Academic Support and Play Activities Archives - Page 17 of 22

Feb 20 2018

How to Plan for Kids’ Summer Schedules!

The school year is already halfway over. Parents are meeting with teachers to discuss their children’s academic needs and summer tutoring programs. Camps and academic-based programs are already registering kids for summer programs. It can become overwhelming when trying to decide what is best for your child’s personal growth and recreational fulfillment. Listed below are guidelines to consider when selecting summer activities: [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Feb 06 2018

Helping Your Child Relax for Test Taking

Test taking is a stressful and unpleasant activity for most anyone. For a child who may not have experienced test taking before, what are some practical ways to help them relax?

Tips for Preparation

Practice a growth mindset with your children. Help them realize that test taking is a measurement of growth from one academic year to the next. For more details about growth mindset, check out the work by Carol Dweck.
Get a good night’s rest. There’s lots of brain research which shows that the mind gets rejuvenated with rest. Make sure your kids get plenty of REM sleep leading up to the test. They’ll wake up well rested and in a good mood. Starting with a positive attitude is half the battle!
Eat a healthy breakfast. The brain is a well-oiled thinking machine and needs nutrients to help it run efficiently. Have your kids eat a hearty breakfast that will help sustain energy and brain power throughout the morning.

[Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Discovering the joy of teaching while in high school, Jaime pursued her B.A. in English at Santa Clara University. She also received a teaching credential and a M.A. in Education Administration from Santa Clara University. Jaime taught English Language Arts at Rancho Middle School, motivating and inspiring young people to become effective communicators and contributors in their community. From being a Middle School English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher to becoming a stay-at home mom, Jaime is an education consultant who presents literacy workshops. Her workshops focus on a combination of her ten years of teaching expertise with tried-and-true experiences that she uses with her own children. Jaime is also a Teacher Consultant with the San Jose Area Writing Project. Jaime’s mission is to share effective reading and writing strategies with families to encourage literacy.

Jan 30 2018

How Parents Can Support Their Children’s School Successes

Providing students and staff with challenging opportunities can bolster their confidence. This can improve their desire to excel when they experience success.

Writing a Novel

Our middle school’s teachers have dedicated themselves to promoting literacy in all subject areas this year because many of our students are not reading and writing at grade level. Our 7^th grade teachers decided to have their students participate in the NaNoWriMo National Novel Writing Month last November.

Each 7^th grade student wrote an 8,000-word novel about a personal experience, hope, or dream by completing the following steps:

Research a topic.
Outline the novel’s fictional or non-fictional contents.
Write the novel in 30 days.
Peer review and self-edit through feedback.
Use the Hemingway software application for writing feedback.
Professionally assemble the novel.
Learn how to sell a self-published book at a local book fair.

Many students were surprised that they could complete the assignment. They also began pursuing more writing challenges that allowed them to be creative. [Read more…]

Yvette King-Berg, College Readiness

Yvette King-Berg, is the Executive Director of Youth Policy Institute’s Charter Schools. She was the former California Charter Schools Association Vice-President of School Development and Outreach-Southern California. Ms. King-Berg has over thirty years of experience working with teachers, students, parents, and organizations in a variety of positions including Director, Assistant Director, Curriculum Advisor, Bilingual, and Title 1 Coordinators, classroom teacher (K-12) in Pasadena and LAUSD. She has been married for twenty-three years, and is the proud mother of her son, EJ, who attends UC Berkeley.

Jan 16 2018

Overcoming Holiday Brain Drain

Presents have been unwrapped, leftovers have been eaten, decorations have been put away…You have survived another hectic holiday season! So what’s going on with the kids? Have you noticed that the kids are cranky during and especially after the holidays? Are their brains now a mush and are they dreading the return to school?

The reality is that the holiday season is a major emotional roller coaster, especially for kids. Think about all the excitement and anticipation that kids have experienced during this time– writing a hopeful letter (fingers and toes crossed!) to Santa with their wish list, on-the-go activities like Christmas tree shopping and decorating the home, ice skating and drinking hot chocolate. Of course, there’s holiday shopping, attending traditional winter performances or recitals, watching new-release movies…not to mention the waiting and waiting for Christmas Day to open presents and the anticipation (or dread) of family get-togethers and holiday feasts!

And then everything comes to an abrupt halt.

What if the solution to overcoming holiday brain drain is moderation? Pacing your activities so that kids don’t crash from an emotional high would be a great way to overcome holiday brain drain. Here are some examples: [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Dec 26 2017

How to Handle Social Challenges

I was painfully shy as kid. I cried every morning when my mom dropped me off at school during the first week of kindergarten. I cried when her face wasn’t the first one I saw when school let out for the day. In fact, I was so leery of social interaction that I sat in my teacher’s lap that year for school pictures! Thankfully, my parents have helped me through my timidity and I’ve come a long way from since I was in kindergarten! Here are a few lessons I have taught my own kids to help guide them through different social challenges. [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy