The Curious Learner

“All of us parents go through the stage where our children drive us crazy with questions.”

- The Curious Learner

Last week we talked about safety when searching the internet and how important it is to assist our children in finding information that sates their curiosity. This week we would like to focus on curiosity itself and how we can encourage it in our children! 

Curiosity is a natural part of life and drives us to learn more about the world around us. Children, in particular, are exceedingly curious about everything! And with good reason! They want to learn it all because it is all new to them! Whether it is why dinosaurs aren’t around anymore or what makes a truck start or why the sky is blue, children are full of questions about the world.

When we first began this blog, we talked about ways to combat the “summer slide” through Bridging. Summer slide is where our children lose their school skills over the summer break due to inactivity with those skills. Bridging is where parents work to bridge the school years together by encouraging learning and school skill usage throughout the summer break. Bridging doesn’t have to apply only to the summer months though. Many of the activities we suggested for bridging, can also be used to encourage and satisfy the curiosity of our children!

We, as parents, should provide daily encouragement when it comes to the curiosity of our children. By doing this, we are demonstrating the joys of learning and what pleasure can be found in finding the information we are looking for. Often there is a lot of pressure to know all the answers, but it’s okay to not have all the answers! That’s the best part of curiosity! It is a chance to learn something new, apply what we have learned, and gain a new experience.

As an example, in chapter five of The Curious Learner, a parent asks the question “I don’t feel confident taking my child to the library. What do I need to know or understand about helping my child use the library?” This is an excellent question! Our children expect us to know everything, because we are the adults. It is easy to feel intimidated by things we don’t fully understand, especially if we are needing to demonstrate some understanding in front of our children. However, rather than allowing this intimidation to get the better of us, we can use this opportunity to encourage our children to ask questions and confront that uneasiness.

Through admitting our own limited understanding, we are demonstrating to our children the importance of learning, asking questions, seeking guidance, and we are starting a conversation too! 😊 While we may be uncomfortable admitting that we don’t know the answer, imagine the power we show our children by following that with “But I know where we can find the answer!”

If you are interested in learning more about the book we mentioned in today’s blog, you may find it at the following link!

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The Curious Learner: Help Your Child Develop Academic and Creative Skills (The Successful Learner Series)

By Simic, Marjorie R., McClain, Melinda, Shermis, Michael

Buy on Amazon

Safely Exploring the Internet: Part 2

In our last post we talked about some tips for keeping our kids safe while they are on the internet. This week we would like to talk about how to help our kids search the internet safely when they are curious and want to learn more about a topic.

The first thing to do is to ensure that “Safe Search” is on our computers. While this can’t prevent every single bad thing from reaching our children, it can make it harder for those results to populate in any given search.

Secondly is choosing the best places to search. At a library, a librarian goes through a set of questions to determine where to look for information. This is called a “reference interview.” This is a great way to narrow down exactly what our children are curious about and it helps us to find the best resource for them to use. What topic are we searching? Is there something specific about this topic that we want to find out? Do we need general information to sate our curiosity or are we wanting in-depth information for a research project or paper?

Once we have narrowed down what our children are curious about, we can then find the best resource to search. Try to avoid using Google right off the bat. There are several online encyclopedias or dictionaries that can be of use for general information, such as Britannica Online, Wikipedia or Dictionary.com. For in depth or very specific questions, Google may be our best bet.

Searching for information that our children are interested in or need for school, can also be a bonding moment and a tool to increase literacy! While searching, have them read aloud what they have found. Ask questions about what is being searched, what they found, their expectations, and what they imagine their searching will yield. This gives us a great opportunity to start a conversation. It is important to be present with our children, whether it is starting a conversation about what they are interested in or joining in the search!

Finally, understanding what our children are interested in or curious about creates awareness. Being aware of what our children are doing is, arguably, the most important step because it makes it easier to prevent unsafe searching from occurring in the first place. Taking the time to be actively a part of our children’s curiosity and finding answers for that curiosity is just as important as teaching them safe search habits or what to avoid on the internet.

Next Week…
I am happy to introduce a product designed to encourage our children to explore the world around them! The Curious Learner is a book designed for parents to assist their children in developing their school skills, as well as their creative skills! This resource provides information on using the Library, making history come alive, and how to learn math and science at home! I look forward to reading your comments!

