After a foundation is laid, you will need to add a strong structure to fortify their growth.
Articles are updated frequently.
These sections are organized by age level, but the information is not restricted to that age group. Consider looking at other age ranges as well. Also, make sure to check out the Archives.
Articles are updated frequently.
These sections are organized by age level, but the information is not restricted to that age group. Consider looking at other age ranges as well. Also, make sure to check out the Archives.
Staying Cool during the Holidays
Are your children disrepectful, rude and annoying no matter how much you try to please them, especially now during the pandemic? You as parents can help them learn to manage their emotions. The sooner you begin, the more effective your strategies will be.
It is too easy for your children to get under your skin when you yourself are stressed. Accept things as they are. Be sure you breathe. With each breath, inhale deeply. You will feel more centered and calm. Take a walk. Many times our brains and bodies sense our need for quiet and release.
Your children may be disappointed that you cannot give them all they want for Christmas this year. You cannot protect your children from their disappointment and pain if they don't get what they want. Talk to your children ahead of time about accepting what presents they get for what they are--gifts made or given with love.
We take too many things for granted, rather than being grateful for each little thing shared with us. Teach your children acceptance and gratitude.
Be kind to yourself, your children, and all you meet and greet. After all, isn't that the real reason for the holiday season?
New Classmates for Virtual Learners
Are your children feeling increasingly isolated due to their online attempts to learn? Do they seem more tired than usual? Maybe they are experiencing “ZOOM fatigue.”
Taking a break from watching their computers or iPads is a necessity. If you find your children’s attention wandering, you owe it to your children to let their online teacher know so she/he can arrange movement or snack breaks. Your children’s brains will work much better after a short break even to tend to or play with their pet.
You might even try pets as classmates or learning partners. They make good listeners and are non-judgmental. They show their appreciation for your children’s learning by just being there. Children can stumble through a passage they are trying to read or facts they are trying to remember, and their pets remain consistent listeners. Children will bond with the animal they are reading or reciting to and be motivated to visit that animal over and over again.
Reading to an animal can significantly impact students’ reading rates. Research shows that when reading to pets children achieve higher end-of-year reading scores, and improve reading rates, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. They also are better able to stay on task when a furry, feathered, or scaled companion is involved. (We Are All Ears: Pet Partners and Elanco).
It is not just reading to their pets, but even reciting math facts or rules to them gives your children much needed practice and confidence.
To give your children this opportunity, you will need to set up a comfortable spot for your children and their pets to be. Watch to be sure the children even show the pictures to their pets if they choose to read a book. They may even clap their hands or gently tap their pets as they recite the facts they need to learn. Encourage your children to pause and pet their animal to keep them settled down and comfortable with your children’s voice. You might even have a treat or favorite pet toy nearby to keep the pet engaged if needed. Be sure to reward your children and their pets for their good behavior during this time.
You as a family might even help your children set learning goals by reading or reciting to their pets. They may need to learn to spell some new words or know their 7x tables by the end of a week.
You might even combine art with your children’s learning, keeping a record or log of what they need to learn for their grade level, making bookmarks for reading books to their pets or to which pet they recite their math facts. Maybe they can design a logo for their pets and imprint it with fabric paints on a bandana for their pet or a tee shirt for themselves.
When children read or recite to their pets (even stuffed animals), they have a learning partner or classmate every day of the week.
Still Have Struggling Learners?
What seems natural to us may not be to struggling learners. They need step-by-step teaching to be successful in their efforts to learn. If a step or skill is missing in their reading or math, they may be discouraged or “lost” in their understanding of how these work. Struggling learners of any age may feel defeated and frustrated. They may have difficulty processing the necessary skills. They may have experienced a physical injury, sickness, or trauma that has kept them from understanding. There may be problems in their family, or their family does not know how to encourage or motivate them to learn.
Children need experience, patience and knowledge given in certain ways to help them learn. Becky Spence (www.thisreadingmama.com) suggests the following procedures:
Explicit teaching. Children need to be taught exactly what they need to learn. They need you or their teacher to tell them what you want them to learn. If it is how many syllables in a word, you must show them by counting or clapping the sound units that make syllables.
Systematic teaching. Children need to build their knowledge about words or numbers one step at a time. Each new lesson or skill must follow an earlier one. They must know what numbers stand for before they can add or multiply.
Multisensory teaching. Children need to hear the lesson, see it, and even feel it to help them remember. Struggling learners need to see the information in different ways. They need to process it in the way that works for them. Seeing it as they hear it, writing it as they see models may help some children. Even moving or dancing to the multiplication tables may help them memorize these facts for easier computing in their future.
