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Kindergarten Readiness FREE Printable Book: My Book About Me

May 2, 2013

When my son was in preschool, I created this free Kindergarten readiness book for him. I printed it out, bound it into a 3 ring paper folder, and made a copy for each child in his class and the teachers had the kids work on it for a few months before preschool ended.

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It is both a keepsake book plus, having gone through the ropes with his two older sisters, a Kindergarten readiness book to capture all the academic concepts I thought he needed for Kindergarten:

  • Counting to 10
  • Bonus: counting to 10 in Spanish
  • Letters of the alphabet
  • Bonus: lower case alphabet
  • Days of the Week
  • Colors
  • Bonus: Counting to 100 (and even by 10′s!)

I included some drawing prompts too:

  • Self portrait
  • Favorite animal
  • What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
  • Favorite Thing to Do At Preschool

You can download this FREE printable book: My Book About Me Read more…

Comments: 17 Posted by: Categories: 2) Preschool, Education, Uncategorized
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Teaching Poetry at Home To Your Kids

April 30, 2013

For the last day of April and National Poetry Month, I am so excited to welcome my guest author, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater of poetry picture book Forest Has a Song. She has inspired me, a poetry-phobe to explore poetry with her gentle coaxing so I asked her to please write a post on teaching poetry at home with kids.

In concluding my month celebrating National Poetry Month, I hope that all of us feel more comfortable with poetry and will enjoy it the rest of the year with our kids. What poetry books are your favorites? Please share!

Teaching Poetry at Home to Your Children

Laughing and pointing, all five of us sat and watched as Cali and Sage, our two Border Collie mixes, wrestled on the rug. Charmed again by the antics of animals, nine-year-old Henry commented, “You know…if we didn’t have pets, we would be different people.” Henry was right. And his exact words have stayed in my mind for the past two years; they were a spoken poem. Read more…

Comments: 20 Posted by: Categories: Award Winning Books for Kids
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Best Science Apps for Kids (ages 4-21)

November 4, 2011

Best Apps with Science Concepts for Kids

I am starting to buy into this idea of teaching and really connecting material through games and apps. I was sort of on board with this concept, but since playing around with The Elements (a Harry Potter version of the Periodic Table) that my brother-in-law turned me on to, I am now a believer as I saw, with my own eyes, how captivated my kids were with the Periodic Table, an otherwise dull chart. Since my recollection of Organic Chemistry is quite scant, I really appreciate how I don’t actually have to do much except show my kids where the content is located to get them to read up on the elements. Read more…

Comments: 7 Posted by: Categories: 2) Preschool, 3) Grade K-2, 4) Grade 3-5, 5) Middle School, 7) College, Educational Apps for Kids, Science
best fun way to learn teach multiplication facts skip counting songs for grades three through five third fourth fifth grade math PragmaticMom Pragmatic Mom http://PragmaticMom.com Education Matters

Skip Counting Songs for Multiplication and Division Facts

September 25, 2011

Skip Counting Songs to Learn Multiplication and Division

I was slow to get her oldest to master multiplication facts.  By the middle of third grade, my daughter was tested weekly on multiplication; times twos, times five and times ten were not so hard but then all of a sudden, we had a week to learn x3, then another week for x4, and on and on.  Yikes.  A fast way to learn multiplication was in order.  Luckily, my mom friend was a third grade teacher.  She found that some children learn very effortlessly though song.  These are the skip-counting songs that she taught in her classroom.   Although, my daughter wasn’t that excited to sing these songs, hearing them sung incessantly helped her to master multiplication, and these songs work even better for division.

p.s. Other math posts.

