Motivation, Negotiation, And Making It Their Idea
Posted on January 31, 2010
Filed Under Homework, Learning Strategies, Math | Leave a Comment
My daughter had a run in with some math homework the other day.
She was day dreaming in class, and as a result didn’t do her math when she was supposed to. Later at home, she was resistant and uncooperative, struggling with the questions which were basic and well below her ability.
I put on my Mean Mom hat and informed her that obviously she needed extra practice, so from now on we’re going to do math at home everyday. The conversation went something like this:
Her: “Every day??!!”
Me: “Yup. Only a couple, though, just for practice.”
Her: “So, ok, only TWO then?”
(yeesh)
Me: “Well maybe a bit more than two. The first day two, then the next day three.”
Her: “Ok, so, then after that, four, and then the next day five, and so on, but only up to seven because that’s how old I am.”
Works for me.
Today I used a sheet of graph paper and started writing out questions. They were grouped by date, the first day having two, the next, three, and so on. I used coloured gel pens and felts, and drew flowers along the border.
She came over to see what I was doing, and I showed her.
Me: “See? This first two-question part is for today. We can do it later.”
Her: “Can’t I do it now?”
Me: “Ok, but you only have to do the first two.”
Her: “Can I do more if I want?”
Works for me!
Math Treasure Hunt
Posted on January 24, 2010
Filed Under Learning Games, Math | Leave a Comment
Here’s a game you can play with your kids that will have them practicing their math without even realizing it…
Supplies:
Paper, pencil or pen, and some kind of treasure.
Method:
Cut paper into small pieces, and put them in pairs.
For each pair, make one paper a math question and number it (i.e. “question 1″), and the other paper the treasure hunt clue, and give it the same number (i.e. “clue 1″). The idea is, in order to get the clue, the child has to answer the math question. Hide the questions, and keep the clues with you.
The players answer the first question to get clue #1, which gives them the location of the second question. They find question #2 and answer it, which earns them clue #2 (which gives them the location of question #3), and so on, until they get to the treasure.
The math questions should obviously be tailored to their level - hard enough so that they have to think, but not so hard that the game loses its appeal.
Have fun!
Effective Modelling
Posted on January 8, 2010
Filed Under Homework, Influence, Schedule | Leave a Comment
A parenting technique that so many people talk about is modelling the kind of behaviour you want your kids to adopt. It makes a great deal of sense, but can be hard. (What do you mean I can’t use any profanity ever? OK fine, for the sake of my kids I’ll try, but it won’t be very @*&#@^% easy!!)
I was mulling this over in my poor tired head when a simple solution occurred to me. It’s one that I’m sure I can implement and make successful:
I’m going to schedule my day (as much as I can) according to what I want my kids to see me doing.
At the moment I’m alone in a quiet house because they’re both at school. This would be a perfect time to sit down with a book, or practice some piano (I’m just starting to learn : )
But wait… how much time do parents of school aged kids really have to read for fun? Am I going to waste those precious reading moments while my kids are away and not watching me? Instead check my Facebook and e-mail while they’re here looking over my shoulder?
What do they normally see me do? Hmmm… housework, dinner prep, computer activities - all good, but how am I supposed to inspire my daughter to practice the piano unless she sees how much I enjoy it?
Such a simple thing… I’ll rearrange my schedule: I’ll do housework and blogging in the mornings while they’re sleeping and again later while they’re at school, and I’ll practice piano when we get home from school and read after dinner, before their bedtime. I can watch whatever TV shows I have taped after they’re in bed, and instead read a book while they’re still awake to see me.
My “ah-ha” moment for today: simple rescheduling for parents = dramatic change in influence and environment for kids.
3 Tips For Building Reading Endurance In Young Kids
Posted on December 24, 2009
Filed Under Learning Strategies, Reading, Schedule, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
My kids are five and seven years old, and both enrolled in French Immersion elementary. The curriculum does not introduce any English at all until grade three, which means that as a parent I have to be proactive about teaching them English reading to ensure that they don’t fall behind.
My daughter (seven, in grade two), is my low maintenance one - she can read endlessly. She can be yawning and struggling to keep her eyes open, but she still devours text like it’s candy and begs to read more (her English reading is at a grade four level, so it’s been easy for me to support her in language immersion).
My son, on the other hand, has required more intervention on my part. He is five, and is reading short stories with three and four letter words and simple sentences. He is more typically enabled in that when it comes to endurance, he hits a wall when he gets tired. I can tell right away - he either says he doesn’t want to read anymore, or his focus suddenly vanishes and he’s hard pressed to produce even the basic letter sounds, never mind stringing them together into words.
