Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school EPGY Kindergarten math?

We haven't really found that. Aiden is on grade 3 and Nathan is nearly finished grade 2. They still choose to do it daily and it forms the basis for their maths learning (homeschool). The learning principles are solid and the change in presentation at grade 3 level keeps it fresh and exciting

My daughter started EPGY last summer when she was 4.75 and we've had a mixed experience with it--
Cons:
-The K level was too easy so she grew bored quickly-- they were willing to bump her up to first grade- also too easy, but I worried that starting her at 2nd grade would have been premature--had no way of really knowing; I wish it had been possible to customize the starting point in a more targeted way.

-Sessions include several "math races" that are designed to encourage speed, but my daughter hates these so they're a barrier to her wanting to do it--

- Although the program is supposed to promote the child quickly through skills they've mastered, it's not quick enough for my kid who's looking for a challenge and tends to be really excited about a specific skill (e.g., division) rather than wanting to slog through things in order

Pros:
- Great practice for basic skills
-Encourages multiple ways of thinking about concepts **This is the greatest strength of the program in my point of view
- Sense of accomplishment from incremental progress

I pair EPGY with IXL-- on that site my DD can go after the specific topic she's really curious about and doesn't have to be sequential. I find it's a good balance. Hope that helps!

Our Pre-K DD started with Dreambox at 4yrs and moved to Dreambox + EPGY at 6. Dreambox has the advantage of getting kids used to the technology and having fun with it. DD likes the structure of EPGY and the transparency of the lessons. She moves between both packages depending on her mood. She dislikes the EPGY 'math race,' too, but when it's over, she moves onto new content and learns it very quickly -- but the 'immediacy' required in the races is what is off-putting to her. I think Dreambox gave her an excellent fundamental understanding of her number sense and confidence in math before starting with EPGY too. EPGY follows a structured learning program while Dreambox automatically varies the learning content and style.

DS is 4 and has been on Dreambox for 6 months and is into the 1st grade syllabus. He loves the format and is also developing an excellent number sense. I am holding back from introducing him to EPGY until he is 5 years old, as I think the Dreambox format is more suitable to hold his attention at this age.

Can someone explain the format of EPGY better? I've seen mention of "races" and lectures in it. How do those work? Are there other types of practice?

DS5 was doing dreambox a year ago, but sort of hit a wall with a concept that he couldn't quite get and the program wouldn't progress him past that point. It was like all of the game choices available were related to this one thing (I don't remember.). And then he refused to play, so I canceled. He's not too big on formal instruction and I've let him play Times Attack (the addition one) and a kind of Fruit Ninja game on the kindle.

He's kind of a mull-it-over kid and isn't good at/interested in math fact memorization. So he's kind of understanding the concepts of addition/subtraction/multiplication/division, but not that interested in practicing it over and over because "he already knows it" even though he doesn't know the facts cold. Does that make sense?

I would love to find something where he could get into some of the more complex ideas of math, which might help him see the importance of the math facts. It seems that so much of the elementary math is just learning variations of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, and if you can get past that, things are more interesting...

I wonder if he would like Life of Fred books or maybe Penrose the Mathematical Cat?

Thank you so much for that really insightful explanation, Portia. This might be what we go with next year...

Just read through this thread. DD(4yrs) is giving Dreambox a try right now. We'll see how this goes!

We are trying to sign DD8 up under open enrollment (I'd like to try it for her before we consider it for our kindergartener) - I do not see the "gifted" check box or toggle menu anywhere. Can someone help me locate this?

Let us know how she goes on it