Tips From The Teacher
AugustWith school starting back up, students may find it difficult to
change from the lazy days of summer to the work filled days of fall. Here are some tips to help you and your child ease into the new school year. 1. Routines – set up routines at home for bed time, wake up, homework, and dinner. Start practicing a couple weeks before school starts. 2. Be Optimistic – help get your child excited to go back to school by modeling your enthusiasm. Go shopping together, talk about old friends they will get to see and the activities they get to be a part of. 3. Take away the strangers – anxiety comes with the new people and situations your child will be placed in, help ease that by introducing your child to a classmate and attend Meet the Teacher, so your child has some points of reference for the first day. 4. Catch up on Sleep – not more late nights and lazy morning, get your child to bed a reasonable time so they aren’t dragging during the school day, start this new procedure early. 5. Pack Healthy Lunches – do some research and prepare healthy lunches for your child. Lunch should provide your child with energy, ice cream from the snack cart, sodas, and junk food will lead to a sugar crash and make the day more difficult for your child. Following these tips will help your child start the year off on the right foot and set them up for a year of success! |
SeptemberRecent research shows that a child who spends 10 - 16 minutes reading a day will be exposed to approximately ONE MILLION WORDS PER YEAR! Not including all we do at school! Imagine if your child increased his or her vocabulary by ONE MILLION more words per year! Reading at home is a HUGE FACTOR in increasing your child's academic performance and critical thinking skills, and in ONLY 10 MINUTES A DAY! So this month's tip - Read nightly with your child! You can read to your child, to introduce him/her to books. You can read together, to build his/her confidence. And your child can read alone, to develop a lifelong reading habit. Try all three ways with your young reader. Reading Aloud Choose books your child cannot read by his/herself yet. For example, get a collection of fairy tales or tall tales, and read a new one each night. When you finish each story, show your youngster the first page of the next on to get them excited about tomorrow’s story. Tip: Continue reading aloud to your child, even when she/he can read on their own. Reading Together Check out two copies of the same book from the library or try a You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You book. Sit down next to your youngster, and read aloud together. Tip: IF you have to work late or go out of town, take a book with you. Call home, and read over the phone while your child reads along. Reading Alone Having books scattered around is a great way to encourage reading alone. Keep shoeboxes of books on your youngster’s toy shelf, in the car, and near their bed. At bedtime, ask your child to read book to you, and then read one to them. Tip: Notice which books she/he picks again and again and look for more by the same author. |
OctoberYour child will be receiving homework this year. I would like your support by asking you to help your child with the homework, but not to do it for him or her. I need to see your child’s best work. There are some things you can do to encourage your child to finish the homework. I would like to share these homework tips with you.
• Set aside daily family time when each family member is engaged in quiet activities while your child does homework. Starting quiet time when children are young establishes the expectation for doing homework and gets them into the routine of studying. • Establish a time and place where homework is to be done. Make sure the table or desk is in a well-lighted area and that needed materials such as paper, pencils, and crayons are available. • Make sure your child understands all assignments. If needed, work through the first question or problem together. If your child does not understand an assignment and you are unable to help, have him or her call a friend or a homework hot line, if available, for help. • Each day, ask whether there is any homework. Even when there isn’t any, the simple act of asking conveys that you consider homework to be an important responsibility. If no specific homework is due, this is a golden opportunity to read together, write a story, take a walk, or just talk together. • Don’t forget to praise your child for homework efforts. |
NovemberChildren of all ages love to listen to stories. And it's fun to read stories to children. You can read books your child has brought home, or you can borrow books form your public library. In any case, it would be good for your child to listen to you read aloud at least three time each week. Below are read-aloud techniques that I thought you might want to use when you read to your child.
• Select books that you'll enjoy and that will spark your child's interest. • Read unfamiliar stories silently first to note places that may need special effects to create drama. • Don't read too fast. Adjust your pace to the story and your child. • Be responsive to your child's reactions and questions. • Encourage your child's participation in the reading session - joining in repeating phrases, making comments, asking questions, predicting what will happen, talking about the illustration, or actually reading parts of the material. • Allow time after reading for a relaxed discussion. This should involved sharing reactions, no quizzing on facts. • Take turns reading aloud. Be a role model by making sure your child sees you read for pleasure. • Never withdraw reading aloud as a punishment or make a child read as punishment. That may destroy all the positive effects of reading aloud. • Make the read-aloud time a special event that your child will anticipate with joy. |
DecemeberThere are many ways you can help your child read at home. Your home is filled with reading material. You might be surprise how much we rely on reading. You might read directions when you cook, clip coupons from the newspaper, read cards or letters from friends, and even junk mail! You read all the time and the reading you do is important. It is reading for a real purpose. You child needs to know
that outside of school there is still reading. Invite your child to read with you during reading times at home. At least once a day, think about one of these reading events and ask your child to join you. Read the directions (or whatever) to your child then ask your child to read them to you. Finally, ask your child what the words are saying. This will help your child on the road to reading! Real reading and writing at home: Write family dairies, cook together and read recipes, collect grocery coupons, read video game directions, design cards and invitations, write letters to relatives, videotape and write about family events, read the TV guide and discss good choices, make a pictorial biography, read and discuss news articles, write thank you notes, prepare a calendar of activities, creat original stories, write messages to each other, read bulletines from school, create photo album captions, sing together, write and file addresses, write a family history, make shopping lists, read menus, read bus schedules, write a family vacation journal, tape-record stories, read cartoons in the newspaper. |
JanuaryOne of the most important qualities of a good student is high motivation. I know your child may be motivated to do many things well, and I want your child also to be highly motivated at school. There are many things you can do at home to increase your child's motivation. I know you do many of these already, but please think about adding a few more to what you already do. You can play a
major role in increasing your child’s motivation to succeed in school. Motivating Your Child to Succeed in School
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FebruaryChildren need a great deal of practice reading. Whenever someone learns something new, he or she needs to learn new techniques and then practice, practice, practice. At school, I spend time teaching your child reading skills. There is time to read, but not nearly enough. It would help tremendously if you would provide a time and place for your child to read at home. Below are some suggestions about ways you can accomplish reading at home.
