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.
Category: Education
Education and parenting. Helping your child with reading, math, science and getting along with others.
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.
Best Math Games to Add to 10
Adding to 10 is probably the most important addition fact set your child needs to know because it helps to break down longer addition sums by creating easy to add groups of ten.
DIY Multiplication Math Game: Busted
Busted! is an exciting, fast paced, and inexpensive game you can make that your kids will love to play. It works best for 2-5 people to practice addition or multiplication facts.
Best Drawing Apps for Kids (ages 2-14)
What are the best iPad and iPhone drawing apps for preschoolers as well as older kids? I checked out some free ones (Scribble Kid and Doodle Buddy) and bought a few (Kids Finger Painter and Drawing Pad) to do a compare and contrast. My favorite is Scribble Kid for its versatility and price. And it saves trees!
Rise of Mandarin Chinese at Elementary Schools
Capability:Mom sent me this link from the Wall Street Journal Article as she knows that I’m a huge proponent of exposing children to foreign languages at an early age. But not everyone agrees. Here’s the perspective of parents in New York City. It appears that foreign language curriculum is a politically charged hot potato. And here’s the actual research of 2nd language acquisition.
Top 10: Books for Kids with Science Concepts
Thank you to author Jacqueline Houtman for the Giveaway of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas. Please leave a comment with the reason why you want to win. The most compelling comment will win. The winner will be picked in one week. I will confess that I have been thinking and working on this post for MONTHS. The gist in my mind was science-y books that are NOT non-fiction, that make science fun and accessible, and excite a child’s imagination. Yep, it’s taken a while to find enough books that fit this criteria to make it to 10 but I think these are worthy of this list. What do you think? What non-fiction science-y books do you and your children like? Are there enough to actually make this a new children’s lit. genre? Now THAT would be exciting!