son's math age is about 10 (end of grade 4) which is in line with his Dreambox progress. All in all we are more and more convinced that we need to prepare for grade 5-6 math starting next year when our son enters grade 2.

Our school also provides IXL, which is used for extra drill practice, which is really all it's good for. IXL doesn't teach new concepts, so if you're hoping for adaptive software that promotes individual learning, this program is not it.