Tell me I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin
Consistent teaching. The skill the children are trying to learn happens the same way in most situations. Give children many opportunities to practice until it sinks in. Say those multiplication facts everywhere you go in the car.
Do not let your struggling learners give up. Keep trying until they get it. For some children this may take many repetitions.
Are your children disrepectful, rude and annoying no matter how much you try to please them, especially now during the pandemic? You as parents can help them learn to manage their emotions. The sooner you begin, the more effective your strategies will be.
It is too easy for your children to get under your skin when you yourself are stressed. Accept things as they are. Be sure you breathe. With each breath, inhale deeply. You will feel more centered and calm. Take a walk. Many times our brains and bodies sense our need for quiet and release.
Your children may be disappointed that you cannot give them all they want for Christmas this year. You cannot protect your children from their disappointment and pain if they don't get what they want. Talk to your children ahead of time about accepting what presents they get for what they are--gifts made or given with love.
We take too many things for granted, rather than being grateful for each little thing shared with us. Teach your children acceptance and gratitude.
Be kind to yourself, your children, and all you meet and greet. After all, isn't that the real reason for the holiday season?
New Classmates for Virtual Learners
Are your children feeling increasingly isolated due to their online attempts to learn? Do they seem more tired than usual? Maybe they are experiencing “ZOOM fatigue.”
Taking a break from watching their computers or iPads is a necessity. If you find your children’s attention wandering, you owe it to your children to let their online teacher know so she/he can arrange movement or snack breaks. Your children’s brains will work much better after a short break even to tend to or play with their pet.
You might even try pets as classmates or learning partners. They make good listeners and are non-judgmental. They show their appreciation for your children’s learning by just being there. Children can stumble through a passage they are trying to read or facts they are trying to remember, and their pets remain consistent listeners. Children will bond with the animal they are reading or reciting to and be motivated to visit that animal over and over again.
Reading to an animal can significantly impact students’ reading rates. Research shows that when reading to pets children achieve higher end-of-year reading scores, and improve reading rates, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. They also are better able to stay on task when a furry, feathered, or scaled companion is involved. (We Are All Ears: Pet Partners and Elanco).
It is not just reading to their pets, but even reciting math facts or rules to them gives your children much needed practice and confidence.
To give your children this opportunity, you will need to set up a comfortable spot for your children and their pets to be. Watch to be sure the children even show the pictures to their pets if they choose to read a book. They may even clap their hands or gently tap their pets as they recite the facts they need to learn. Encourage your children to pause and pet their animal to keep them settled down and comfortable with your children’s voice. You might even have a treat or favorite pet toy nearby to keep the pet engaged if needed. Be sure to reward your children and their pets for their good behavior during this time.
You as a family might even help your children set learning goals by reading or reciting to their pets. They may need to learn to spell some new words or know their 7x tables by the end of a week.
You might even combine art with your children’s learning, keeping a record or log of what they need to learn for their grade level, making bookmarks for reading books to their pets or to which pet they recite their math facts. Maybe they can design a logo for their pets and imprint it with fabric paints on a bandana for their pet or a tee shirt for themselves.
When children read or recite to their pets (even stuffed animals), they have a learning partner or classmate every day of the week.
Still Have Struggling Learners?
What seems natural to us may not be to struggling learners. They need step-by-step teaching to be successful in their efforts to learn. If a step or skill is missing in their reading or math, they may be discouraged or “lost” in their understanding of how these work. Struggling learners of any age may feel defeated and frustrated. They may have difficulty processing the necessary skills. They may have experienced a physical injury, sickness, or trauma that has kept them from understanding. There may be problems in their family, or their family does not know how to encourage or motivate them to learn.
Children need experience, patience and knowledge given in certain ways to help them learn. Becky Spence (www.thisreadingmama.com) suggests the following procedures:
Explicit teaching. Children need to be taught exactly what they need to learn. They need you or their teacher to tell them what you want them to learn. If it is how many syllables in a word, you must show them by counting or clapping the sound units that make syllables.
Systematic teaching. Children need to build their knowledge about words or numbers one step at a time. Each new lesson or skill must follow an earlier one. They must know what numbers stand for before they can add or multiply.
Multisensory teaching. Children need to hear the lesson, see it, and even feel it to help them remember. Struggling learners need to see the information in different ways. They need to process it in the way that works for them. Seeing it as they hear it, writing it as they see models may help some children. Even moving or dancing to the multiplication tables may help them memorize these facts for easier computing in their future.
Tell me I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin
Consistent teaching. The skill the children are trying to learn happens the same way in most situations. Give children many opportunities to practice until it sinks in. Say those multiplication facts everywhere you go in the car.
Do not let your struggling learners give up. Keep trying until they get it. For some children this may take many repetitions.