Smart Kids - Elementary School
Help teens, kids avoid the summer reading slide
If teens and younger kids don’t read during the summer, their reading level can decline two, three or even four months. Educators have a name for it: the summer slide.
Tim Shanahan, director of the Center for Literacy at the University of Chicago, said parents with a ready supply of great reads are a great cure [...]
Numbers that add up to summer math fun for elementary school children
Question: Where can you find fun math lessons during the summer so your elementary school kids don’t lose the number knowledge they picked up during the school year?
Answer: All around you, said educator Andy Isaacs.
There are math lessons in the games you play, the excursions you take, the trips you make to the grocery store, [...]
Mystery solved: Writing examples for each elementary school grade
Knowing how well a child should write in a given grade has got to be one of the great mysteries of education for parents.
By contrast, knowing what math skills your child should master each year is much easier to grasp. Simple multiplication tables, for example, are taught in second grade - 1s, 2s and [...]
Tips for helping a struggling reader become a strong reader
Children who are struggling with their reading need a patient, encouraging adult to sit and listen to them read. These tips can help you help your child become a strong reader.
These tips come from Everyone A Reader, a volunteer program in San Diego County that has trained thousands of tutors at approximately 150 schools.
PREPARE
Take [...]
Volunteers help struggling readers catch up to their classmates
Sometimes all it takes for a young, struggling reader to become a successful reader is a reading buddy, a patient adult who listens to her read.
That’s exactly what Marilyn Schmeling and hundreds of other volunteers do through Everyone A Reader, a terrific volunteer program that trains them in just three hours to work with young [...]
Gallup Student Poll: 1 in 4 children are hopeful, engaged and thriving
The first ever Gallup Student Poll offers fascinating findings certain to give parents and educators food for thought. And maybe the results will prompt some thoughtful conversations around the dinner table.
The poll, described as giving students a much-needed voice in America’s discussion about high school dropout prevention and college readiness, included slightly more [...]
Math 24: Having fun and building math skills at the same time
The game Math 24 attracts a lot of students every Wednesday during lunch to the auditorium at El Camino Creek Elementary School in Carlsbad. The promise of candy helps just a bit, but it’s the game, most definitely the game, that’s the big draw.
Math 24 for the uninitiated is a card game that challenges players [...]
Learning to play an instrument can improve a child’s reading skills
Learning to play a musical instrument can help children develop strong reading and language skills, according to a recent study by two university professors. The study compared the reading abilities of students at two schools, one with a well-established music program and one without.
Here’s a link to an article in Science Daily, Music Education Can [...]
Discover how to unleash the inner scientist in your child
Larry Bock is worried about the future of science in America because too few of our children are pursuing careers in chemistry, physics and on and on. His solution: Make science fun and relevant and kids will flock to it in droves.
Bock, a scientist, entrepreneur and dad, is certainly doing his part to raise a [...]
The science behind why our kids need time to be kids
Inherently, we all know that all work and no play is not wise for us and certainly not for our kids.
There have been times I’ve had to encourage my 15-year-old daughter to stop doing her homework and go have some fun. Between school, homework and athletics, it’s safe to say she works at least 55 [...]