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Safely Exploring the Internet: Part 1

The Internet is a fascinating place full of knowledge, whether it is from videos, articles, or websites. It is, unfortunately, also a place of hidden dangers and secrets. Over this and our next post, we are going to talk about the hazards that lie out there and what we can do to ensure our children are staying safe while they are searching for what will satisfy their curiosity.

In our recent posts, we talked about screen time and how important it can be to monitor how much time our children spend on their phones, iPads, the computer or watching TV. We also touched on the importance of unplugging as a way to build stronger relationships with our children and create a better reading life.

While we should encourage our children to spend more time with physical books, instead of electronic ones, it is also important to acknowledge the amazing ways that technology can help us encourage our children to learn more about the world around them. A quick Google search can bring up almost anything our children might want to learn about! Wikipedia has thousands of articles on topics from celebrities to algae to the origin of the proverb “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” They can research any number of topics, but they can also utilize their internet resources for school projects. During this time of quarantine, Zoom classes, and online learning it is especially important to be aware of the potential hazards of exploring the web.

Just like talking to our children about how to be safe out in the physical world, it is important to talk to them about internet safety! Cyberbullying, phishing scams, and inappropriate content are a few of the myriad of risks children can be in when accessing the web. Be up front about “netiquette” as a way to combat bullying online. Talk to older children about the risks involved in meeting online people offline, what is and is not appropriate to post, and what is and is not “risky behavior.”

Internet safety starts with awareness. The Hamilton County Child Exploitation Task Force in Indiana has put out a great brochure with excellent tips. These tips include setting up agreements with your children about their computer usage, be it the amount of time spent, what they are accessing, who they are talking to, etc.; do not rely solely on software to block or filter content, and when on social media only add people that you know. Social media, in particular, should be monitored. While it is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, it can also be a great way to accidentally expose oneself to hacking or phishing scams.

By creating a foundation of awareness, we can then move forward in teaching our children how to use the internet for learning!

Next Week…
Next week, we will look at safe searching practices so that we can encourage our children in learning while keeping them safe online! I look forward to reading your comments and learning more about how you protect your children online!

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Screen Time, Reading and the Brain (Part 3)

The Effects on Behavior and Psychology

Screens
Something that I notice when I allow my children to spend more time than normal on their screens is that they become more sassy, disobedient and verbally violent. They get angry and upset when it is time to put the screens away. Or they beg and plead for more time. There is almost always an argument when it’s time to put the screens away!

When I talk to other parents about this behavior shift, I find they almost always have experienced the same thing! It gets dramatic when it’s time to turn off the technology.

This goes back to the “feel-good” messages being sent by the neuro-transmitters in our brains. Tantrums, depression, aggression, and many other psychological issues have strong links to how often we are utilizing our technology.

Reading Books
With books, those “feel-good” messages are still present, but they are not overwhelming the overall experience. Your brain is actively taking a moment to understand what you are reading and I’d even argue that it encourages getting up and taking a break to go do something else. Books have a beginning and an end. Long books have chapters, natural stopping points.

One of the issues I have with screens of all sorts from game apps to Netflix is that they seem to be designed to encourage binging.

Although I am sure all of us have read a book or two in our lives that we “couldn’t put down” that is the exception, not the rule. Reading does require a certain amount of physical and mental exertions. So, taking a break is a natural part of the process!

So, the next time you know you are going to be taking your kids somewhere where they will need to hang out patiently while you get something accomplished, try sticking a couple of books, a kids’ magazine, the comics in your purse. Keep your phone put away. The less they see us using it, the less they will think about it as the only alternative to “being bored.” They may not like it at first, but they can adapt very quickly once they know a screen is not an option. Oh, and if you are going to be waiting as well, bring something to read with you, or pick up a magazine in the waiting room!

All of the images used today come from a larger infographic by WhatIsDryEye.com, referenced in the Forbes article by Alice Walton.

Links to Articles Referenced!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2018/04/16/how-too-much-screen-time-affects-kids-bodies-and-brains/#62d9c39e1549

https://medium.com/@alltopstartups/the-reading-brain-why-your-brain-needs-you-to-read-every-day-f5307c50d979

http://www.oprah.com/health/how-reading-can-improve-your-memory

https://oedb.org/ilibrarian/your-brain-on-books-10-things-that-happen-to-our-minds-when-we-read/

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Screen Time, Reading and the Brain (Part 2)

The Effects on Brain Chemistry

Screens
Our brains are wondrous and complex creations. At any given moment, neurons are firing off messages to other parts of the body or to other sections of the brain itself! These messages range from “I’m hungry” to “That hurt” to “I am sleepy.”

