2013 Family Resolutions

Most people set individual New Year's resolutions.  This year, consider making family resolutions.  Choose to focus on creating simple habits around the basics of nutrition, exercise and family time.  Below are five small changes you can make to easily intergrate valuable new habits into your family's routine in 2013:

1. Always eat breakfast.
    -It is important for every member of the family to not skip breakfast and start the day with a healthy meal.

2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
    -Water makes up nearly 60 percent of our body composition and is a critcal component with many uses.  So, how much water should each family member drink? Men and women need to have a daily intake of 88-120 ounces and kids need between 40 and 64 ounces.

3. Plan for sleep.
    -Getting your family on a regular sleep schedule can have all kinds of benefits.  As a rule, children between the ages of 3 and 6 need 11 to 12 hours of sleep per night, while childre between 7 and 12 need 10 to 11 hours and teenagers need 8 to 9 hours.

4. Move your bodies.
    -Exercise is a critical component to regulating stress. Find an exercise that builds on something your and your family already love to do. 

5. Focus on gratitude.
    -Starting the year off with a healthy outlook helps build commitment.  You can encourage positive thinking by focusing on what you have, rather than on what you don't have.  Here's a simple technique that will open you up to gratitude: Go around the dinner table and have each family member say two things they are grateful for that day.

By following even one or two of these thips, you will improve your family's health and create positivie experiences and memories for the year ahead.

Happy New Year!

-Tips are from Julie Hammerstein a certified nutritionist, an expert in weight loss and family wellness.

Active, Healthier Kids in 2013

Make it a New Year's resolution to help your child be more active in 2013 and enjoy the great outdoors!  A moving body is good for growing brains.  In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed 50 scientific studies on the benefits of exercise; the majority of these studies showed the more school-age children exercised, the better their school performance and over all health. 

Here are six tips to help get your child moving:

1. Encourage movement while they watch.  While viewing TV, let children jump on a mini trampoline or flex their muscles with exercise bands.

2. Take family walks.  This is a great time to reconnect as a family and talk about the day's activities.

3. Practice anytime, anywhere exercises.  Teach your child to flex while he stands or sits.  When your child is standing around, encourage him to do squates, go up and down on his toes, and flex his knees.  When sitting, encourage her to arch her feet up and down, which flexes the muscles in the front and back of the legs.

4. Work their muscles while they ride.  Have your child flex a little squeeze ball during car rides-the movement will work their muscles and make the drive more enjoyable.

5. Take the stairs.  When possible, take your kids up or down the stairs instead of on elevators and escalators.

6. Get your child involved in a vigorous sport.  Kids who are struggling academically often improve when more time is spent in athletics.

-These tips are from Bill Sears, M.D., father of eight and author of 42 books on family health.  He has been a practicing pediatrician for 40 years.

Traveling over the holidays? Make it educational and fun for the whole family!

During the holiday season, you may be spending more time in the car traveling to family gatherings. Here are a few suggestions, apart from movies, that may help to entertain and educate your child while you are making those long journeys away from home. The whole family can participate in these activities. Encourage older siblings to lead some of the word and number games.

 

1. Sing-alongs: Young children enjoy singing familiar tunes. You can use rhyming patterns in nursery rhymes and put the rhymes into singing tunes. Try singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or Little Boy Blue. Young children like to sing counting pattern songs like: One, Two, Buckle my Shoe, This Ole Man, He Played One, or Five Little Monkeys. Singing the Alphabet song is a popular tune. Try teaching your child oldies but goodies like: Ole McDonald had a Farm or She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain, When She Comes.

 

2. Books on CD: Use the car CD player and have the matching book for your child to follow along with the story or download stories onto an MP3 player for your child to listen and follow along to.  This will keep your child engaged and entertained while you’re driving to your appointed destination.

 

3. Talking games:

 

• Name that Category: name four objects, three of which belong together in the same category and one item does not fit. Have your child listen for the item that does not fit with the other three.

For example: cat, dog, house, and rabbit: Which one does not belong? milk, juice, water, and box: Which one does not belong? pencil, shoe, pen, and marker: Which one does not belong? Soon your child will be making up his own lists for this game!

