Happy Thanksgiving from Duck Duck Moose! Here is a little holiday greeting from our team.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to make anything around you talk! Don’t forget to thank someone you love with a ChatterPix! It’s FREE and FUN!

ChatterPix FREE DOWNLOAD – for adults: http://bit.ly/17oHbO9
ChatterPix Kids FREE DOWNLOAD – for kids: http://bit.ly/1cnmKCX
#chatterpix

Now that you’ve downloaded Pet Bingo for the iPad or iPhone (or are just getting ready to: http://bit.ly/17Usdtu), we’ve got the free supplemental worksheets aligned with K-4th grade Common Core Standards to keep the learning going!

Choose from addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division worksheets — download now and pick your fancy!

Pet Bingo‘s little creatures are so cute to collect and play with in our newest math app we want to spread the joy and let your kids draw their own! One of our illustrators has created a step by step tutorial to help guide them through the drawing process. Here are the steps:

1) Print out the one page tutorial.
2) Grab a new sheet of paper to draw the pet.
3) Add on a unique hairstyle, tail, and ears! The options are endless…have fun!
4) Option: Cut out the pet to play with and let your child’s imagination run wild.

P.S. Each member of our team tried drawing the little pets too. See below :)

First weekend in November calls for a fantastic Friday Freebie. Have the kids wind down from the Halloween sugar high by connecting the dots to see Moose’s costume pick this year! Enjoy the weekend and we’ll see you back next week…

It’s Halloween! So we thought we’d share a little peak into what we’re wearing today (and tonight) in honor of everyone’s favorite candy and costumes holiday!

This year each team dressed up around a theme and competed to win the coveted Halloween prize. Who do you think should win? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy Halloween!

Written by Jennifer DiBrienza – PhD in Education, Stanford University and Former NYC public school teacher

Today Duck Duck Moose is launching a new app called Pet Bingo! Available in the App Store now!  We are very excited about this new opportunity for students to gain practice with their number facts by doing more than just memorizing them.   When a child doesn’t know how to solve a particular problem, she can press the ‘hint’ button and will get to see a visual representation of the problem that also provides the student with a way to conceptualize the problem. 

In addition and subtraction problems, ten frames and number lines show groups and jumps of 5s and 10s and help illustrate the number relationships and place value thinking that is necessary to mentally solve the problems.  In the example below, a number line is used to help students see that in subtracting 15 from 49 one possible way is to subtract the 9 ones in the 49, get to 40 and then subtract the 6 that are left.

In the next example above, place value is also used to solve the problem, but rather than moving to the next ten, the strategy of taking a jump of 10 and then adding on the final 2 is suggested.  By providing various models, visuals and strategies, the app supports the student in thinking about computation in flexible ways.

In multiplication and division problems, arrays help students consider the distributive property of multiplication and illustrate the relationship between multiplication and division.

In the example shown below, the commutative and distributive properties are used to help a student realize that when solving one of the multiplication facts she may not know (6×11), that the order of the numbers does not matter in a multiplication problem (if she knows 11×6, then she knows 6×11) and if she knows how to figure out how much 10 groups of 6 is, she can simply add one more group of 6 on to find out the total.

The report card, shown above, gives parents and teachers a summary that shows which facts or ideas a student has mastered and which she is working on.

“I was excited to team up with Duck Duck Moose to create an app that provided students the opportunity to develop automaticity with the basic number facts for the four arithmetic operations as well as deepen their understanding with each of the operations themselves.”   - Jennifer DiBrienza

About Jennifer DiBrienza: “I taught elementary school in the New York City public schools for 9 years and then worked as a math coach for grades K-5. After moving to California, I completed my PhD in elementary mathematics education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. My research focused on young children’s understanding of place value (our base-10 number system) and the operation of subtraction.”

Spread Halloween cheer this year with a BOO! Employ this fun game with your neighbors to share sweets and treats for all to enjoy.

How do you BOO somebody?

It’s simple. Print the “BOO” sheet below, cut the sheet in half on the dotted line, attach the “You’ve been Boo’ed” portion to a goodie bag, and drop in a delicious treat with an extra copy of the directions. Leave it on your neighbor’s door step, ring the bell, and Run Run Run!

Once you’ve been Boo’ed, place the “We’ve been Boo’ed” portion on or near your door so new Boo recruiters can Boo un-Booed neighbors…

Watch Boo signs multiply around your neighborhood! Whose house will be next?

Happy Halloween from Duck Duck Moose!

Need ideas for Halloween costumes? Looking for a weekend art activity? We’ve got both! Download free Princess Fairy Tale Maker and Superhero Comic Book Maker coloring pages below and let your child’s imagination run wild. If you get inspired by one of these characters, we’d love to see the outfits you create! Share pics and stories with us at support@duckduckmoose.com

Want coloring pages on the go? Download the apps to color the pages with sparkles, stickers and create your own fairytale and comic book movies.

Download Princess Fairy Tale Maker and Superhero Comic Book Maker from the App Store today.

From the colorful, lively and friendly characters to creatively intricate backgrounds and scenery, all of the design elements in Duck Duck Moose apps are created exclusively by our in-house design team. It’s pretty obvious just how talented they are.

To celebrate their talents, we’re kicking of a monthly series called the Duck Duck Moose Artist Gallery where we’ll feature special drawings and illustrations created the team. We’ll explore different techniques, themes and creative inspirations while highlighting the personalities behind the work.