These same neurons also contribute to the production of chemicals within the brain that determine feelings and emotions. When overusing screens, research shows this can cause addiction by increasing that “feel-good” part of the brain. While it should be noted that it is possible to become addicted to anything, we are more likely to become addicted to the things within our reach. Such as our phones, laptops, gaming systems or televisions.

Reading Books
How is reading different? When reading your brain is taking the time to pause and consider what you read, digesting everything piece by piece. When you are watching a TV show or movie, you are almost never going to catch every little detail and, often, it is gone too fast for you to fully appreciate what it is presenting.

One could liken this to eating sweets. Eating a sweet isn’t going to fill you up in the same way that a balanced meal will. This doesn’t mean that eating a sweet or watching TV is all bad, but it should be limited!

Links to Articles Referenced!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2018/04/16/how-too-much-screen-time-affects-kids-bodies-and-brains/#62d9c39e1549

https://medium.com/@alltopstartups/the-reading-brain-why-your-brain-needs-you-to-read-every-day-f5307c50d979

http://www.oprah.com/health/how-reading-can-improve-your-memory

https://oedb.org/ilibrarian/your-brain-on-books-10-things-that-happen-to-our-minds-when-we-read/

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Screen Time, Reading and the Brain (Part 1)

In today’s world we are surrounded by screens and digital media. Right now, you are using a screen to view and read this post!

As parents, my husband and I have found our children do much better when we set strict limits on the amount of time they spend interacting with screens both in a single sitting and for the entire day. We’ve talked with other parents who notice the same thing. Now, current research is showing us there are very good reasons to moderate screen time both for our children and for ourselves!

As a bonus, reading books, as Mary Gallagher so powerfully shared with us in last week’s post, is a great antidote for the issues screen time can create. We’ll share some of the research on this as well. 😊

The Effects on Brain Connectivity

Screens
Researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital discovered “that screen time was linked to poorer connectivity in areas that govern language and cognitive control.” (Walton, 2018)

Reading Books
In contrast, reading appeared to increase brain connectivity in those regions (Walton, 2018). When we exercise, we are encouraging our muscles to become stronger. In this same way, reading exercises the brain, encouraging it to be stronger!

In our next post we will be looking into how screens can affect Brain Chemistry! I look forward to hearing your point of view on this topic! Feel free to leave a comment or email me at terry@destinationlearn.net!

Links to Articles Referenced!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2018/04/16/how-too-much-screen-time-affects-kids-bodies-and-brains/#62d9c39e1549

https://medium.com/@alltopstartups/the-reading-brain-why-your-brain-needs-you-to-read-every-day-f5307c50d979

http://www.oprah.com/health/how-reading-can-improve-your-memory

https://oedb.org/ilibrarian/your-brain-on-books-10-things-that-happen-to-our-minds-when-we-read/

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Guest Post from Mary Gallagher: Unplug and Connect with Books!

Isn’t it amazing when something that is good for you is also fun and easy to do? Come to think about it, not too many things are that way, are they? We usually associate what is hard, bad tasting, difficult to implement, or boring (ab crunches, kale, early wake-up calls) as good for us, whereas, the easy to do, yummy things are typically bad for us like fast food and candy!

But then there is the read-aloud. It’s fun, it’s easy, it feels good, it’s yummy, and it is oh-so-good for us in many, many ways!

Read-aloud time has so many benefits, not the least of which is a daily time for your family to unplug and connect. Let’s break down the benefits and talk about the drawbacks - just kidding! - there are NO drawbacks!

It creates family bonding time.
Read-aloud time is what Mem Fox, a retired professor of Literacy Studies and author of Reading Magic, calls “chocolate”: it is meant to be sweet, delicious and slightly addicting! My strongest memories of raising my boys are centered around read aloud time. We read together often—bedtime was a staple and we rarely missed it—but we also read aloud before nap times, after returning from the library too excited about the new books to wait for later, or when waiting at the doctor’s office. Climbing into your lap, cuddling under a blanket, hearing your voice as they drift off to sleep are all part of Bonding 101.