• Name that number: think of a simple word problem that will help your child improve in listening and problem solving skills. For example: You have two apples and I gave you one more. How many apples do you have now? You have six toys and you give your brother three, how many do you have left?

• Guessing games: Play “I Spy” or “I'm thinking of a number”. These activities will keep your child engaged in a thoughtful manner as they use the clues to uncover the mystery word or number.

 

4. Storytime: Select familiar Fairy Tales like: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood; or talk about family events and happenings that would be of interest to your child. Either way, you are helping your child develop good listening and language skills.

Holiday Shopping Math Strategy

Shopping for Christmas bargains offers a great opportunity to help your child understand percentages. Select an item from the 50% off rack. Show your child the label for the original price of the item. Help your child decide what the cost will be with 50% off the original cost. For example: a shirt cost $24.00 before the sale. Now the price is 50% off. To determine the 50% off, multiple the cost times .50 and then subtract the amount from the original price: $24.00 X .50 = $12.00. $24.00- $12.00 = $12.00. So now the shirt costs $12.00. Also show your child that 50% off means the same as “half price”.


Try other percentages with discounts of 20%, 30%, and 40% to practice this math strategy.

Remember to multiple the original cost by the % written in decimal form and then subtract the answer from the original cost to determine the discounted price. Here are a few to practice with:

$40.00 X .20 = $8.00; $40.00 - $8.00 = $32.00 Sale price with 20% off

$40.00 X .30 = $12.00; $40.00 - $12.00 = $28.00 Sale price with 30% off

$40.00 X .40 = $16.00; $40.00 - $16.00 = $24.00 Sale price with 40% off

This activity will give your child practice with multiple-step math problems that he/she will need to know how to do in school. The more practice in real life situations your child experiences, the more likely he/she will be able to complete the problem solving activities on standardized tests.

WRITING IDEAS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON

During the holiday break, encourage your child to improve in writing skills by using some of these quick and fun ideas.

1. Use your senses to describe the Holiday Season

• The smells of the season……

• The sights of the season…..

• The sounds of the season….

• The tastes of the season…..

• Christmas (Hanukah) makes me feel……..

2. Writing lists

• Grocery lists

• Santa wish list

• Things to do before Christmas list

• Places we will travel during the break list

3. Writing notes

• Make “thank you” note cards

• Make your own Holiday cards

• Make your own New Year’s Day cards

• Write a note to your best friend about your holiday experiences

4. Handwriting exercises

• Practice writing on lined paper

• Draw a picture and write a sentence to match the picture

• Practice writing words in alphabetical order

• Write words from the newspaper that begin with the same letter

• Write words from magazines that have blends

• Practice cursive lettering (second through fifth graders)


These are only a few of the many ways to engage your child in writing during the holiday break. Maybe your child can write in a diary or journal every day. Whatever you choose; make this an enjoyable time with your child.

E-Reader: A Great Holiday Gift for Children

E-readers for beginning and young readers

Research has shown that reading with and to your child daily for just 20 minutes will make a difference in the child's academic progress. Reading can come in different forms, not just library books. The main emphasis needs to be on "child engagement" with the reading, not just passive listening. Think about these questions:

1. Is the child an active listener?

2. Is the child questioning and answering questions correctly or creatively?

3. Is the child showing excitement and interest in the reading?

4. Can the child recall details and express an understanding in the reading?



If the answer to all of these questions is "yes", then the child is considered "engaged" in the reading. Now the question arises as to the type of reading media available for the child. Obviously we want children to experience good literature, classic stories, and the many genres available in print but introducing an E-reader to a child is a fantastic way to engage the reader. E-readers provide the motivational tools to hook a child on reading. The animation, colors, and instant feedback are exciting and encouraging to the young reader. E-readers are an acceptable media device to get children reading. And if they are spending their time engaged in the text, they are learning the necessary steps to becoming life-long learners.

Improved Reading Skills = A Better Grasp of Vocabulary

INCREASING VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE


The amount of reading that students do in and out of school increases their ability to learn a wide range of vocabulary. Research supports the value of exposing students to rich language environments through listening and reading a variety of literature selections.

For students, their vocabulary grows when they hear stories that contain unfamiliar words. Increasing the volume of reading increases opportunities to interact with vocabulary and word meaning.