To get things started, we’ve gathered a variety of illustrations to giveaway to 10 lucky Duck Duck Moose fans. Check out each of the prints below and be sure to enter by 5:00pm PT, Tuesday, September 17, 2013.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

If you know the answer, we’re impressed and you’ve earned a gold star! If not, that’s okay, you’ll know soon enough.

Duck Duck Moose wants every parent and teacher to feel confident about the current elementary academic standards so we can all work together to create the best possible learning experience for all children. To help, Duck Duck Moose Educational Specialist Sara Kimelman, who has spent four years teaching in elementary classrooms across California and is currently completing her Masters Degree in Education, has created a one-page printout titled “Kindergarten Common Core State Standards – The Simple Version!” to make the standards easier to understand.

And now for the big reveal! K.MD.A.2 is the abbreviated version for the Math Common Core Standard: Kindergarten Measurement and Data Part A, Part 2. Still confused? Don’t worry, we’ve removed all of these complicated codes and simplified their meanings in our easy-to-follow guide. Easy Peasy. Lemon Squeezy. Download it for free here:

We’d love to hear if you have any other suggestions to make this list clearer or more accurate for your personal classroom or at home. Email us at suggestions@duckduckmoose.com

Looking for a fun, easy activity for kids? Unleash their artistic side with our new Moose Math coloring pages. Choose a favorite Dust Funny or color them all! Click on Moose, YaYa, Sass, Puck or Mochi & Moco to download and print. Happy Coloring!

Parents, are your kids learning new skills from Moose Math? We sure hope so! Why not recognize their accomplishments with one of these printable certificates! And for you, we’re making it super easy to follow their learning through our simple guide to Kindergarten Common Core Standards for Math. Click on the images below or visit our Learning Portal.

What’s the ooey, gooey icing on the cake for our design process here at Duck Duck Moose?  Play Testing! We specifically design our apps to educate and entertain kids, so each play testing session is a super important step in sharing our ideas and creations with our users (KIDS!). They help us figure out what works and what needs a little tweaking. We make sure each app has engaging, imaginative, and educational material that kids ENJOY playing with.

We’ve compiled some of our favorite play testing clips from our newest app, Moose Math. A huge thank you to all who participated and visited our office in San Mateo, California; this app could not have been completed without you!

If you are interested in bringing your child to our office to test future apps, please email us at support@duckduckmoose.com.

And now, let’s roll the footage…

We know the start of the school year is a busy time for everyone. To help parents and teachers jump start learning, we’ve created a new Duck Duck Moose Learning Portal. Complete with FREE, downloadable worksheets and fun award certificates, the Learning Portal is a central hub for fun and interactive learning activities. All of the worksheets align with the Kindergarten Common Core State Standards and mirror activities found in our newest app, Moose Math. We’ve even included a quick guide on the Common Core to help parents navigate all of those secret codes. We’ll be adding new activities regularly, so be sure to check back often for updated material.

Have an idea for the Learning Portal? We’d love to hear your suggestions on creative ways you use our apps for learning. Email us at support@duckduckmoose.com to share your ideas!

As you may have heard, new guidelines around the online collection of personal information from children recently went into effect. The official name is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA. As parents and Co-Founders of Duck Duck Moose, we have always taken children’s privacy and security very seriously. From day one, we have been committed to building our educational apps with the utmost protection and security for children. We have followed the news around COPPA closely and realized that most parents might not understand what it really means. In anticipation of your questions and to help you better understand the guidelines, we’ve put together this short Q&A. If you have additional questions about COPPA or Duck Duck Moose, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

What is COPPA?  

COPPA is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a United States Federal law which is intended to protect children’s privacy and safety online.  It states that companies may not collect personally identifiable information* from children under 13 without parental consent.

*Personally identifiable information includes information such as name, address, email, photos, videos, geolocation and persistent device identifiers (an ID that can be used to track your device such as your iPhone, iPad, computer, etc.)

Why is COPPA suddenly in the news now?  

Now more than ever, children are interacting with technology, apps and the Internet – whether it be on a smart phone or tablet at home or in the classroom. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) updated COPPA to reflect this growing trend. The changes took effect July 1, 2013.

The new COPPA rules expand the definition of personal information to include persistent identifiers and geolocation information, which is the ability for a device (iPhone, iPad, etc.) to track where it’s being used. Additionally, third-party advertisers (companies different from the developer of the app) cannot collect a child’s personal information to target children or their parents with ads, without parental consent.

Does Duck Duck Moose collect any personal information from children?  

NO. From the very beginning, we made a conscious decision to take a conservative approach when it comes to collecting personal information from children. Duck Duck Moose does not use any outside services,  and we do not collect any personal data from children.

Does Duck Duck Moose collect any information?

We do not collect any personal information from children. As our Privacy Policy states, if you sign up on our website for our e-newsletter, we will have your email address solely for the purpose of providing the e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Similarly, if you write to our Support email for help, we have your email address; however, it is only used for the purpose of communicating directly with you regarding any issues you are having with our apps. We do not sell emails to outside providers.

How should I choose safe apps for my children?

Choose apps from companies that you trust. Play with the app yourself and note whether it will be a good experience for your child.

Do a little research beforehand. Look at the developer’s website and read their Privacy Policy.  Perhaps it doesn’t sound too realistic to read a bunch of legal terms; however, all companies should have a Privacy Policy that clearly explains what information they collect and how they use it. If you have any questions about ours, please let us know!

Where can I go for more information?

The FTC website has all the details on the new COPPA guidelines. Another good, easy-to-understand article can be found on Everloop. Entertaining bedtime reading…. enjoy!