Anyone can do it!
Mem Fox calls reading aloud “reading magic” and for good reason. It is the one thing that every parent can do to help their child become a reader. While it may seem like magic, many important processes are taking place when you read to your child. “It is in the context of experiencing good literature together that a child is introduced to all the elements in reading.” (from Chapter 3 of Teach a Child to Read with Children’s Books)

You are modeling what it means to be a reader.
Much of learning to read is caught more than it is taught. Children learn what good reading sounds like as they listen to you read. You are modeling for them fluency, expression, how to engage with the story, how to predict and make inferences, thinking out loud about the story, how to reflect on a story or talk about what that story means to them.

“The most important activity for building the knowledge and skills eventually required for reading is that of reading aloud to children.” - Marilyn Adams, recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s Sylvia Scribner Award for Outstanding Research.

It creates a tradition.
One parent recently messaged me and said she was worried she had not been making time to read with her children, but she was going to start because her children loved family traditions. When you read aloud at the same time or place each day, when you show your child that reading aloud is your family’s sacred time and—barring an emergency—nothing supersedes the read-aloud time, you are sending a clear and distinct message to your child: this family values reading, we will always read together.

When your child sees you turn off the TV, silence your phone, and store the iPad in order to make sacred space for books, they will never doubt that reading is part of your family culture and they will grow up to be readers! I promise!

“The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading. It isn’t achieved by the book alone, nor by the child alone, nor by the adult who’s reading aloud—it’s the relationship winding between all three, bringing them together in easy harmony.” - Mem Fox

Reading aloud elevates books.
In an age where technology and hand-held devices are glorified and elevated (including e-readers), reading books aloud to your child places books back on the high pedestal they deserve. When digital devices were introduced, many worried that books would go the way of the dinosaur. Bookstores like Barnes and Noble started to close their doors and even schools started to embrace digital tools for reading instruction.

There is real reason to be concerned about this and parents raising digital natives should strive to do their part to keep regular books alive and part of their children’s lives.

Concerning the impact of technology driven learning on the brain, consider this quote from Maryanne Wolf, director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University in Massachusetts, and author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. “My worry is that we’ll have a short-circuited reading brain, excellent for gathering information but not necessarily for forming critical, analytical deep reading skills.”

Parents, you are your child’s first and most important teacher! What you model will outlast all the other educators’ impacts combined. Model well: use read-aloud time to unplug, connect, and instill a love for reading.

Read-aloud resources:
Reading Magic - Mem Fox

The Read-Aloud Handbook - Jim Trelease

The Read-Aloud Family - Sarah Mackenzie

Honey for a Child’s Heart - Gladys Hunt

A Note About the Author
As a literacy coach and reading specialist, Mary Gallagher has almost 30 years of experience in education, focusing mainly on teaching young readers, struggling readers, Title I students, and their parents and teachers. Mary lives in Texas with her husband, Michael, and a growing menagerie of farm animals and is passionate about seeing all children learn to love reading.

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Do You Know Enough About Me to Teach Me?

Every school year, you and your child add a new partner in your child’s education: the teacher! As your child’s first and most important teacher, it is imperative that you cultivate a working relationship with your child’s teacher(s) as part of his/her educational success. Doing this builds a strong and positive foundation for your child’s education and demonstrates how to form positive partnerships as s/he grows older.

Today, I’m very pleased to share a resource by Stephen G. Peters, Ed. D that emphasizes the importance of teachers seeing our children as people, not just a grade or standardized test score. Do You Know Enough About Me to Teach Me? shares student perspectives and what teachers need to know to inspire their students to learn.

Although this resource is addressed to teachers, we as parents can learn from it as well. It provides several interviews that give powerful insight into how students view their teachers and the learning process, and what influences a student’s point of view.

This book offers its readers an opportunity to affirm and validate those approaches and strategies they are already using successfully, even as it makes possible an acceptance of the reality that today's students need more. There are so many problems facing public education today. They are too numerous to name. I am a firm believer that the answers to many of these problems or issues rest within the hearts and minds of our young people and that everyone loses when we silence or ignore their voices. (Dr. Stephen G.Peters)

Dr. Peters goes on to say the main difference between successful teachers and unsuccessful ones is an understanding of their students—not just as students who need to be taught, but also as people who want to learn. This makes it imperative that we share who our children are with their teachers. Our children are going to see their teachers and interact with them on a regular basis for ten months (at least) out of the year. If teachers are not informed about who our children are as human beings, aside from their test scores or grades, they can’t possibly teach them as well.

