Kindergarteners and first graders in the Ashdown School District love going to the Brain Arcade lab every seventh day because they believe they are just having free time to play really cool games. What they are actually getting through this "playtime" initiated by Margaret Daniel Primary principal Kay York is reinforcement and extra practice in basic mathematics and critical thinking skills.

Brain Arcade is part of the rotation schedule of pull-out activities that not only meets all the requirements of the state, but also engages the students in doing things they love. The rotation includes art, music, P.E., computer skills, library time, and Brain Arcade.

Tammy Cross is the aide who leads the students through any of nine Brain Arcade stations, where they might learn what building a pattern means, match geometric shapes with those same shapes in everyday objects, design a geometric pattern and then tell another student how to design that same pattern using only verbal communication, or use a magnifying glass to examine an object such as a coin and discuss with their partner what they discovered.

The activities in Brain Arcade are all strictly hands-on for the students, and most of the ideas come from games that are built into the math curriculum but require time not available in the regular classroom. The goal, as always, is to reinforce and improve math and literacy skills and proficiency.