Back to School is an important time to set habits that last throughout the school year. Journal writing is essentially a question of just developing a habit. Once the routine is established, keeping to it is easy, and its rewards are so valuable that it can become like distance running—those who [...]

Take advantage of the opportunities you have now for reading enrichment and pleasure through shared reading.

Fun books that kids love for summer reading, and year-round!

For many kids, it can can be challenging to get the hang of numbers and master the math concepts of digits and place value (ones, tens, hundreds, thousands). Finding a painless way to practice math concepts like these can be an even bigger challenge! With this intriguing little game that involves luck, strategy and a lot of number-building practice, you can sit down with your child and practice reading multiple-digit numbers without boring her to tears.

This is an easy add-on to the summer reading your child is already doing that will develop your child’s reading confidence, provide extra reading practice, and help reinforce the habit of reading just for pleasure.
Materials

Plentiful source of books—check out the school or local library
Several copies of your book report form that you write together

Getting Ready
Talk [...]

Here’s an activity that gives your young learner a way to develop his own measurement tool for describing wind force.

Averages come up in everyday life all the time, and knowing what averages mean and how to find averages helps your child think about them differently whenever they come up. There are lots of real-world situations that you can use to help your child practice calculating averages, from baseball scores to hours of sleep.
People talk [...]

Get ready for a fast, lively game that uses elementary math facts!

Students use models to study how things work. In this activity, pudding serves as a (delicious) model of plate tectonics - you get to have your model and eat it, too!

Helping kids to think numerically and providing them with chances to practice working with number facts are two things parents can easily achieve. Last week’s Let Me Count the Ways activity practiced numerical skills at home. This week, let’s take the activity on the road!