Wow! You’ve come a long way, baby! In the 1980s and 1990s, educators and policy-makers were jumping on the bandwagon to provide free kindergarten programs in all public schools. The reasoning then was that after a year of kindergarten, every child would finally enter first grade ready to learn. Fast-forward to 2015. Now policy makers … Continue reading Academic Achievement For All—When Are Children Ready to Learn?
When you are ready to teach letter names and sounds to your preschool/kinder students, it is nice if you can post large size letters on the wall so your child can look at them frequently. Just as when teaching colors and shapes, to make it easier for your child, you should post and teach only … Continue reading Preschool—Learning ABC’s
This week I have a FREE chart for you to help you teach number-symbols 1-10. You should start with the chart for numbers 1-5 first, and add the chart for numbers 6-10 when your child knows the first five numbers very well. Your child can begin to learn to match number symbols to the correct … Continue reading Beginning Preschool—Learning Numbers
You may want to teach some basic shapes to your younger preschoolers as well as teaching them color names. As I mentioned in the previous blog, it is better to teach one at a time than all of them at once, to avoid confusion. You might like to post them on the refrigerator. Ask your … Continue reading Beginning Preschool—Learning Shapes
If you have preschool students, you are probably teaching them some basic things they need to learn before kindergarten. If your young student does not know names of colors yet, we are providing a free printable set of flashcards to teach colors. Some young children mix up the names of colors when they are learning … Continue reading Beginning Preschool—Learning Colors
It’s nearly fall and children are going back to school. Whether you homeschool or your children attend public or private school, you may enjoy doing this activity with your preschool or kindergarten student. At ages 4 and 5, children should still be playing a lot of the time, so learning should be casual and informal. … Continue reading Back to School – Make Your Own ABC Book!
At what age should your child begin to learn to print letters and numbers? Years ago, children were not expected to begin formal schooling before age six so this topic was not as much of an issue. Many parents now fear if they do not teach handwriting at an early age, their child may lag … Continue reading Handwriting – When Should You Teach Your Child How to Print?
6 – Diagnosing Children with Reading Problems This blog post will begin to address the difficulties of struggling readers and how parents can begin to understand the problem and help their students. Reading can break down at any of these points when students are not explicitly taught the sound patterns in English. We will cover … Continue reading Sound Bytes Reading: Top Ten Blogs in 2013—Part 2
1 - All Students Reading at Grade Level by the End of Third Grade? The goal: Every child reading on grade level by the end of third grade? No! The goal should be: Every child reading on grade level by the end of first grade! With this goal in mind, we must use effective research-based … Continue reading Sound Bytes Reading: Top Ten Blogs in 2013—Part 1
Is the heat keeping your kids indoors at the end of the summer? Need a fresh idea to keep the kids busy? Here’s an art project that is fun and easy and can be easily adjusted up or down in difficulty depending on the age and ability of each child. You will need: a few … Continue reading An Art Project in August—Free Family Fun—Part 1