Students need repeated exposure to vocabulary in order to improve comprehension. After specific words have been introduced, students need opportunities to see those words again and again in reading and writing. They need to develop strategies that will assist in learning word meaning so that this information can be transferred to new situations.

Here are a few word learning strategies that students should know by third grade:

• Using a dictionary to locate word meaning

• Using context clues in reading to determine meanings

• Learning about word relationships such as: synonyms, antonyms, and multiple meaning words

• Exploring meanings that are similar

• Using word parts such as: prefixes, suffixes, and root words

A large and flexible vocabulary is the hallmark of an educated person. The more words students acquire the better chance they will have for success in reading, writing, and spelling.

No Shoes - No Problem!

We learned so much recently on our trip to Finland to study the phenomenal Finnish educational reform efforts taking place that have resulted in Finnish students being ranked number one globally. 

One of the most unique aspects of Finnish students is the fact that they do not wear shoes in school!

Check out the link below to learn 26 amazing facts about the Finnish Educational System!

http://www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12?op=1

2012 Election Time for Parents and Students

As the 2012 presidential election draws near, it’s a great time to teach kids how our electoral process works. Take this opportunity to help our children develop a love and appreciation for our country and the freedoms we have.


Elementary school children can get involved in learning about elections. Use resources, such as: newspapers, magazines, television, and internet to locate information concerning the local candidates and presidential candidates. You can use sample ballots to preview the voting process with your child. This will help your child understand the procedures for voting. Plan to take your child with you to the voting poll. Some precincts will allow your child to stand with you while you cast your votes. Afterwards, your child can wear the “I Voted” sticker and feel proud of this experience.

During the election night tallies, include your child in watching the reports from the different precincts. Talk about how the President of the United States is elected by the electoral votes from each state.

Your kids watch what you do and your actions tell them what you value. One of the most important things you can do for your child is to pass on your own love for America. Set an example of patriotism and teach your child about the voting process and much more about being an American.

10 Ways to Volunteer at Your Child's School

TEN WAYS TO HELP YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL

Research tells us that parents and family members can make a difference in their child’s education by being involved in their child’s school operation. There are many ways you can be a part of your child’s education that go beyond coming to school events. Here are ten ways parents and family members can help their community school provide the best education possible for all children.

1. Join the PTA/PTO. Support the Parent Teacher Association by becoming an active member. The PTA provides opportunities for adults to support school programs, become advocates for educational change, and to gain leadership experience qualities.

2. Attend School Board meetings. Be informed about your school district and how educational policies are enforced. Be an advocate for your school and for your child’s education.

3. Donate a book and school supplies. You can help a child with needed school supplies or books by donating items to your community school.

4. Share computer skills. Offer to lead computer training sessions for other adults or students in conjunction with the PTA program director or school principal.

5. Share time and talents. Maybe you have a special hobby or skill that you can demonstrate to a group of students. Share your idea with the school principal.

6. Organize a field trip. Communicate with your child’s teacher about special community venues that would be valuable learning experiences for students and help to organize a field trip for a class.

7. Start a cleaning crew on school grounds. Maybe you enjoy working on landscaping and would be willing to organize a “grounds beautification” committee to improve the landscaping at your community school. Share your ideas with the school principal to get this started.

8. Volunteer at the school library. Help to shelve books, assist students select books, donate money to buy new books, and read to children. Talk with the school librarian and have your name added to the volunteer list.

9. Volunteer to be a ‘book buddy’. If your enjoy reading with children, the book buddy program pairs adults with young readers to give them extra reading time at school. Talk with your school principal if you would like to work with the reading program.

10. Work at home for school. Ask your child’s teacher if there are tasks that you can do at home that would help out in the classroom. You can help to fold paper into writing booklets, cut out shapes, staple packets together, or sort items into bundles. Your help can free the teacher to do other curriculum studies.



Maybe this list will help you and your family to become an educational partner with your community school. By becoming a partner in the school, you are showing your child the importance of a good education and how families and school personnel can work together to ensure that all children can be successful and achieve high expectations.

Creating Independent Thinkers

Helping Children Make Good Decisions


As parents, we want our children to make good choices and have the “right” answers. But making decisions for our kids does not give them the practice they need for making decisions for themselves.

