Is there something your kids want to celebrate? Or maybe they just want to hang out with other Jumpeez on the block. Well, what are they waiting for? Today is the perfect day for some friendly festivities in their neighborhood!

To purchase party time, first click on the Coin Counter in the top right hand corner of the screen to access the JumpStart stores. Click on the picture of the balloons on the second page to go to the Party Store and buy 30 minutes of party time. While they’re there, tell your kids to visit the Fun Zone Store too, where they can purchase a new fun zone to add even more excitement to their celebration! They can give their guests something to do with a super slide, a roller rink, or a challenging maze.

A disco ball sure brightens up this neighborhood party!

Jumpeez can join other neighborhood gatherings too! Click on any of the Neighborhood Party billboards located around JumpStart to view all current parties and their hosts. Then select a party and click the ‘Visit Neighborhood’ button to join.

Who’s having a neighborhood party today?

And with all this neighborly fun, your kids are sure to further their Achievements! Earn an Event Planner ribbon by purchasing fun zones, a Party King/Queen ribbon by hosting neighborhood parties, or a Neighborhood Vacation ribbon by visiting other neighborhoods.

The Jumpee that received this trophy is a master at picking fun zones!

How do your children plan on celebrating Good Neighbor Day?

The JumpStart Dock provides quick links to all of a Jumpee's needs!

In the ‘About Me’ section, your children can now customize their account by listing some of their favorite things. From favorite color to food to music and a few things in between, your kids can personalize their Jumpee’s likes and dislikes, sharing a few fun facts with their JumpStart friends!

Your children can share fun facts with their JumpStart friends!

And if your kids are looking for a quick link to view their JumpStart buddies list, messages, and news all on one page, have them hit the neighboring homepage button on the dock! It’s a quick way to manage all our new features with your children.

The homepage gives your children a quick view of all their buddies’ updates, JumpStart news, and games.

Another way to talk with JumpStart friends is with the message board, which allows your kids to post info or reply to existing posts by selecting quick phrases or sayings from our simple drop down menu. This new drop down menu is also available on our updated chat system to help save time and keep JumpStart chat fun and safe for Jumpeez. This way your children and their Jumpeez will never be at a loss for words whether they’re excited, tired, busy, need help, or are just out having fun!

The message board allows you to easily chat, ask questions, and reply to buddies' messages!

What's Laurel GoofyPuffin up to?

And even with all these new features, the dock is still the place to look for quick launch games, to activate the camera, change action options and access the ever-so handy JumpStart map! So… What do you and your kids think? We here at JumpStart would love to hear how you like our new talk features! Let us know, “What’s going on?”…

Tell your kids to check out the new dock!

So let’s check out what’s new and take quick tour of some of the features that are available.

Every icon your child will need to navigate the game is right here.

Quick Launch

The first thing we have is the Quick Launch icon. This button will take your kids straight to some of the most popular games in JumpStart. Handy, huh?

Now your child can go straight to their favorite games!

About Me

Your child can share their favorite things with their buddies.

This is one of the biggest additions to the JumpStart game. Here your kids can share a little bit of information about themselves with other Jumpeez. This page will come up when someone clicks on your child’s Jumpee. Your kids can also click on other Jumpeez to learn more about them and see their Profile Page. On this page, there is a spot for Jumpeez to share some of their favorite things like their favorite food, favorite sport and favorite musical style. Then there is the What’s Going On? section where Jumpeez can post updates about what’s going on with them while they’re playing the game. Your child will get to choose from a set of phrases and then post it to their page. Their buddies will see your child’s updates and can comment back on them.

The Home Page

Your child can now message their buddies right from the Home Page.

The Home Page has all of the toolbar’s most important resources all rolled into one. This page has a space for communicating with other Jumpeez where your child can read and send messages, view buddy requests and see their buddies’ updates. They can also check out all the news in JumpStart about new features and activities. Lastly, there is the Quick Launch tab so you can go to a game straight from the Home Page.

Your child will also find some pretty familiar things on the toolbar. These include the Jumpee Creator, the camera and the Jumpee Communicator.

There is so much new stuff to explore and so many awesome ways for your kids to communicate with their buddies when they’re in the game!

What do your kids think of the new features and the new look of JumpStart?

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What else would be fun to say?

We want to keep adding fun new silly greetings, questions, friendlies and more!

Sometimes it’s fun to tell a silly story!

We want to make JumpStart communication better than ever, so we’re asking for your input. What else do kids want to say to their JumpStart buddies? What else would they like to talk about?

Easy scrolling for faster chatting!

To get started, just click on the chat icon and browse the subcategories. Choose from various greetings, questions, and answers. There’s even a special Pirate lingo section if your kids arrr feeling nautical, which will come in handy in the Pirate Fun Zone coming soon!

Jumpeez can use fun pirate lingo as they sail through the new Pirate Fun Zone coming later this week!

Take a look at the conversations we have to offer. We think it’s a great way for kids to interact and express themselves, all while staying protected!

Other Jumpeez will see the end phrase displayed!