While we know we are our children’s first teachers, we must keep in mind they will have many more throughout their lives. Dr. Peters sums it up perfectly, “Teachers have the power and authority to help create dreams or break them, to build up a child or destroy her.”  Let’s remember that teachers can use our help to understand better about who our children are as human beings. As parents, we want to watch for opportunities to share what is happening with our children outside the classroom, not just the difficulties, but the accomplishments, too!

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Summer Bridging: Fun Family Activities to Encourage Writing (Part 2)

Children are information sponges from the start. They are in a constant state of learning and it is imperative that we, as parents and educators, focus on what we can do to incorporate fun and love into that learning process! In our last post we talked about a couple of different activities that we can use to encourage writing. In this post we are sharing a few more of these activities!

The Family Museum
Go around the house with your child and pick items that have interesting or fun memories attached to them. Add a piece from each family member, but encourage your child to create the main exhibit. With your child, write each memory on a piece of paper and help him create a museum that the family can walk through. Have your child explain why he picked the memories he did.

Keeping a Journal
During the summer, encourage your children to keep a journal of all the activities in which they have participated, books they have read, cool dreams they’ve had, and other miscellaneous things. Journaling is an excellent way not only to practice writing, but also to encourage thinking and expression in a safe and positive way. You can find lots of great writing journals in copy shops and office supply stores, as well as custom-tailored (to age/interest) journals that are just-for-kids online. You can also encourage reusing and re-purposing to create the journal. I go through my children’s school supplies at the end of the school year and often find half-filled notebooks that, with very little effort, can be spruced up and reused for journaling and drawing.

Experimenting with Different Writing Tools
Writing utensils are an integral part of the writing process. They also provide a chance at writing expressively in ways other than through our words. Using a sand table, you can demonstrate writing with your finger, tracing out letters and small words with your child. Using different colored pens, you can change the color of each word as you go. Experimenting with the types of writing tools you use can be an excellent way to encourage writing!

What are some things you do to encourage an interest in writing in your children? We would love to hear your suggestions! In our next post we will be moving forward into encouraging a love of reading, which often goes hand in hand with a love of writing!

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Summer Bridging: Fun Family Activities to Encourage Writing! (Part 1)

If you ask an expert on child development, they will tell you that play is one of the most important parts of the learning process. Even in play, however, it is important to know what type of learner your child is. Different learners have different styles. For instance, some children like explanations, where others like to imitate the processes they have observed. Some children enjoy taking charge, while others like to contribute to the team effort. While playing these games, observe and ask yourself “What kind of learner(s) do I have?”

With learning and play time in mind, here are a couple different ideas for what to do over
the summer!

Story Time
Encourage your child to come up with a story (e.g., An astronaut who discovers the moon IS made of cheese) and write it down. The story doesn’t have to make complete sense, but it will give your child a chance to write what she thinks is interesting or funny. When the story is finished have her read it to the family. (When your child is writing the story encourage her to answer “Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?” to get as much detail as possible!)

“A” was an Apple Pie…
Pick a word game to play in the car! In the game “A was an Apple Pie…” you go through the alphabet to determine what exactly happened to the Apple Pie. A couple examples would be:
“A” was an Apple Pie and “A” ate it.
“B” baked it.
“C” cut it.
This encourages your children to think of words they know that begin with each letter of the alphabet and attempt to make the situation make sense (as an example, “A was an Apple Pie, A art it” does not make grammatical sense, but “A was an Apple Pie, A ate it” does). As your children play the game, you will discover areas where they may struggle AND where they are strong! Take note of these and see where you can provide encouragement and support during more structured activities. Gently coach them if appropriate (you know your children) but keep it fun! Although there is no physical writing involved here, this type of game exercises imagination, spelling, grammar and stretches vocabulary which are all part of the writing process!

In our next post we will share a couple more fun activities to encourage writing! In the meantime, what are some ways you encourage your children in their writing? I would love to hear from you! Feel free to comment below or send me an email at terry@destinationlearn.net.

A Guest Post: Children Are Born Learners!

“Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society."
-          Dr. Maria Montessori

When I was four, I showed a keen interest in learning how to read. I loved books, making me an eager student. Using the Hear, See, Say technique with "I’m Reading… All by myself!” my mother taught me how to read. Every day we would sit with the books and flashcards, sounding out the letters, putting the letters together to form words, and practicing the alphabet. This set me off on a grand adventure that has led to my interest in the early education of children and the importance of literacy to society.