Math Karaoke App for Learning Math Facts

More Multiplication Strategies from Kids That Work

Math Facts Games for Kids

 

Read more…

Comments: 9 Posted by: Categories: 3) Grade K-2, 4) Grade 3-5, Math
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How To: Get an Athletic Scholarship

July 6, 2011

Advice from Boston College Coach on How to Get an Athletic Scholarship

Even if your child does not appear to be the next Tiger Woods, Mia Hamm or other athletic superstar doesn’t mean that athletic ability won’t have any bearing during the college admission process.  If you can follow these tips and tricks and particularly the dos and don’ts, you will be ahead of the game!  As the parent, you will have a backseat, no doubt, during this arduous process of getting your child into his or her dream school, but knowledge is everything.  My mom friend neighbor, who is a Varsity Coach with 14 scholarships, advised me that s/he who prepares early for this process can change the admissions outcome.  It’s a game like any other.  So read on.  This a game changer! Read more…

Comments: 10 Posted by: Categories: 5) Middle School, 6) High School, 7) College, How To:, Parenting
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Top 10: Best Beginning Chapter Book Series (ages 6-9)

July 2, 2011

Easy Chapter Book Series for 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade

Dragons and aliens and dinosaurs, oh my!  And for girls, there are interesting, mischievous girls to meet, as well as cousins who are really sweet. This is a category of early chapter books, beginning chapter book — more advanced than Henry and Mudge but not ready for Newbery Award winners — that is sorely lacking in quality series.  I sought out a bunch of new early chapter book series to f ind more options and I’m happy to say that there are some new good ones!  I also “test drove” out my recommendations on my own kids and their play dates … and the verdict was positive. Ivy and Bean was a hit – twice over.  Cobble Street Cousins were a hit in my 2nd grader’s entire class, and Clementine, though slightly more advanced is well worth the effort.  Read on for the rest! Read more…

Comments: 8 Posted by: Categories: 3) Grade K-2, 4) Grade 3-5, Award Winning Books for Kids, Best Books for Kids, Book Reviews, Reading Lists: Easy Chapter Books, Reading Lists: Grades 3-5, Top 10: Book Lists
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Top 50: Best Multicultural Children’s Books

June 23, 2011

Best Multicultural Books Every Child Should Read

Every summer I stress out about what picture and chapter books to get for my kids that they will like but are also exposing them — as only books can do — to the wide world all around them both past, present and future.

This summer, we are going to take a trip around the world by reading these multicultural books.  What is great about this list is that it covers all the ages of my kids: from preschool through elementary school.

I will be sneaky and check out these books for them and leave them strewn about the house for them to examine when they are bored. I will keep you posted on what books my kids actually liked because that is a whole ‘nother list! See you at the library! Read more…

Comments: 8 Posted by: Categories: 2) Preschool, 3) Grade K-2, 4) Grade 3-5, 5) Middle School, Asian American Children's Books, Award Winning Books for Kids, Best Books for Kids, Non-Fiction for Kids, Reading Lists: Grades 3-5, Reading Lists: Middle School, Reading Lists: Picture Books, Top 10 Thursday, Top 100 Lists
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Best Math Workbooks for Home or Summer Supplementation

May 5, 2011

I find that no matter how good your elementary school is, there is always a need to supplement your child’s math curriculum at home.  For some of my kids, they needed additional challenge that their school was not providing.  For another child, I found that she needed more individualized attention to really “get it.”  All of my kids benefited from additional math fact drills, and home supplementation helped me to understand how my child learns and exactly what each child needed additional practice on. Read more…

Comments: 3 Posted by: Categories: 2) Preschool, 3) Grade K-2, 4) Grade 3-5, Book Reviews, Math
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How To: Detect & Get Rid of Lice

March 23, 2011

How to Detect and Get Rid of Lice

I  have battled lice twice thus far.  Between my school’s PTO website, the summer camp nurse, and the web, I found a plethora of information both helpful and confusing.  Below is what I found to be successful in eradicating lice.  I hope this helps you in your battle against head lice. Read more…

Comments: 12 Posted by: Categories: Health, Sports & Fitness, How To:, Parenting, Product Reviews
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