Try some sentence days at your house

I have yet to meet a child who doesn't benefit from writing practice. How about instituting Sentence Days at your house? Each day, declare a number of sentences that will be written. You can have One-Sentence Days and Two-Sentence Days for the very young, just-getting-started writers, and Ten-Sentence Days or even Twenty-Sentence Days for older students. Then sometime during the day, have everyone stop and write their sentences. You can offer a topic, like what happened during the day or describing a favorite TV show or video game, or you can let them have at and come up with their own topics. The point is just to keep them writing. And remember that while the Sentence Days can and should have different numbers to keep everyone guessing, it's important that the average number keep increasing gradually. We want the kids to become more fluent writers, and practice like this is a great way to do that.

Gearing up for Summer Vacation

Well, we're heading into the home stretch of school-three more days around here. It will be nice to see the kids kick back a bit and enjoy their extra time at home. I know mine always very much look forward to it.

I do know, though, that many children have academic trouble after such a long break. How about a pledge this summer that you won't let that happen to your kids? Promise me that you'll get them using their brain on some academic endeavor at least three times each week. You can try out some of the learning ideas that I'll be giving you, or you can come up with your own. However you do it, though, don't let those brains get rusty over the summer!

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Add a little bounce to your math fact practice. Use a basketball or bouncy playground ball to give some rhythm to reciting the math facts. The gross motor action will make the activity more fun for the kids, and even will help with memorization. Do it like this: choose a math fact (any will do) like 6 x 7 is 42. Say 6 (and bounce the ball), say times (and bounce), say 7 (and bounce again), say is (and bounce one more time) and say 42 (and shoot the basket or throw the ball to another player). Try it! Your active student will have a great time.