I’ve discovered three simple tips to help him progress in his reading that I thought I’d share:
- I have him read a small amount every night, without fail. Even if it’s only two or three words, I get him to read to me. There’s no “oh, you’re tired, let’s skip tonight”. If he’s tired, he can still read “the cat sat”, or something like that. He’s very willing, because I get him to do it before I read stories to him (”Buddy, I’ll read your two stories to you after you read to me, OK?”). So he reads to me every night.
- I stop immediately when I see signs that he’s tired. Ending on a good note is so important, and struggling with a tired child doesn’t always end well. As soon as I see he’s tired, I’ll say “aw, that’s OK for tonight Mister, you’ve done great”, even if it’s in mid-sentence. Interestingly enough, 99% of the time he wants to continue and finish the sentence or story he’s reading (so I let him, of course). Focusing on anything is so much easier for a child when it’s their idea.
- Praise, praise, praise! Such a common sense thing, but I can’t stress it enough. If reading is something that brings him increased self-esteem, he’ll have a positive association with it and want to do it more.
This works for us! While my lil’ guy is nowhere near his sister’s level at that age, the improvement I’ve seen in his reading is definitely encouraging. Reading is such an important life skill, and well worth investing the time in : )
Using the Internet to Help With Language Immersion
Posted on December 10, 2009
Filed Under Homework, Internet, Learning Strategies, Reading | Leave a Comment
Both my kids are in French Immersion. My daughter, who is in Grade 2, brings home French books to read as homework.
I have some high school French under my belt, but that’s about it (so at this point her French is about as good
as mine ;) I’m determined to keep up! I’ve been using the Internet to look up words we encounter that I’m not familiar with, so both our vocabularies can grow. Prior to last night I would do this while she was playing, or in bed, and not while she had her book in front of her.
Last night we tried a different approach that we both agreed we’d do from now on. (You know how it is when you stumble across something that works so much better? 
While her brother was playing Wii with their Dad, she and I took my laptop and snuck off to a quiet room. She sat with her book in her lap, and I with my laptop. She read, and we looked up each unfamiliar word right then and there, as we encountered them.
Such a big difference…
Rather than me trying to remember to look them up later, then hunting her down to tell her while she’s distracted by something else, instead we learned the words while her attention was on the context of the story and her interest was high. She was even asking me to look up words.
Most interesting of all was that it actually sped up the reading process (contrary to what I had expected), because she was far more focused.
Such a simple thing, but how effective!
Entry Level Phonics
Posted on December 2, 2009
Filed Under Learning Tools, Reading | Leave a Comment
I’m continuously frustrated with my search for entry level children’s reading material - even though I make my own, I’m still always looking on the store shelves. It seems that many publisher’s version of “level 1″ simply involves using fewer words with a larger font, with no regard to the type of words used (are they phonetic? multi-syllabic?). It makes me wonder if the people who create these books have ever even sat down with a child and tried teaching them to read.
So I turned to the internet, and was happy to discover that www.starfall.com (love that website!!) has a download centre, that includes some printable entry level books that are in fact phonetic :) I printed off a few, and my five year old like them so much he read all 7 pages of “Zac The Rat” at bedtime last night.
Thanks Starfall!!
Recognizing Your Child’s Learning Style To Support Their Education
Posted on November 24, 2009
Filed Under Learning Games, Learning Strategies, Learning Tools, Schedule, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
The public school system is set up in a particular way, and while the teachers do have some flexibility in how they deliver their curriculum, for the most part students have to conform to a “one size fits all” method. This is not entirely a bad thing, because it prepares them for the real world: “this is a job, you have to do what your boss requires, even if it’s not what you feel like doing”. But what if your child is not learning because they simply can’t adapt? What then?
This is where many parents home school, or hire tutors. I can’t afford either option, so my approach has been a bit different, and so far it seems to be working. What I’m attempting is simple: I have them in public school, and am supporting their education at home, but in their own specific learning style.
Child led: this is my 6 year old daughter. If it is her idea, she excels (as a toddler she obsessed over books, to the point where she could read and write at the age of three). If it’s not her idea, she digs in her heels and resists (her grade 1 teacher couldn’t mark her in reading because despite all her efforts, she couldn’t get her to read out loud). The solution was for me to engineer a scenario that “was her idea”, which was getting her to read to my web cam (and giving her teacher a DVD later). Problem solved.
We recently got a piano. If I had hired a teacher to come in every week to “teach” her, the heels would be dug in again, and resistance would be the word of the day. Instead, I let her tinker and play some songs by ear, which I then transcribe onto staff paper and show to her. Voila! She can now read treble and bass clef, and I even found her writing (in treble clef) a simple song that she had written herself.
If they are interested and inherently motivated, the sky is the limit…
Currently her grade 2 teacher is also having issues with her conforming to the classroom requirements, to which I respond with a home based alternative that ensures that she learns the material somehow.