Decision making opportunities will strengthen the brain and actually make it work better. The brain is like a muscle and needs to be exercised. By using the brain through critical thinking exercises, the brain begins to function stronger and perform better. When it is ignored, the brain doesn’t develop optimally therefore losing some of its power to function. That’s what we mean by “use it or lose it”. But you can make a difference for your child. Provide lots of opportunities to exercise decision making and problem solving activities through questioning, playing games, and discussing life situations.



A simple exercise to use with young children to help exercise their brain is to give your child choices. For example, asking your child, “Do you want to wear the red shirt or the yellow one?” When you offer a choice, the child has to “think” about his answer. This simple activity stimulates the brain cells into action. Then as kids get older, you can give them more responsibility in decision making. Allow your child to work out a scheduling conflict when two events occur on the same date. Let your child decide which one to attend rather than you making the choice.



An allowance is another terrific way to give older kids practice with decision making. This becomes a powerful way to exercise the brain when a dilemma arises on how to spend the money or whether to save it for later. The point is to let your child wrestle with the decision and allow him/her to live with the consequences. The main thing for you as the parent to do is try to avoid resolving all of your child’s problems. You want to be supportive but give your child a chance to make minor mistakes and learn life’s lessons along the way.

Word Games Equal Student Success

Having Fun with Words

Do you want your child to have a successful learning experience in school? Of course you do! Reading research tells us that children need to have a robust vocabulary in order to be successful in all content subjects. By developing a strong vocabulary for listening, speaking, reading, and writing, children will have a higher achievement rate on their standardized testing, reading comprehension, and academic progress. A fun way to increase vocabulary is through word games. Try some of these suggestions to excite your child about learning vocabulary.



Charades

Use vocabulary words, history or science terms, geometric shape words, famous names, places or things. Take turns “acting out” and guessing the words. This is a great game to use dramatic expression and to build vocabulary knowledge. The whole family can enjoy this game, as one member uses body movement and hand gestures, without talking, to describe the mystery word.



Password

This game is played by giving one word clues to guide the partner to guess the mystery word. This is a great way to practice synonyms and antonyms and to assess your child’s understanding of the word’s meaning.

This game can be done with two sets of partners. Partners A select the mystery word and takes turn giving one word clues to partner B. The first B partner, who guesses the word correctly, earns the point. Then Partners B selects the mystery word to give A’s a chance to guess. The team with the most points after 10 words, wins the game.



Scattergories

This is a fast thinking categories’ game. Players make a list of words that begin with a specific letter to fit into an assigned category. For example:

Category: Animals

Letter: b

Word List must consist of as many animal names that begin with b.

Letter: r

Word list must consist of as many animal names that begin with r.

Word lists are compared and points are earned for the “extra” words that no one else thought of.



I am sure that your family can think of many other word games to play, these are only a few examples of some of the ways that your child can have fun with words.

Make the Most of Your Parent/Teacher Conference

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES

The purpose of the parent/teacher conference time is to improve student achievement. Teachers and parents can’t accomplish this goal alone. Through collaboration and communication, parents and teachers can make a difference in providing the best education possible for all children.



How can the P/T Conference time be most effective for student achievement?

Here are some guidelines for talking with your child’s teacher about his/her progress.



1. Schedule a time that you can talk with your child’s teacher. Select a time that you will not be rushed. You will want to be free to talk honestly with the teacher. During the conference, the teacher will share strengths and weaknesses in all subject areas, assessment data, and student behavior.



2. Be prepared to ask specific questions concerning your child’s progress. For example:

• How much time should my child spend on reading and math each evening?

• How much time should he be spending on homework?

• What can I do to help my child with spelling (or any subject of concern)?

• Should I be teaching my child how to write in cursive?

• What can I do to get my child to go to bed early? (or wake up on time to catch the bus)?



3. Be prepared to share information about your child’s behaviors at home that may affect his progress at school. Your child’s teacher needs to know about eating and sleeping habits that may affect your child’s attention in school. If there are family issues that impact your child’s progress, feel free to share these with the teacher.



4. Let the teacher know about any concerns you may have about your child. If your child is coming home from school with concerns about the school day, share these with the teacher. She will address these concerns professionally.



5. Ask the teacher for examples of how you can help your child at home. For example:

• Show me how to do the math problems.

• Show me how to help my child on spelling, handwriting, or reading.



When you attend parent/teacher conferences, you are showing your child that you, not only value the importance of a good education, but also care about his/her work ethics in the classroom. The time spent in parent/teacher conferences can lay the foundation for building a strong working relationship between the home and school.

"Parenting/Relationships" by Jim Rohn

 Jim Rohn shares his expertise on leadership and parenting...

One person caring about another represents life's greatest value.

Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.

The greatest gift you can give to somebody is your own personal development. I used to say, "If you will take care of me, I will take care of you." Now I say, "I will take care of me for you if you will take care of you for me"

The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy.

There is no greater leadership challenge than parenting.

If you talk to your children, you can help them to keep their lives together. If you talk to them skillfully, you can help them to build future dreams.

Leadership is the great challenge of the 21st century in science, politics, education, and industry. But the greatest challenge in leadership is parenting. We need to do more than just get our enterprises ready for the challenges of the twenty-first century. We also need to get our children ready for the challenges of the 21st century.

Questions Every Parent Should Ask Their Child's Teacher

Questions for Your Child’s Teacher

As busy parents preparing for the new school year, you want to get your child off to a great start. You may be unsure how to assist your child’s adjustment to the next grade level and new teacher. So here are some direct questions you can use to ease your apprehensions about the new school year.

Ask your child’s teacher:

1. Aside from reports cards, what are the best ways to keep up with my child’s progress in your class?

2. What are the expectations for doing well in your class?

3. How can I find out my child’s reading and math levels?

4. Does my child have opportunities to work above grade level in reading and math?

5. What support can the school offer my child who may be struggling with reading or math?

6. How can I help at home so my child will be successful in your class?

Gear your questions toward focusing on your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Never be afraid to open up to the teacher about any concerns you may have concerning your child’s education.

We all want the best education possible for our children. To make this happen, the home, school, and community must form partnerships that focus on the positive growth and development of all children.

Is Your Home Ready for Homework?

PREPARING THE HOME FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

As a parent, your support of your child’s education is vital for his/her success in school. Here are 10 Tips for preparing your home for doing homework assignments.

1. Schedule time each day for homework: set aside 30-45 minutes to complete assignments. Remember to plan 20 minutes of reading time with your child every day. This will help your child to keep reading skills sharp and to maintain reading on grade level.

2. Provide space and supplies: select a location in your home for your child to have a work space that is uncluttered. Have paper and pencils available to complete assignments.

3. Set time with few distractions: the TV should be turned off during homework time. Small children can be entertained with quiet games during this time.

4. Set rules and guidelines: plan with your child the necessary expectations for completing the work in a timely manner.

5. Offer help and check over the work: offer to assist your child but it is very important that he/she completed the work on his/her own. Look over the finished papers to see if directions had been followed correctly.

6. Have a plan for returning the work: assist child in returning the completed work to school the next day. Help your child to organize the book bag or folders to place the homework papers. Remind your child to turn the work in the next day.

7. Sign and return homework journals: many classes have homework agendas or journals to show parents have seen their child’s work so you will want to follow this plan to record your assistance.

8. Keep the lines of communication open between the home and school: feel free to contact your child’s teacher when needed. Take advantage of open house, conferences, and volunteer opportunities, as they arise, so you can keep informed about your child’s progress in school.

9. Tell the teacher if the homework is either too hard or too easy: homework is designed to give your child practice in important skills. If the homework doesn’t match your child’s skill level, contact the teacher to seek her advice.

10. Schedule conference time at least twice a year: it is so important to have a face to face conference time with your child’s teacher early in the school year and again near the end. This will keep you informed concerning reading and math progress. When you understand your child’s progress, you can offer assistance when needed.



By following these tips, you will show your child that your family values a good education and hard work. By working with your child’s teacher, the partnership will help your child have a successful school year.

Sleep Schedules and a Successful School Year

Making Routine Adjustments for the New School Year

The new school year is quickly approaching and many families are getting ready to transition from summer vacation to the academic routines of school. Making this adjustment for your child begins with adjusting a few schedules in the home. To help your child settle into the new routines more smoothly, consider adjusting their sleep schedules.