If you search “curiosity and children”, you will find several articles related to their natural curiosity. Children are born learners! Every single moment, from birth onward, they are learning! Every new experience, both good and bad, is creating connections within the brain and leading to the person that your child will be when she or he grows into adulthood. For this reason, it is important that we encourage and cultivate the natural curiosity of our young learners!

How do we do this? How do we help to stimulate this natural eagerness to learn?

One way, is to listen to and observe what our children gravitate toward when they are playing, then provide them with opportunities to explore those interests!

My interest in learning how to read and becoming independent enough to read on my own was encouraged by my mother teaching me. My desire to learn was cultivated by her teaching me how to read. Learning to read led to learning how to write which led to a desire to write creatively eventually leading to my writing this blog post!

My mother was not the only person who had an influence on my reading habits, my love of reading, and my interests in writing. There were several people throughout my life that played an active role in my desire to learn, read, and write! There were teachers, friends, and relatives that recognized my interest in learning. They didn't have to do much to encourage me, either. Simply asking questions, and being genuinely interested, about interests can encourage a child to continue exploring and learning!

With that in mind, here are some of the key moments throughout my education as a small child that have followed me throughout my life!

My grandfather gave me Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank for Christmas when I was ten. He told me that it was one of the most important books he had ever read. My step-grandmother searched countless bookstores for books from the Dear America series because I was interested in history. My great-aunt Peggy went over my school assignments with me and played writing games with me. My great-aunt Sandra, who lives in Wisconsin, would take my siblings and me, to the library to check out books while we were visiting on vacation. My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Root, always asked about my story writing and introduced me to the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I won my first writing contest because of Mrs. Root. Finally, Mr. Trent Heckman, my freshman English teacher, gave me the best creative writing advice I have ever received: "Sarah, poetry doesn't always have to rhyme."

When we think of teaching we often think that there is a lot involved. Lesson planning, studying, lectures, etc. The truth is, however, that there are many small things we can do every day to encourage and teach our children. Each of the people I mentioned above taught me, without doing anything extraordinary. Just being there to encourage my natural curiosity and show me how to follow it.

Summer Bridging... continued - The Skills our Children Need to Keep Sharp

Building a Strong Vocabulary

Writing points to the need for a vocabulary that enables one to express ideas clearly. 

Here are a few tips you can use to help build your child’s vocabulary:

• Read and use context - See if the new word is defined in words and sentences around it.

• Search for synonyms and antonyms - Find words that mean the same, or words that mean the opposite.

• Look for related words - Are there other words that are derived from the same base word?

• Use the dictionary - Clarify and refine word meanings with this handy reference.

To be clear, a writer also must spell accurately, so that the reader doesn’t stumble over the message or misunderstand it.

The same is true for grammar. In keeping with the theme of writing regular letters, therefore, you have a natural opening to ask your child to keep spelling, grammar, and vocabulary sharp. Spending 25 minutes, three times a week will do wonders in maintaining interest and sharpness in these writing skills.

Spelling & Grammar
Build spelling practice into your weekly routine. Make spelling interesting for your children & be ready to help with grammar in the moment, when it is most important and relevant to them:

• Give them a stack of 3 x 5 cards. As they write, ask them to put troublesome words on a card. Each week you can review those words with them. If they are using e-mail to write their letters, they may prefer to keep those troublesome words in a separate file on the computer.

• On an old Rolodex file, have your children make their own spelling and vocabulary dictionary. Each special word can be placed in alphabetical order with a definition that was appropriate for the letter in which it was written. Vocabulary building can also follow this Rolodex approach.

• Use a spelling workbook. Most spelling activity books are organized to provide independent activity for students in fifteen-minute bursts. Therefore, they make easy-to-administer activities several days a week if that is the kind of work your child needs.

• Use a grammar handbook. If you or your child’s teacher has identified specific grammatical rules that would benefit your child’s work, assign regular exercises in a grammar activity book. Otherwise have a grammar handbook available to answer questions.

• Circle and correct. As you read your child’s letters and compositions, simply circle the words, phrases, or sentences that are not clear or that contain errors. Ask your child to correct the problem. If she does, congratulate her. If she does not, try asking a couple of questions that help direct her to the solution.

