Exposing infants to language, even another foreign language is actually great for a baby’s brain development the latest research shows. Articles from NPR and the New York Times. I also have the foreign language DVDs that we used with our kids when they were young (that they actually enjoyed watching).
Category: Education
Education and parenting. Helping your child with reading, math, science and getting along with others.
Learn Chinese Words and Culture Through Books for Kids
Mandarin Chinese is becoming very popular in the United States. I review a small stack of books that cover learning Mandarin Chinese as well as Chinese Culture including The House Baba Built by Ed Young, Find Out About China: Learn Chinese Words and Phrases, Life in China, History and Culture, Ni Hao series and Chinese Paradise series.
Top 10: Fundraising Tips for Your School’s Auction
I was the co-chair for my elementary school Fundraising Committee last year and also served on my preschool’s fundraising committee a few years ago. For both schools, the auction is the single biggest fundraising event and must bring in a princely sum in order for the PTO budgets to function. This is what I learned to make an school auction successful:
Apps for Autistic Children
Thank you to Dad developer Kyle Tomson of Mobile Education Store, for letting me repost his great article on apps for high functioning autistic children who benefit from the language aspects of these apps. Kyle has a daughter, Caitlin, who is very high functioning on the autism spectrum so this topic is very near and dear to his heart, so much so that he just went and developed them himself!
iPad apps for Autistic Kids
The iPad is turning out to be a great communication tool for autistic children. At West Prairie South Elementary School, the iPad was introduced to help non verbal children communicate at the suggestion of their superintendent. The full article by Lainie Steelman is here. Here are some key paragraphs:
Learning Mandarin Chinese Words, 40 Most Common Characters
This is from my oldest child’s Chinese teacher at school. These are the 40 most common Chinese characters. The chart shows the pronunciation, stroke order, and how the character is used in other, more complicated characters. Try drawing these with a calligraphy brush and a Chinese ink stone.
Learning Through Gaming from a 3rd Grade Teacher!
Ananth Pai is a third-grade über teacher at Parkview/Center Point Elementary school in Maplewood, Minnesota. He uses online games to teach and it’s a rousing success as measured by test results. Pai says that in a matter of four months, the class’s reading and math scores went from below average for third grade to mid-fourth-grade level. His site is here. This would be great for home schoolers, teachers, and parents for want online educational games for home supplementation.