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

this is what we do as well

May I ask is it a kid must learn how to read by themselves before they can use Dreambox? What age will you recommend to start?
Thanks.

No, I don't think a child needs to know how to read (although, to be fair, DS could read when he started using it). I just asked DS (because I don't recall seeing much reading on it) and he said it will read to you.

I think it depends on your DC - I saw your other thread (and you DS DOES sound very advanced!) and if your DS enjoys it, I would let him play. My DS LIKES math, so he enjoys Dreambox. Why not do a free trial (no, Dreambox, doesn't pay me - LOL!)?

I think as soon as a kid can use a computer mouse or navigate a screen. I think it starts at preschool or kindergarten level? However, some of the games can be confusing for a child in terms of figuring out what is being asked of them.

My kids have been doing it this summer and I think they have learned a lot, however, there have also been annoying things about it. I've had to send messages twice already about "bugs"...with the latest one a problem got "stuck" right in the middle and would not allow the child to finish typing their answer. Logging out and logging back in doesn't help, the same thing happens. Also, lessons can be strangely out of order and not progress in a logical way. For instance it is having DS do equivalent fractions, which has been dragging on FOREVER (he could have mastered this concept after about 3 lessons and it's having him do about 15 of the same thing and he's sick of it). Meanwhile, a new lesson popped up involving multiplying decimals. They never taught him the BASICS about decimals and now he is supposed to multiply them, like 82.7 X .4? So he's learning that 1/2 equals 2/4 st the same time he's being asked to figure out what is 82.7x.4? That doesn't make sense to me. He flunked the pretest for multiplying decimals, but it didn't put him at an easier level to explain decimals. So now I have to sit down with him and explain the basics of multiplying decimals so he can do this level on Dreambox. I don't just want to teach the computations, I want him to truly understand the concept. DD hit a level on there that involved long division with decimals and it is teaching it in a truly bizarre way, where the decimals stay in the same places all the way through the problem and you actually do division, subtraction etc. considering the decimals. I said "This is dumb" and went through and had her do all the problems on paper the normal way, typing the answers myself the way they wanted her to. The "normal" way being that you just multiply the decimals out by moving them to the right, adding zeros at the end, etc.

I wish there was a truly awesome program to teach math, but I'm still looking. As long as the kids are willing to do Dreambox I'll keep paying for it but it has become more frustrating as of late.

blackcat- I don't homeschool, but we do some math enrichment during the summer and a bit after school.

I use different strategies depending on what we're learning. When there is a new concept, I teach it myself. Typically, I begin an early conversation (for instance while DS7 was working on fractions, we started a decimal and percent conversation), then we work in one or two simple pen and paper problems. Once I'm confident that DS understands the concept, I move to a Kumon/Ixl practice drills.

This summer, I've used a combo of Beast Academy and Singapore math for word problems and difficult analysis. I find interesting/challenging analysis problems that don't require tons of calculation skills and see if DS can solve them.

It doesn't sound like much of a math strategy does it:) My feeling (at least with DS7) is that elementary school math is not difficult- learn the operations and how/why they're used, then spend the remaining time solving harder analysis/word problems that require more brain power and often less calculation skill.

My "non-strategy" is my opinion that DS benefits from the practice of Kumon-like drills- but also higher level analysis skills. Many set curriculums seem strong on one and weak on the other. My dominating priority is numeracy- I ask DS *a lot* does this answer make sense? (e.g. for finding common denominators, is 6/12 and 1/2 the same thing?).

What exactly is Beast Academy and where do you get it? I thought it was a book? We do have some Singapore Math workbooks I should get out and see if they explain how to multiply decimals.

I've never used BA, although I understand it is a series of workbooks, but I have used SM, and liked the explanation of multiplying decimals--decimals, in general, actually, as it makes it explicitly clear that decimals are just a special case of fractions.

Hi blackcat- Beast Academy is the elementary school version of the Art of Problem Solving curriculum. I ordered a set of guides and workbooks from Amazon. I started with 3A. Although the concepts so far are familiar to DS7, but the problems are challenging. I discovered through BA that while DS is a strong calculator, he has more difficulty with geometric concepts/shapes.

We did a Singapore math word problem book this summer for (I think around the 4th grade). DS got about 80% correct without instruction. I thought some of the word problems were difficult.

If DS and I had personalities amenable to homeschooling. I would probably do a more structured version of what I do now--

1. Teach elementary math operations myself- with some online (Khan Academy perhaps) help
2. Give DS practice time on ixl and pen/paper
3. Use Singapore and BA as my baseline for harder analysis and applied problems

The only difference I would make is to incorporate more word problems on the specific topic area that we're studying (i.e. fraction word problems if we're studying fractions).

I can tell you that what we're doing is working (or DS is a math wizard, probably both). 178 in broad math on the WJ achievement with applied math as the highest score.

Thank you. I looked at Amazon but they were super expensive. I would want to at least try it before spending that much money. Wish the library had it. I think for the time being I'll supplement more with Khan Academy (where at least I can go in a logical order and the concepts are explained verbally!) and also take pieces out of Singapore Math. Unfortunately I have 3rd and 5th grade but not 4th and it's probably 4th I need at this point.