Reading at Home: How Families Can Help Read aloud to your children, young and old, every day. Alternate family members reading aloud with your children so both male and female models are given. Read and write often for real purposes to serve as a model for your children. Read a novel to your children on long car trips or tape-record books for them to listen to during the ride. Set up a neighborhood Reading Circle where families get together to read and discuss their favorite books. Encourage your children to select books by interest and not necessarily by reading level. Children who are interested in a particular topic may enjoy a book on that subject that they might otherwise consider too easy or too difficult. Discuss books with your children. Encourage your children to write a journal or diary from the point of view of the main character in the book being read. Have your children make hand puppets and act out a book they have read. Encourage your children to explore answers to questions by using informational books. |
MarchChildren who like to write usually like to read, too. Build time for writing into your youngster's everyday life with these easy ideas.
• Describe family fun - Take photographs of a family activity (flying a kite, washing a car). Then, help your child put the pictures in order and write a sentence about each one. This will help her work on sequencing skills as well as writing. • Write a recipe - After making lunch together, you and your youngster can write down how to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich: "Spread peanut butter on tow piece of bread . . ."Suggest that he make up a silly recipe, too (dandelion tacos, sweatshirt stew). He'll have fun - and learn how to write clear directions. • Be a news reporter - Encourage your child to "cover" a family event, such as a trip to the zoo. Explain that reporters begin by asking the "five Ws"; Who? What? Where? When? Why? Your youngster can interview family members, jot down their answers, and compose a story. This will help her develop skills she needs for writing school reports. • Keep a diary - Invite your youngster to record what he does or what he's/she's thinking about each day. He can dictate to you or write in a notebook he keeps by his bed. Your child will learn to write regularly - and he'll enjoy reading about his own life! |
AprilOne of the ways your child is learning to read fluently is by reading with a more skilled reader using a strategy called Echo Reading. In school, your child reads with me and other readers. Reading along with a more skilled reader is both fun for your child and a good learning experience. Echo Reading is described below. Try it with your child.
1. Choose a book that your child can read easily. To find out whether your child can read a particular book, open the book and have your child read a randomly chosen page aloud. If your child stumbles on more than one word out of every 10 words, select an easier book. 2. Place your child on your lap or near you. Hold the book together with your child. 3. Read the book with expression in a soft voice. Have your child read with you. Encourage your child to read with expression. 4. As your child’s reading becomes more fluent, decrease the volume of your voice until he or she is reading alone. 5. Congratulate your child on his or her reading. Remember, your child is learning to read and may make many errors. It’s the practice that counts. |
MayMany of you have more than one child at home, and you may
be interested in appropriate reading activities for children of different ages. Below is a list of suggested reading activities for children of different ages. Many of the ideas can be used at multiple age levels so have trying them out with all your children, regardless of their ages. Preschoolers - Read a bedtime story. - Read the same books over and over. - Give your child markers or paper and pencils and encourage “writing.” - Give your child a chalkboard and chalk. - Write messages to your child. - Label your child’s possessions. - Put magnetic letters on the refrigerator. Five and Six Year Olds - You read to me and I’ll read to you. - Fill in the blanks. Read poetry and verse that rhymes. Stop before the end of the line, having your child fill in the missing word. - Play sound games. A simple starter is, “Riddle, riddle, ree. I see something you don’t see and it starts with T.” - Create a newspaper. - Write a wish list. - Make a calendar and note events. - Write a fill-in-the-blank story. - Write a biography or autobiography. - Make a board game. - Start a memory box. - Cook from a book. Seven and Eight Year Olds - Write a book about something real or imagined. - Keep a journal. - Write a thank-you letter. - Write your own cards. - Keep score at sports events. - Start a scrapbook. - Explore your family’s letters and albums. Nine and Ten Year Olds - Read riddles. -Play thinking games. - Work on projects. - Support scout activities. - Write fractured fairy tales. - Create a camera story. - Write a text for wordless books. Eleven and Twelve Year Olds - Put a book in your child’s room. - Tell about a book you enjoyed. - Start your child on a new series. - Share newspaper articles. - Keep a journal. -Discuss materials read. |