I am firmly in the learning through play camp when it comes to preschoolers and early academics. Done in a good way, this doesn’t mean just let them play and they’ll be ready. It means thoughtfully providing academic experiences in fun, engaging and play based ways. Early Literacy Skills to Keep in Mind – Early … Continue reading Providing a Foundation for Academic Success in Preschool Friendly Ways
Before they are writing There are lots of ways to encourage the skills that support writing from long before they are writing letters and words. Fine motor activities – Starting in the first year, you can give activities that practice the pincer grasp and exercize the fingers. This is picking up small food like Cheerios or … Continue reading Ways to Encourage Early Writing
Build a broad base of knowledge – When the teacher talks about a new topic in class, it’s helpful if your child has a fund of related knowledge. There are several ways to build this. Focus on building your child’s vocabulary – A child’s vocabulary scores are often reflective of their overall cognitive scores. A … Continue reading Ways to Encourage Confidence in the Classroom from Home
The Department of Education cites reading aloud with children as the number one way to build successful readers. The goal is reading aloud to children for a minimum of 20 minutes a day in order to build a love of stories and books. Reading aloud with very young children can be a challenge. Here are … Continue reading Ideas for Reading Aloud with Young Children
The Department of Education encourages parents to read aloud to their children 20 minutes a day at a minimum. The idea is to read aloud to them for longer stretches and more often as you are able. It’s also suggested that you continue to read aloud to your children long passed the time you thought … Continue reading Ideas for Reading Aloud with Older Children
The Common Core State Standards, which help to guide what education is provided by our public school system, has left teaching cursive off the list. There are SO MANY REASONS to teach children cursive, and each is as compelling as the next. Cursive…. Helps children with spelling – Because the letters are connected, cursive helps children … Continue reading Reasons to Teach Your Children Cursive
Many studies site that children have an average of a two month academic loss over the summer months. With a little effort, you save their hard gained knowledge and may even help them make gains! Here are some ideas to support them while still having fun: Practice school skills in real life – If your second grader … Continue reading Ways to Avoid Summer Academic Loss
Chapter books can be a great addition to your read aloud time as early as three to four years old. If you already read picture books before bed, the easiest way to introduce chapter books is to finish your picture book and tuck them in like normal. Then, when you would have been turning out … Continue reading Ideas for Introducing Chapter Books
Whether your four-year-old is working on a hard puzzle, or your fourth grader is struggling through math homework, when they ask for your help, start by asking them how they would like to be helped. If you swoop in and give them your brand of helping, you may be doing too much, which discourages independent … Continue reading Ask Them How They Want to Be Helped
Our Preschool Play Program is very play based. Open play is available the whole class time, with group play activities presented throughout. While we don’t focus on academics, we have a firm belief that play provides a strong foundation for later academics. Here are a few ways: Challenges in Play Build a Sense of Industry– The … Continue reading Play Builds Academic Foundation
Parenting by Dr. Rene 