Ezra Jack Keats is in my top 5 children's authors of all time! His art brings his stories to life and I love his sweet characters.
The Snowy Day is a precious story about a little boy who enjoyed the snow so much that he brought a snowball inside hidden in his pocket so he could enjoy it a little longer! This is an excellent read for little learners for so many reasons! Just a few ideas are to use it to discuss helpful ways to handle disappointment, how to pretend and create your own adventures, talk about different types of weather, or just enjoy the characters and setting that Ezra Jack Keats brings to life in this book. I hope you try the Snowball Cookie recipe and enjoy learning together! Check out the image below for other stories written by this great author!
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This book is a fun, summer book that can be used to tackle all kinds of jitters that your little one may experience. Jabari's dad talks him through a different way to think about things when he feels scared and it may just help your child too!
If you don't own a copy of Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, check online for tons of read aloud versions others have shared. It's a great way to start the conversation about things that your child may feel worried about. Next, get out the supplies to make your own Jitter Juice using the recipe above or make up your own! Enjoy the book and make some fun summer memories! Today I'm sharing ideas to spice up summer learning at your house with kids of all ages!
The Door Bell Rang is not just an excellent read aloud, but a fun way to incorporate lessons for reading, math, crafting and sharing. If you don't have a copy of this book at home, a quick search online will produce many videos to watch with your little ones. Mom's cookies are flying off the plate in this fun book that naturally lends itself to subtraction or division. Whatever skill your child is working on you can easily replicate with cookies that they craft out of paper, Playdoh or even real life cookies that can double as counters and a snack! So pull out the cookies and plates and let the math fun begin! Model asking good questions like, "How many friends could you share your cookies with evenly?" or "If 3 of your friends came, how could the 4 of you share these cookies equally?" Then ask them to quiz you! The characters in the book also create a sweet opportunity for you to talk about sharing and there's a surprise ending that will incorporate addition as well! The possibilities are endless! Come back next week for more fun ideas to bring learning to life! There is no reason why kids should say reading is boring!
Here is an idea that taps into so many important aspects of learning for a child. This one activity alone will have them reading, learning about sharing, focusing on another person's feelings, following directions in a recipe and having fun! You can keep the fun going by asking them to draw their favorite character, write about the steps they took to make ice cream or writing about their own personal experience with today's activity. The list goes on and on! New year, better me. Not new, still me, only better. That is my goal going into this new year. Reflecting on my career shift this school year prompted some soul searching about my beliefs. What do I truly believe about education? Teaching and learning? My role in all of it?
Here's what I arrived at today: I believe all students can learn. I believe that learning is rooted in relationships. I believe that everyone needs a coach. Someone who inspires, encourages, motivates and challenges them to be better. I believe that all people regardless of age need someone to teach them that they can do hard things. I believe that things don't get easier, we just get better at handling the hard things. I believe a better you, is better for everyone. I believe that I was born to make a difference in the lives of people and teaching is one way I can influence students and their families. This year I hope that each person I encounter professionally and personally, walks away from our interaction feeling better about themselves and possibilities. I'm not sure if Theodore Roosevelt really said it, but the world has attributed this quote to him and it hangs on my office wall: "Believe you can, and you're halfway there". What do you believe? Do you remember the last new thing you had to learn?
Do you remember how nerve wracking that felt? How defeated YOU felt? This is how some students spend each and every day in school when they are not performing like their peers. Most students are smart enough to know what they don't know, and that feels bad. It can make them feel less than good enough and it will seep into every part of their lives - even the things they are amazing at. One of the joys of teaching students of all ages is teaching the powerful, three letter word: YET. It is such a good feeling when you can retrain a child's inner voice to stop saying "I can't". I am not talking about blowing sunshine and cupcakes their way, because the truth may be - that they actually can't - YET. However, with the right coaching and encouragement they will be able to, they just can't YET. If your child needs their inner voice reshaped and some extra academic support on their path to YET, reach out today. It's one of my specialties! Sometimes younger students may act out when they feel dysregulated and don't know what to do with those big feelings. However, mid-meltdown is NOT the time to introduce breathing exercises. They won't hear you and soon you may feel yourself spiraling to regain control.
Teaching breathing exercises during calm, regulated times will teach students that it is normal to feel this way and what they can do about it. Teaching students breathing techniques opens dialogue to help them to be able to give words to those big feelings and how it makes them feel inside. The five finger breathing technique shown in the picture above is so beneficial for students to learn because it can be done anywhere at anytime and no one has to know that they need a moment to calm themselves down. They can put their hands in their lap and breathe away without drawing attention to the situation. There are many types of breathing exercises and they aren't just for children! High levels of success are dependent on staying focused on effort, instead of results. Coach John Wooden, UCLA basketball coaching legend who led his team to multiple championships became an expert on winning in his lifetime, developed an inspiring outlook on failing. He is quoted as saying, "I had mistakes, but no failures. We may not have won a championship every year and of course lost games, but we had no failures. You never fail if you did the best you were capable and gave full effort."
Teaching children how grow through challenges can be challenging, but Wooden's example is an excellent starting place. When taking a loss or experiencing defeat, teach them to ask themselves: 1. How much effort did I put into preparing myself? For this test, this skill, this sporting event, whatever it is they are working on - on a scale of 1-10, how'd I prepare? 2. What is one thing I could improve on in my preparation? Focusing on what could be done differently is much more effective use of time than beating yourself up over what went wrong. Daily focus on effort is a skill that must be taught and as we age can truly only be measured by ourselves. Considered to be one of the greatest NFL linebackers in the history of the game, Ray Lewis said, "Effort is between you and you." When I was in the classroom, I started each learning block the same way - reviewing previously learned material. Why? Because filing cabinets of course!
Have you ever noticed what happens when you start filling an empty filing cabinet with folders? All the folders in the front get pushed to the back when something new comes in. Guess what? Our brains are our filing cabinets and the same is true in there! It's the reason why kids studying for a test act like they have never even heard some of the stuff when you are reviewing together the night before. It's been a minute and some information has been sent to the back of their cabinet. Students of all ages need to bring the stuff from the back all the way to the front on a regular basis, not just the night before they may need it. Reviewing connects new learning to what was previously learned and helps to make it all make sense. Not only will this make your life easier now, it will benefit your child in the long run by setting up a healthy study habit for the future when they are able to work more independently. Why do I have to learn this? When will I ever use ___________? Raise your hand if you have either A) said this yourself or B) heard someone say it or C both.
Now as a teacher and mom, I won't say I regret saying it, but I have come to understand why we have to learn and do seemingly random things in our general education experience. John Dewey said, "Education is not preparation for life, but life itself". I wonder if it's not a little of both. I do believe what he said and that education is happening around us all the time, not just in the school building. I also believe that sometimes we don't truly see the value of what we've learned, until we realize that it did help to prepare us for life. I remember exactly when I asked this question as a student - it was during a traumatizing episode of Algebra homework and then again in Pre-Calculus as I struggled to survive. However now having come out of it and being on the other side as an academic coach and parent, I both understand and value those dreaded learning experiences. Algebra for example, is used on a daily basis, probably more than we may realize. It is the foundation of critical thinking and problem solving skills. We use algebra when shopping, dosing medication, cooking, budgeting, and even helping a child as young as first grade with homework. We learn to organize our thinking, notice patterns and craft reasonable responses when faced with a complicated situation. This is just one illustration of how important education is - all of it - even the parts that a student hasn't learned to value yet. |
AuthorI am a life long learner who loves sharing what I have learned with others to make their journey easier! Archives
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