The trick is recognizing her style: child led, and presenting the material to her in a way that fits her: make it her idea.
Kinesthetic: this is my son. He MUST move, touch, move, touch, move, touch (you get the idea). His teacher worries that he’ll accidentally pull down art displays when the class walks in line down the school hallways, and they have tremendous difficulty getting him to sit still in circle time.
I am learning now that many kinesthetic learners are misdiagnosed with ADHD! I will not let misdiagnosis be an option for my son.
My solution is to adapt learning strategies at home to suit him while he attends public school Kindergarten. For example, before we sit down to do any kind of quiet work, to get some of his energy out of his system I run up and down the hallway with him for ten or fifteen minutes first (we’re Lightning McQueen and Doc having a race!). Another strategy that works for my kinesthetic little guy is to have him read to me at bedtime, when he’s getting tired. He’s more settled at this point, and is more able to focus on sounding out words.
What about your child? My suggestion to parents of a child struggling in public school would be to take some time to observe the child and assess his or her learning style and talents. Each child is different, and has their own version of fitting in to the public school system. If we can assess our own kids’ particular aptitudes and then support them in a way that is child-specific, I believe they will have more success in school.
How Can I Teach My Child To Memorize Our Address And Phone Number?
Posted on November 23, 2009
Filed Under Memorizing | Leave a Comment
I used a song to teach my kids our address and phone number. Simply getting them to remember and recite back to me wasn’t working, so I made up a little melody and turned our address and phone number into a song, and voila! Success.
Imagine trying to teach them all 26 letters of the alphabet without the alphabet song? It’s possible, sure, but I don’t know anyone who’s even tried. Music is fun, engaging, memorable, and kids love it
Homemade Word Searches
Posted on November 21, 2009
Filed Under Learning Games, Learning Tools, Reading | 2 Comments
Here is another tool I’ve used when my kids were really young (3-4) - homemade word searches.
There are a lot of word search books out there for older children (we have a few on our book shelves) but it’s almost impossible to find ones for the “cat, hat, sat, mat” level. Generally puzzles are created based on themes, not on reading level.
A child’s first puzzles should be extremely easy. Your son or daughter needs to feel the gratification of actually finding the words themselves, and it shouldn’t be so hard that they don’t want to continue. It’s not about studying, but rather exposure to reading while having fun.
If you have large square graph paper you can use that, or a ruler and pen to create a grid, or of course the computer (Word and Excel both work well). Use no more than four words in the beginning, increasing later as your child gets bored with the easy starter puzzles. The beauty of homemade puzzles is that they’re fully customizable to your child’s level.
Here’s a sample:
C A T
A N O
P E T
cap, cat, pet, tot
Have fun!
Reading - Hide The Pictures To Remove Distractions
Posted on November 20, 2009
Filed Under Reading | Leave a Comment
Pictures can be a valuable tool to help kids decode text when they’re learning to read. But what if your child is too interested in the pictures to look at the text and is not practicing reading, and yet is beyond the “one word at a time” level provided by flash cards?
Enter my five year old son. He can read simple phonetic words, as well as having a list of sight words, such as “the”, that he has memorized. One word flash cards are too easy for him, but given a typical picture book, he is more likely to guess what the words say based on the picture, rather than reading the text.
I took matters into my own hands with a simple solution: I created a “flip book” with a sentence on one side of each page, and a corresponding picture on the other. Once he reads the sentence, he can then flip the page over to see the picture.
A typical sentence might be: “We run in the sun for fun”, and on the other side of the page I would draw a big smiling sun with two stick figures running.
This works for us for several reasons:
- He has no visual clues to guess the text from so he’s forced to read.
- Looking at the picture after he’s read serves as an incentive and reward.
- Because I write the text, I can customize it to his level: I use either all the words he knows to give him a feeling of success, or add a new word or two to increase his skill.
- I maintain the challenge and learning by creating new text and pictures when he memorizes the old, in a much more cost effective way than constantly buying new books.
My flip book consists of a coil bound pad, which I’ve written and drawn on myself. I’m not a great illustrator, which is part of the fun - my son loves looking at my silly drawings once he’s finished reading. You could easily make a nicer book, however, using computer printed text and pictures.
It works for us, so I thought I’d share
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Better Learning- Motivation, Negotiation, And Making It Their Idea
- Math Treasure Hunt
- Effective Modelling
- 3 Tips For Building Reading Endurance In Young Kids
- Using the Internet to Help With Language Immersion
- Entry Level Phonics
- Recognizing Your Child’s Learning Style To Support Their Education
- How Can I Teach My Child To Memorize Our Address And Phone Number?
- Homemade Word Searches
- Reading - Hide The Pictures To Remove Distractions
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