Instead of going to bed earlier in the evening, wake up earlier each day. If your child has been sleeping late each morning during the summer, to prepare for the early wake up time for school, gradually adjust wake up time by 30 minutes each day; until the desired time has been met. By getting up earlier, your child will eventually go to bed earlier without any arguments because his body will require the extra resting time.

For example: If your child needs to wake up at 7:00 AM to have time to get ready for school but he’s been sleeping until 8:30 during the summer, tomorrow wake him up at 8:00; the next day at 7:30, and the next day at 7:00. Continue the 7:00 wake-up call even on the weekends. Your child may have been staying up late during the summer, but with the early wake-up call, his body will make the adjustments to going to bed earlier.

To keep your child rested and healthy for school, plan a routine of 10 hours of sleep every night. His growing body and brain needs plenty of rest everyday to be ready to learn and perform in school.

Conversations with Children

You can help to increase your child’s speaking and listening vocabulary by engaging in daily conversations. Research has shown that the more words a child hears by the age of two, the better his/her vocabulary will be. Here are a few things that you can do at home to help increase your child’s understanding of words in our language.


1. Encourage your child to talk with you. You can engage your child in a conversation at the end of the day by asking questions like: How was your day? What fun things did you do today? Tell me about the books you read today or about the school project you are working on.

2. Let your child guide the conversation. Have your child initiate the topic for discussion. Encourage him to talk about his favorite toy or game. If your child knows that you are interested in listening to him, he will be more willing to share ideas or experiences with you.

3. Use correct grammar when engaging your child in conversation. Don’t try to correct your child, but rather, respond with the correct usage of grammar by turning a statement into a question. If your child says, “I ain’t got the right book to do my homework.” You can respond by saying, “You don’t have the right book for homework?” You can model for your child the correct grammar without making him feel uncomfortable talking with you.

4. Teach your child a new word everyday. You can select vocabulary words that can be used frequently during the day. The more practice given to the use of a word, the better chance that word will become a part of your child’s regular vocabulary. Some word choices might be: great or elegant instead of good; completed or finished instead of done. Try using elaborate descriptive words and your child will begin to mimic you, too. You can keep a “word log” and record the word of the day. Have your child keep tally marks for the word usage. At the end of the week, review the words learned and have your child select his/her favorite new word.

5. Play listening games where your child will have to use “his words” to describe what he hears. Tell your child to close his eyes and listen to the sounds around him. Can he identify what is making the sound by describing the source? What is making that sound? Tell me what it looks like and sounds like from your mind’s eye? Your child will need to picture the item in his mind and then describe it with his vocabulary words. This could be a quiet game to try when sitting down in the evening before going to bed.



Take advantage of the time you have with your child to engage in rich conversations that will develop skills for speaking and listening. By enriching your child with vocabulary development, you are helping your child gain the language skills necessary for reading and writing.

Summer Reading for Students with Special Needs

Some key points that will benefit children with learning disabilities:


1. Read aloud everyday and set a good example for your child that reading is important to you (the parent).


2. Take advantage of summer reading programs in your local library and help your child to locate books of interest on his/her reading level. Show your child that reading is fun and build a love for books.


3. Help your child create a scrapbook or journal over the summer that includes pictures, writings, and drawings to reflect the activities that the family shared in. This book can be used to reminisce all of the ways the family spent time together and can be used to generate a conversation that will build language skills with your child.


4. Include "reading around the neighborhood" a part of the daily routine when out and about in the car. Help your child read signs, banners, postings on the road, in the grocery store or wherever print is available. Soon your child will begin to initiate the search for reading opportunities.

Summer reading time is a great opportunity for parent/child bonding. Take advantages of opportunities to engage your child in reading and the joy of reading.

Summer Writing Activities

Parents, have you thought about ways to engage your child in creative writing activities during the summer vacation? Here are a few strategies that will make writing entertaining and worthwhile for your child that can be used on rainy days, vacation trips, camping trips, visits to Grandma’s, or any day your child feels the need to be creative. I have gathered a supply list and writing ideas that can spark your child’s creativity with paper and pen. Who knows, you just might have a budding author in your presence.