Young children usually need help in seeing the intended result of what you want them to do. Remember, this isn’t because they lack intelligence. Children just have not had enough experience to see the outcome in their mind’s eye.

Remember to praise children for their efforts and to offer corrections in a way that shows you have respect for the work they’ve done so far!

Summer Bridging Activities - Use It, or Lose It! Start with Letter Writing

Practice the Skills, Exercise the Mind

Ask any athlete or musician. If they take a vacation and don’t practice for a couple of weeks, they lose their sharpness. Then, they have to practice for weeks to get back to the level where they can play as they did before. For the same reason children lose their school skills in the summer vacation months. That’s especially true of reading and writing and other basic skills. If kids don’t read and write regularly over the summer, they start the new school year far behind where they were at the end of the previous year.

The loss of skill over the summer is such a serious problem that educators have a term for preventing it. They call it Bridging.  Instead of letting kids slide into a ravine of inactivity, build a bridge of activities that will link the work of one year with the next.

In this blog, you will find specific examples of how you can develop bridge activities for your children – fun activities that also serve the purpose of maintaining their skills. Here are a few easy ones to get your children started:

• Make a weekly trip to the library for at least one book.

• Write a weekly letter to a relative or friend.

• Keep a weekly expense record on spending the allowance or grocery money.

Most people think first of reading because reading is central to all learning.  But this summer, why don’t you make writing the focal point of a bridging activity? Through writing, your children can bring all the other important skills into play. They have to write about something, don’t they? When they write a letter to Grandma, they can write about the book they are reading or what they are learning about frogs at camp.

Get grandparents into the act.

Ask your children to write a weekly letter to their grandparents.  Grandparents have a natural interest and pride in their grandchildren. Most of them will respond to letters from grandchildren--either in writing or with a telephone call.  For your children, the letters to grandparents can act as a means for summarizing their weekly activities and what they are learning week-by-week.  Prompt grandparents to ask for letters, and of course, to respond to them.

For younger children, set up a pattern that they can follow so they know how to get started. You may wish to set this pattern for your children:

Dear Grandma,

1. This is the most interesting thing I did this week.

2. I learned these things.

3. What did you learn this week?
   Love, Sammy

This pattern not only focuses attention on learning, but it also requests a similar response from Grandma or Grandpa. The same pattern could be used in writing to a friend or any relative.

Writing opens the door to spelling, vocabulary, and grammar.

Children may realize they aren't sure how to spell a word or express a thought properly when they begin writing. If your child asks you for a little help on how to spell or how to express an idea in correct grammar, give her the help she asks for. If, on the other hand, she is enjoying the process of writing her letters and seems happy with the result, don’t focus the letter-writing on those elements. Remember, the goal is for your child to look forward to communicating with others through writing! 

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Building Bridges for Lifelong Learners

Greetings new subscribers and loyal readers,

Terry Cortese, here. I am the Executive Director of DestinationLearn, Inc. and an Academic Advisor at our local Community College here in Bloomington, Indiana.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home that was chock full of books. Some of my fondest memories from childhood involve sitting around the dinner table with my parents and their friends following the conversation from one topic to another, until I would be sent to the bookshelf to pull a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica set, so the adults could look up a subject or historical event they were enthusiastically discussing.

My mother would then instruct me on the guide words to look for, help me zero in on the topic, and ask me to read aloud what I had found. I learned all sorts of interesting things this way, but more importantly, I learned to use reference resources to get a handle on the facts surrounding a topic. As I grew older, I returned to the brown, leather-bound, gold-stamped volumes time and again. Sometimes, it was to help me get started on a report for school, other times, I looked things up just to satisfy my curiosity. This is one of the more memorable ways my parents modeled lifelong learning for me.

I know there are many more things my parents taught me by example which I don't remember, yet profoundly influence how I interact with my own children today. Having my own children now, I have come to recognize that life offers us so many daily opportunities to influence our children’s approach to knowledge. Keep in mind, not every interaction needs to create a lasting memory to make a lasting difference.

This blog is dedicated to helping parents and educators find ways to take small, effective steps toward showing children what they need to be successful in both school and life.

In the meantime, if you have any great ideas to share with other interested parents and educators, please, send them my way, I am looking for guest bloggers and am interested in what you have to say.

I’d love to hear from you! Please contact me at terry@destinationlearn.net. 😊

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