Check out this article that put a smile on our face this morning. This child certainly lucked out when she sent a letter to legendary pirate Jack Sparrow!
Let's bring back the art of letter writing. With a pen, some stationery, and a touch of creativity, the opportunities are endless! Inspiration at its best!
Try it with: Any child, especially those reluctant writers!
A channel to: Work on fine-tuning those writing skills. Letter-writing will help children organize their thoughts.
Grades: K-6
Hooray for the rescued miners in Chile. What an amazing story of survival, hope, and determination that ended with so much joy and answered prayers. I just came across this fabulous visual to share with your kids. Everything the men needed to survive had to fit into canisters that were 3.19 inches wide! Check it out.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/survival_through_a_3_hole.html
It's the first holiday long weekend since the school year began and we have all been busy with new beginnings, routines and adjustments from summer mode. Take some time this weekend to enjoy and spend time with your family.
Here are some ways to get your children involved, engaged, and active this weekend!
1. Enjoy those fall colours! Whether you are up at the cottage or in the heart of the city, get outside and observe the signs of fall. Encourage your child to use his/her senses to experience everything this season has to offer. Your child could create a fall scavenger hunt for the family to complete while on the walk. This checklist is a simple but great starting point. Download CHECKLIST
2. Give Thanks! Encourage your child to write thank you notes for family members. Why not place them on the table to add something special to your table setting? I am thankful for you because...
3. Thanksgiving Words Many children enjoy word games and activities. Print out these examples for your child to use:
4. Become a Leaf Expert! The yards, parks, forests, and sidewalks are covered with leaves. Go on a leaf hunt. Collect leaves and sort them by shape, colour, pattern, etc. Use this opportunity to discuss different types of trees. Does your child know why leaves change colour? Create a leaf collage or do some leaf rubbings!
5. Chef Junior Give your child some responsibilities in the kitchen. I always liked helping my mom with baking. I was given the task of measuring ingredients. This is real life learning at its best! Ask your child to measure that cup of flour or to pour 1/4 tsp of vanilla. Not only will he/she be solidifying math skills, your child will take ownership of helping cook the Thanksgiving meal!
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian followers!
Don't recycle that flyer just yet! Your local store flyer is not only jam-packed with deals, it's bursting with educational activities for any age.
"I Spy" is a classic game that kids love. Not only can it be modified and used with any subject at any age, but it can be made educational and played anywhere because it does not require any materials. Find out what your child is currently learning about, and try using "I Spy" to "study"!
"I spy with my little eye five ways to use this game to help my child understand what is being taught in the classroom.. "
SCIENCE (Living Things and Non-Living Things)
"I spy with my little eye an ant crawling out of its hole. Is it a living thing or a non-living thing?"
SOCIAL STUDIES (Great Lakes and Mapping)
"I spy with my little eye a lake that borders Ontario and the United States."
READING (Phonological Awareness)
"I spy with my little eye something in this park that begins with a "tr" sound."
MATHEMATICS (Measurement)
"I spy with my little eye the distance that we just walked around the block would be best measured in kilometres, inches, or metres?"
TIP: Take advantage of your surroundings. Use signs, license plates, nature, etc. to help your child with his/her learning. Just look around! Almost anything can be made into a learning experience!!
After years of trying to ‘master’ the best way to introduce money to kindergarteners and first graders, I have found the following activities to be great starting points:
Try it with: Kinesthetic learners, children with interest in money and pretend play
Grades: JK - 2
The gift of play is such a valuable part of childhood and an exceptional medium towards authentic learning. Children who entertain themselves keep their imagination and creative juices flowing, all while having a ball.
Kids LOVE hunts..especially when treasure is involved. I remember being so enthralled by the logic that went into creating a hunt and the mystery, anticipation, and surprise element of the hunt itself. Here's my version of the do it at home hunt that may be fun to share with little ones looking for a new game to play.
You'll need: A stack of postits, cluecards, treasure
1. Use post-its to label different rooms in the house with fun names (e.g., the kitchen could be "restaurant", and the family room could be "movie theater"). This adds a certain imaginary element to the game.
2. Think of clues that will lead the hunters to the treasure. Clues will be hidden through the household, but mom, dad, or other family members can be clue givers as well. Try to make clues tricky. ie: Clue #1: "go to the room where fabulous tastes are enjoyed and find your next clue beneath sweet things" (clue would be hidden near Oreos in the kitchen).
3. Walk through the hunt with the clues and put them in the correct place (or give them to people if they are part of the clue). Place the treasure in the last destination.
Great for: weekend fun with family and friends
Try it with: the creative student, students into mystery
A Channel to: practice creative clue writing , logic and organization of putting a hunt together, reading and code breaking
Grades: 2-5
This morning we take our first peek into a little girl's "activity cupboard" which happens to be my very own. I recently came across three very special booklets which brought back so many memories of a summer spent knot tying colorful strings. Friendship bracelets were a fad and I LOVED them so much I decided to create my own "business" and sell bracelets I made to friends and family. Pictured below are the catalogs featuring my color offerings, pricing list, and account book.
Isn't this such a beautiful example of authentic, cross curricular learning? Little did I know, but I was practicing writing, math, and developing accountability and organization skills, all while having fun exploring my creative side. The beauty of activities such as these is that they begin organically, with a simple, innate interest of a child. We hope this can inspire you to encourage learning experiences such as these at home.
A channel to: develop passions, promote and celebrate a talent or a hobby
After having built a pretty impressive sandcastle on the beach with my nephew the other day, without noticing it, the ‘teacher’ in me took over. We started making the alphabet in the sand using sticks as 'pencils'. I would ask him to make a letter, and he would trace a large upper-case letter, just as he was taught in junior kindergarten. This ended up being a great review of the alphabet without having to sit down with paper and pencil. And, you can practice just about anything on the beach - even simple math problems. What a nice way to ease into the upcoming school year!
Image Source: http://75.101.247.206/image/beach_art_2.jpg
Want to continue with sand at home? Put some sand onto a cookie sheet and voila - you have a medium that is much more interesting than pencil and paper. Practice handwriting, letter formation, anything! I did it in my classroom...and it definitely was the highlight of 17 kiddos that day.
Great for: learning on the go,
Try it with: tactile learnersA Channel to: showing children that there are many fun ways to practice writingGrades: JK-2
There is much research that suggests that a significant barrier to parent involvement is lack of knowledge of educational theory and minimal guidance from schools and teachers. Through our blog, we hope to impart a little bit about our experiences and insights in education and share some of the exciting resources and activities that will surely be a hit at home. Our goal is to help connect learning at school with authentic, real life learning opportunities at home. "Because when you get right down to it, every parent is a teacher, and education begins at home." Leonard Sax, MD.
And while we're at it, we thought we'd share another cool resource - Wordle. It is a web based application that allows you to create word clouds - a fantastic text based visual. Check out the wordle I created from this post..
Great for: supplemental reading or writing activity at home. Have your little one write a little blurb about their day at school, or their summer vacation and "wordle" it.
Try it with: the creative student, visual learners, storytellersA Channel to: make reading or writing fun!Grades: 2-5