Supply List

1. Paper: plain white paper, construction paper, scrap paper from packaging, lined yellow tablet, cardboard sheets, index cards, note pads, cards, notebooks, envelopes

2. Writing tools: pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils, markers, finger paints, water colors, tempera paint, chalk

3. Shoe box with lid: use a shoe box to collect the items needed for writing. This box will keep the writing items together for storage and for travel. Your child can decorate this box and use it for keeping all of the writing materials for many hours of entertainment.

Writing Ideas

1. Making signs: help your child make signs for identifying the rooms in your home, for example: “Tommy’s Room”, “Dad’s Room”, “Kitchen”, “Closet”, etc.

2. Make labels: help your child make labels for personal items and things around the house. Label cards or sticky notes could include: Toy Box, Door, Television, Chair, Refrigerator, Cabinet, etc.

3. Dictate Stories: encourage your child to tell you stories and you write them down. Have your child read the story back to you in his own words.

4. Inventive Spelling: encourage your child to write stories on his own but not to worry about the correct spelling of words. Tell your child to ‘write the letters for the sounds of the word’ and not to worry about the spelling. Inventive spelling will give your child practice in using encoding skills learned in school.

5. Different kinds of writings: write letters to family members and friends. Write “thank you” notes for gifts. Write grocery lists for shopping. Write a “to do” list for chores.

6. Artistic writing: draw a picture and write a sentence to describe the drawing. Use colored pencils and make “rainbow” words. Use finger paints or water colors to illustrate a painting and then write a story about the drawing.

7. Journal or Writing Log: older children can keep a journal or writing log to record daily activities. A notebook or booklet made from construction paper and stapled sheets will make a journal that can become a keepsake for your child’s summer adventures.



The most important thing to remember is that these writing activities should be fun for your child. Give your child the opportunity to select the writing tools and paper choices. Encourage your child to use these items in a variety of ways to enhance creativity and to spark a love for writing.

Six Successful Innovations for a Summer of Learning

The following are some teachable moments you can find with your child this summer:




1. Continue reading over the summer – Just because school is out, that is no reason to cease the 15 – 30 daily minutes your child’s teacher recommended during the school year. Find cool books to tie into your summer vacation, trips to the pool or summer camp. For example, if your family is headed to the beach this summer, try a fun read for younger kids like Magic Beach by Crockett Johnson or Ladybug Girl Goes to the Beach by David Soman and Jacky Davis. For fun activities – The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea by Helaine Becker will not disappoint. For older children, the following two books have won Virginia Readers’ Choice Awards from the Virginia State Reading Association and will set the tone for the sea: Heart of Samurai by Margi Preus for middle school students and Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi for high school students. These books, and books by Successful Innovations, are available locally at Givens Books/Little Dickens in Lynchburg, and online.

2. Suggest your child keep a summer journal and write in “story format” with an opening, body and closing for each entry. The journal can become a scrapbook by adding memorabilia like tickets from the zoo or movies, swim meet ribbons or artwork from summer camp.

3. Have your child visit the grocery story with you and learn about healthy food options and label-reading. Ask your child to keep a running total of your purchases and to give you an estimate of what you will owe at check-out.

4. Learn sun safety at the pool and prior to your visit. Check out the following websites for information on sun safety - www.sunsafetyforkids.org or www.epa.gov/sunwise/kids.

5. Take early morning or late evening walks to keep up the physical education focus. Take time to notice and learn about nature. Track your mileage and keep a log.

6. Limit TV and video games. Get out some old-fashioned board games like Clue, Monopoly and LIFE that teach critical thinking and life skills.

Family Dinner Time

Today, families are pulled in lots of different directions, which can make it hard to meet at dinnertime. Yet for those who make it a priority, family meals can be a chance to connect, relax together, and bond. There's something about a shared meal that anchors a family, even on nights when kids are irritable. Research shows that children and teens who eat with their families are less likely to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, or consider suicide. They tend to do better in school, delay having sex, and have better relationships with their parents.

"In a challenging world, family belonging provides a safe haven for parents and children alike. Family dinners not only satisfy our physical and emotional needs, but also offer a time and place to consciously teach our children the value of caring for others." - Gayle Peterson, Prenatal and Child Development Specialist