Category: number spelling

App Review! Dreambox and Montessori Crosswords

Mama GLeave a comment
dreambox
G was excited to get ready for frog-jump racing by placing decade-markers onto the track.

Here are two of our favorite apps-we have many around here.  Although there is current research stating that young children should not use technology, I can’t fight using it.  I love it.  The kids love it.  And they learn a LOT from it.  Everything in moderation, right?  (I hope so-at least I tell myself that letting them use technology is at least better than feeding them non-organic berries.)

Yesterday morning, it was clear that G needed some alone time, which means that little g must do something different.  While G played Dreambox to practice some math, g tried a (new to her) app and LOVED it.  I mean, adored the app.  And, it’s good.

Dreambox.com is a bit pricey, so we turn the subscription on during the summer and when it’s absolutely freezing outside then turn it off at most other times.  What I like about it is that it uses all of the familiar mathematical models that she uses in school, like the rekenrek, 10 frames, closed and open number lines.  It also adapts to your child, so be sure not too help or the program will become too hard for your child to use alone.  You child will need some mouse/trackpad skills for dragging items for sure.  I’m pretty sure that you could use it on an iPad if you have a newer one, ours is too old for it to run.

There is a parent side to the site to let you know how your child is doing.  Here’s how it looks…

Dreambox DashboardWhen she started way back when, we were building really small quantities out of even smaller units, counting or subitizing amounts of objects.  A lot has changed since then.  As your child plays, you might feel like many games seem the same.  What happens is that they are actually changed ever so slightly which is SO important for the gradual release of a scaffold (helper).  There are some great free resources on the teacher page! Try ’em out! http://www.dreambox.com/teachertools

If you want to use the entire program for the summer, you can purchase one month and get one free if I recommend you!  Email your name and email address to dani@bigglittleg.com if you are interested!

Montessori CrossIMG_4363 - Version 2words for $2.99 is a bargain if you ask me.  Basically, it tells you to spell a word, gives you a space for each sound (sort of like an elkonin box), and you can drag the letters in.  You can touch each space so you can hear each sound. While g was playing the game she said, “Wow, see Mom, LOOK!!!  I can spell words!”  She was absolutely proud of what she could do all.by.herself.  Very cool.

As a celebration, there is a super fun design that you can play around with by swishing your finger all over the place before completing the next word.

Calendar Routines at Home

Mama GLeave a comment

funG has loved the morning calendar routines since day one of her Preschool (for 3 year olds) experience.  In fact, the morning routines are about the only part of her school day she’ll tell me about in detail.  Because she goes to school 2/3 days a week, we were finding a need for a way for her to keep track of her days home and in school. Or maybe I was just wanting a break from being asked, “Is today a school day, or no?”

Last year, I fell in love with this week-long dry erase calendar the moment I saw it hanging on my friend’s Kindergarten door.  She used it to post the week’s events for the families to see.  At the time, I thought, “That would be a great way to let G know what she was doing each day (which babysitter’s house, a day off for mom, a party).  Then I told myself, “I can make one myself and laminate it, no need to buy one.”  Many months later, I broke down and bought it.  Of course I never got a chance to make one!  It is really one of the best routines we have in the house because it is really useful!

Pros:

  1. Penmanship practice-lots of chances to write those pesky 2’s!
  2. Shared writing-sharing the pen to let G do what she can and what she needs some practice on independently while I write the really hard stuff (or the stuff that she’s “too tired” (lazy?) to write.
  3. Encoding-wonderful opportunities to connect sounds to letters.
  4. She now understands the cyclical concept of a week a bit better than when she would just do the sing-song about the days of the week that she learned in school.
  5. She can find the week that she’s up to on a calendar.  She also refers to the calendar if she needs help “spelling a number”.
  6. She can synthesize what she knows about the “real” calendar, the songs the knows about months and days, and the week long calendar to figure out when a month ends and a new one begins.
  7. It’s creative!  G makes up all sorts of days for us to spend together.  At first I was nervous that she’d write activities that would be impossible to do.  Instead she writes pretty general ideas-“fun”, “paint” and the newly invented “dot day” where you can do just about anything that includes a dot of some kind.
  8. The best perk is that I don’t have to remind her about what’s happening and when (which used to be a constant job because she can be a pretty stubborn kid).

calendar collage bigger

Implications for parents and teachers-

  • If you have a “calendar” or “morning” routine, make sure that you are NOT the one doing the work for the children.
  • Choose a routine that is meaningful, helpful and developmentally appropriate.
  • If the routine becomes a drag, drop it.
  • Correct mistakes kids make if the mistake actually matters or if the correction will help the child grow as a learner in the future.  For example, I did not correct G when she wrote “parc” for park.  As long as she knows what it says, it serves the purpose of why we do this routine. Also, it’s wonderful that she is writing ending sounds on words, so for that reason, the c stays.  Now, if she wrote school on the wrong day, I would correct her because it would matter a great deal if we showed up for school on the wrong day.
  • Use a calendar the REAL way it’s used.  We don’t write the date on a calendar day-by-day, why do it like this in school?  Real calendars don’t have patterned shapes on the dates either.  It has numbers and events.  Keep it simple if you want the kids to learn about why and when the tool of a calendar is useful.