Of course, our chat is completely safe and comprised only of canned phrases written by JumpStart. As always, if you prefer to disable the chat function altogether, just head to “Manage Account” > “Online Game Pref” on the JumpStart.com homepage and turn off MMO.

Jumpeez can safely talk to each other using canned phrases approved by JumpStart!

We hope you enjoy our new chat and find it more user-friendly. Check it out and let us know what you think!

“Following and creating patterns, making comparisons, cause and effect, hand-eye coordination, following multi-step directions, life skills, goal setting, computer use, interaction with technology, etc. are all elements involved while playing in JumpStart”, says Heather Tuttle, Curriculum Writer.

Let’s take a look…

It takes quite a bit of hand-eye coordination to get to navigate Free Fall Mountain.

And navigating that chocolate maze requires pattern and letter recognition skills.

Even the pre-programmed chat words in the game are based on Dolch’s sight words, a set of words that should be standard knowledge by the third grade.

Plus, dance moves and emoticons help kids learn about social cues and body language. (After all, the Jumpeez showing angry emoticons are never as fun to make friends with.)

And the Jumpee Creator teaches body parts, colors and more.

Heather explains, “When a kid is playing at JumpStart they are drowning in opportunities for learning. Without even realizing it, this child is exploring, discovering, and beginning to make connections with prior knowledge, creating new knowledge.”

So tell your kids to go explore, chat, and play at JumpStart.com. You can relax, knowing that they are learning math and reading…but also much, much more.

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Forget what Miss Manners once said and start encouraging your kids to talk while they eat (after they swallow, of course)!  Dinnertime is the perfect time to hear about their day, their opinions, and what’s going on in their little heads.  Get past the one word answers and make your kids give you a mouthful of conversation.  While getting to know your kids on a deeper level, you’ll also be giving them practice at thinking quickly, forming arguments and opinions, and expressing their thoughts.

Simple conversation starters will get the ball rolling and before you know it, your kids will be bringing a lot more to the table than hungry bellies.  Try some of these conversation starters or make up your own:

• What was the __________ (choose one: funniest . . . most surprising . . . most predictable . . . dullest) thing that happened to you today?
• If you were writing a newspaper article about your day, what would be the headline?
• Teach us one thing that you learned today that you think we don’t know yet.
• If you had one hour alone with the President of the U.S., what would you want to discuss or talk about?
• Which cartoon character would you most like to have as a next door neighbor?  Why?
• If you won the lottery (or won $100) what is the first thing you would buy?
• Imagine you had an identical twin; name three things that would be really great about having an identical twin and three things that would be “not so great.”
• Which fairy tale character would you most like to take a vacation with?  Why?
• If you were a plant and could be planted anywhere in the world, what kind of plant would you be?  Where would you like to be planted and grow?
• If you could go on a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?
• If the sky suddenly started to rain candy, what candy would you want it to rain?
• If you were to take a time machine 50 years into the future, what do you think life will be like?  What will you do with your free time?  How do you think people will communicate or prepare food?
• What kind of car would you say you are most like?  If you could be any car, which one would you choose?
• If you could invite any famous person to your birthday party, who would it be?  Why?
• If you could create a national chain of restaurants designed for kids, what would you call it?  What kinds of food would you serve?  What would the theme of the restaurant be?
• If you had to choose one modern convenience, appliance, or technology that you just couldn’t live without, what would it be?
• What was the best birthday party you remember having?  Tell what you remember about it.
• Where will you be, and what do you think you will be doing in 10 -15 years?
• If you had a choice, would you rather live in the city or the country?  Why?
• If you could be a TV producer, what would be the name of your new show?  Who would you get to star in it?  What would your show be about?
• In the movie about your life, what actor would play you? Your best friend? Your family members?

Another way to get the table talk going is to play a little game.  President Obama plays a game with his family called “Roses and Thorns.”  Everyone takes a turn describing a good thing that happened that day (rose) and a low moment or tough problem they had to deal with (thorn) during the day.  Whatever the approach, set your dinner table with conversation to strengthen relationships and make memories to last a lifetime.

Tell Your Buddies to Set the Table!

Christmas lights, Hanukkah menorahs, the Kwanzaa Kinara…the holidays are full of symbols that represent a variety of cultures, beliefs, and traditions, making this the most wonderful time of year to help your little ones notice that not everyone celebrates the season the same way they do.

Oftentimes limited experiences and infrequent interactions with backgrounds different from their own lead kids to make assumptions or judge others who do things differently than they’re used to.  You can make the season even brighter by helping your kids realize that our society is a mixture of people- no two the same.  All of these differences bring new ideas, energy, and flavor, enriching the world we live in.

Many kids are way ahead of us when it comes to acknowledging and respecting differences.  Playgrounds, play groups, and classrooms are increasingly diverse, and we as a society have become more aware of tolerating and embracing a variety of cultures, traditions, and beliefs.

Still, as parents, it’s our job to ensure our kids are prepared to live, learn, and work in a diverse world.  Teaching tolerance is important not just because it is the principle our country was founded on, but because the child who learns to be open to differences will have more opportunities in life.

