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Grandparenting Summer Play with Our Tween Twins

Grandparenting Summer Play with Our Tween Twins

Summer is a wonderful time to spend extended quality time with our tween twin granddaughters. In previous years, our days were filled with planned outings, free-play games, and art projects. Now that the girls are shifting their focus toward friends, we are adapting by inviting their peers along for the ride. Thankfully, our car is large enough to play “chauffeur” for the whole crew!

Summer Activities and Outings

Below is a summary of our plans for a summer full of growth and adventure: [Read more…]

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How Students Can Self-Assess Their Writing

How Students Can Self-Assess Their Writing

In my previous blog post, I described how our primary grade students completed a 10-page report primarily in their own words on mud and soil. Our team then completed a Mud Report Student Evaluation for each student that highlighted their abilities to complete their mud report.

Five Mud Report Components

Listed below are the five questions that were used to evaluate each student with comments on each student’s report:

  1. Did the student research and copy text on the internet and from books with ease?
  2. Did the student write the report from multiple sources and combine information without help?
  3. Did the student blend information from various sources and apply what was read to personal life experiences and other experiences?
  4. Did the student work diligently with ease on the project?
  5. Is the report’s content, spelling, punction, and printing easy to read?

[Read more…]

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Kids Learn to Express Themselves Through Writing

Kids Learn to Express Themselves Through Writing

During the last weeks of school, our primary grade students learned about various types of soil and mud when planting flowers, studying the uses of mud, and learning how to use computers for research in 10-page reports.

What the Students Researched

  1. Learning how to write an introduction to the report
  2. Writing about descriptions and uses for clay soil, loamy soil, and sandy soil
  3. Planting a flower and writing about the type of soil used for planting
  4. Listing the steps completed to make mud and plant a flower
  5. Learning how to calculate how much water is needed for making mud in different quantities
  6. Completing a soil and mud research checklist for added research in books and on the computer
  7. Writing a book report on mud and soil uses
  8. Writing a computer report on mud and soil uses
  9. Completing a reflection questionnaire of what was learned
  10. Creating a glossary of new vocabulary words used in the report

[Read more…]

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10 Tips for Parenting Teens During Summer Break

10 Tips for Parenting Teens During Summer Break

Teens often greet the end of the school year with dreams of social outings, adventure trips, and lazy days lounging by the pool. However, parents often have a different set of priorities, ranging from academic advancement to household responsibilities. Many teens also need to enter the workforce to fund their social lives, phone bills, or car expenses. [Read more…]

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Help for Struggling Students

Help for Struggling Students

As a K–3 special education teacher, I’ve learned that some of our students struggle loudly—and some struggle quietly. And sometimes, they struggle in that in-between space: big enough behaviors that everyone notices… but not yet formally supported by a Tier 2 or Tier 3 plan.

If you’re a parent or teacher seeing behaviors that clearly need more than just reminders and redirection—but there’s no formal intervention plan in place yet—this post is for you.

Some behaviors don’t quite fit into “typical classroom challenges,” but they also don’t yet have a formal Tier 2 or Tier 3 plan attached to them. As parents and teachers, that in-between space can feel frustrating and uncertain. We know a child needs more support—but we’re still waiting on meetings, data, or next steps. The good news? We don’t have to wait for paperwork to begin helping. There are practical, proactive strategies we can start right away to support students who need more structure, regulation, and skill-building. [Read more…]

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