Academic Support and Play Activities Archives

Mar 26 2019

Let’s Talk Book Shopping for Children!

Whether you are at your local bookshop or your bookshelves at home, the question remains the same; how do I know if my child has chosen a book appropriate for their reading level? My approach to helping children make their own book choices is anchored in the philosophy held by two educators, Gail Bushey and Joan Moser, who co-authored The Daily CAFÉ.

The main goal for allowing children to make their own book choice is to put their interests at the forefront of their reading. This actually allows a flow of intrinsic motivation to help push readers through their natural/developmental reading struggles. For example, train your children to seamlessly learn content-specific vocabulary such as caboose, coal, and locomotive, while reading about their favorite form of transportation. [Read more…]

Mar 05 2019

What Is Your Child Learning in Kindergarten?

Each spring, parents and families are encouraged to visit their children’s schools to learn more about what their children are learning. Some parents are excited that their children are learning to read and compute basic math problems. Others are excited that their child has a new friend and is learning to express himself in an illustrated picture with a sentence describing the picture. I am excited that my grandson is learning to understand the individual differences of his classmates while naturally exploring how to read sight words and counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. His teacher also incorporates a variety of personal growth and study skill development activities during the school day. [Read more…]

Feb 26 2019

Writing Grants for Community Service Projects for Students and Parents

Students can apply for grants to fund their community service projects by preparing grant proposals that are managed by a community nonprofit agency or their school. After receiving approval by the administrator of a community agency or their school, students and their parents can complete the following grant template to organize their ideas for a funding organization. Funders can be found through online fundraising websites or at a local library that manages an online fundraising database (e.g. Sunnyvale Main Library in Sunnyvale, California) in your community. Once the community agency or school approves your program plan, you can complete their grant application documentation and have the community agency or school submit their supporting administrative and financial documentation to the funder for grant review and approval. [Read more…]

Feb 19 2019

How to Help Our Children Self-Publish a Book

You and your child can learn how to write, edit, typeset, and create a book that can be sold on demand or as an e-book through Amazon and at book fairs by completing the worksheet below. Then you can contact an independent publisher to edit, typeset, and help you market your book as the demand for sales is determined.

Book Writing Outline

Recently, my six-year-old grandson asked me to help him write a book on construction equipment. We completed the chart below and he proceeded to draw ten different types of construction equipment for his book. He then dictated to me how each piece of equipment was used to construct a building, road, or project in his community. I wrote the story as dictated to me in his words. I only asked clarification questions to complete an idea. Here is the book outline that we used to complete his story: [Read more…]

Jan 29 2019

How to Stay Actively Involved in Your Child’s Education

The phrase “parent involvement” in children’s learning may conjure images of parents in the classroom eagerly helping children to make Easter baskets, sorting papers and putting them in the student’s mailboxes. Parental involvement in children’s learning is beneficial. The research shows that it leads to educational, social, and emotional outcomes for children. In addition, it contributes to overall positive attitudes, improved behavior and attendance at school.

Types of Involvement

As children grow up, the ways in which you can be involved in your child’s learning changes. The physical presence of you in the classroom is no longer essential, or necessarily effective to be involved in your child’s education.

In Evergreen School District, you can continue to learn what your child is learning in the classroom and this gives you an opportunity to be highly engaged in your child’s learning. You can do this through our awesome Parent University Program. If you have some knowledge as to what your child is learning in the classroom, you will feel confident and be able to engage in their learning at a very different level. This is definitely being involved in your child’s learning because the dialogue with your child will be much more diverse and meaningful. [Read more…]