Like all attitudes, tolerance is often taught in subtle ways when we don’t even realize it.  Even before they can speak, our kids watch us closely and imitate what they see.  Modeling tolerance, respect, and acceptance early on can help set your child up to positively embrace differences.  There are a variety of other things you can do at home to help your kids realize that being unique and different is good.

• Encourage your kids to ask questions – Kids are naturally curious about the world around them. Instead of letting them reach their own conclusions or assume things, make sure your kids ask questions when they wonder about things.  Many times a simple question can spark valuable conversation and learning for both you and your little questioners.
• Answer questions – When your kids come to you questioning their own traditions or the values and beliefs of others, take the time to listen.  Spend time learning, researching, and exploring other cultures together. Attend festivals and events around town to expose your family to new celebrations and practices.
• Respect and honesty – Model respect and acceptance for your kids.  Teach your kids to appreciate their own differences and those of others. Be sure the words you use are not offensive and do not convey judgment.  Help your kids realize that every person deserves to be judged as an individual, not grouped in a category that’s based on religious beliefs, skin color, or cultural differences.
• Learn together about other cultures and traditions that are different from your own.  Honor your own family and teach your children to be proud of their traditions.  Discuss how your family traditions began and what they mean to you and your ancestors.
• Make sure your kids have a positive self image and strong self-esteem.  Confidence and self-respect lead to respecting others.  Also, a strong sense of self will help your kids be proud of who they are and where they come from, so they can help share their culture and experiences with others.
• Give your kids opportunities to play and interact with others who are different from them.
• Help your kids understand that images and dialogue they see and hear in the media are often biased and do not represent an entire group of people.

Of course, celebrating differences of others doesn’t mean giving up your own heritage. Your family may have its own long-standing cultural and religious traditions that are something to be proud of.  You can find ways to celebrate differences of others while continuing to honor and pass down your own cultural heritage and traditions.  May this holiday season be a joyous celebration of the diversity around you.

In the next few weeks, JumpStart will be introducing an exciting new feature to the online world – “Buddyz” lists! Your kids will now be able to meet up with their real-life friends inside the world at JumpStart.com. But don’t worry; just like all of the features on JumpStart.com, your child’s “Buddyz” list and the features that go along with it will be completely safe.

Round up some Buddyz to fill out that list!

Here’s how it works!  Once logged in to JumpStart.com, you can visit Manage Account to print out a series of cards with your child’s unique buddy code. Your child can trade these cards with his or her friends and you can input your child’s friend codes under manage account.  Once this code is inputted into the game, their friend’s name will show up on their “Buddyz” list. If you see that one of your “Buddyz” is online, you will be able to click on their listed name and jump into the same game server as them and interact immediately!

Take the Stage with Your Buddyz

Now your child will be able to show their friends that cute Petz kitty they just bought or their awesome pirate costume for Halloween! Friends can also be added by clicking on their Jumpee during game play and clicking on the “Add to Buddyz list” option.

It's Nice to See You, the Bandana Looks Great.

As always, parents have the option of turning off the “Buddyz” feature, as well as turning off the MMO feature completely. This can be done from the Manage Account section of the JumpStart.com website. However, this new buddy list function will not open up any free chat or other interaction possibilities between players – it will simply allow kids to be in the same instance of the game as their friends so they can see each other’s Jumpeez. Players will still only be able to interact using pre-programmed phrases, dance moves, and emoticons. In the future, when neighborhood areas come out, your child will also be able to see their “Buddyz’” houses they have created!

Stay tuned here to find out more about Buddyz at JumpStart.com!

How Many Buddyz Can You Spread the Word to?  Feel Free!

“Where are you going?” asks Jack SlothSprout.

“I am going to explore JumpStart,” Bugsy FlameCloud replies. “Follow me!”

JumpStart.com is taking children’s gaming to new heights with the addition of canned chat! Jumpeez can now communicate with one another using pre-selected words and phrases. We know kids love to chat online with their peers, and sometimes dance moves alone won’t cut it. We’re dedicated to keeping your little ones safe and happy, and we’re confident that the new canned chat function will do just that!

Canned chat is now available at JumpStart.com!

Here at JumpStart, we want to make sure your kids are both having fun and, of course, learning. The great thing about canned chat is that while your kids are socializing with their Jumpee friends, they’ll also be learning sight words that are important to their reading skills.

Edward William Dolch is famous for his creation of a list of important words that occur frequently in children’s (and indeed, all!) books. The Dolch words are now known as “sight words” because most of the time, they cannot easily be recognized by pictures or sounded out according to normal phonetic rules. There are 220 sight words and another 95 nouns that should be standard knowledge by third grade. A full list of the Dolch words and additional nouns is available here.

The words that appear in our brand-new canned chat function are based on Dolch’s research. As children use “sight words” repeatedly to communicate with other players in the virtual world, they will become more familiar with them and recognize them more readily. By including many “sight words” in the canned chat menus, we hope to advance the reading levels of our players and build their confidence in school!

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