A transition to a new grade or school, not matter how small, is difficult for children. It’s helpful to visit the new school as often as possible. Play with kids that will be at the same school if you can. And read, read, read to your child books about starting school. The familiarity of routines and activities of the new school will take a lot of the anxiety away. So, while my youngest has been visiting his elementary school for 5 years so far, we’ll take it one step at a time and read these books over and over to ensure a smooth landing in September. And a few playdates with new friends is also on the books!
Tag: learning to read books for kids
Best Phonics Workbooks and Reading Strategies
Best Phonics Workbooks: Explode the Code (at Amazon.com)
Best Phonics for reluctant read aloud readers: progressive phonics (www.progressivephonics.com)
Fun book series for reluctant read aloud readers: You Read to Me and I’ll Read to You
Best Math Workbooks for Home or Summer Supplementation
I find that The Univ. of Chicago’s Everyday Math needs home supplementation, especially in math facts. I recommend Daily Word Problems and Singapore Math. We use these for summer math.
DIY Math Games Invented by Kids (2nd-5th grade)
2 fun and easy math games invented by 8-year-old kids for adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and exponents.
Preparing for Kindergarten: Activities to Do with Your Child
I found this great article from a mom on Twitter. I am getting my 5-year-old ready for kindergarten and I thought this is a great list of fun activities to work into the summer plans. The activities cover: fine motor, scissors, sensory, mid-line crossing, and developing handwriting skills. This article is by Loubina Buxamusa, an Occupational Therapist and Ann Mahoney, an Early Childhood Specialist.
Celebrating Earth Day with Picture Books
Picture books do make a difference! As for Me…Jane, I am listening more closely in order to help support the career choices that my children are expressing at their young age, even when my youngest tells me he wants to be a video game developer when he grows up!! Sigh!
SAT Vocabulary Words from Picture Book The Scarecrow’s Hat
The words for Week 8 are from the picture book, The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown. Lest you be alarmed that it’s freaky to be teaching SAT vocabulary words to Kindergarteners, I wanted to REITERATE that all the words in this series are from a picture book; however, I failed to notice which picture book on earlier posts. This brings me to another point: picture books often have richer language than easy chapter books, not to mention gorgeous art work. I am a HUGE fan of picture books for all ages. How else can one be transported to a different time and place and/or walk in the shoes of another in the short space of 24ish pages? I digress, onward for the words.