Between the times your child is born and as he grows, there is a great deal that you can do to ensure optimum music development. Early music experiences can a raise a child’s musical aptitude and help develop language skills and independence in very young children. Spend quality time with music, singing, listening, making instruments …
Music Development: Making Music Through the Ages With Kids Read More »
Most kids love to engage in extracurricular activities, such as sports, music lessons, dance, scouts, to name a few. But, could your child be involved too much and monopolizing his or her time? How much time is left for schoolwork? How much time is left for family? Where is the line between taking advantage of …
Extracurricular Activities: How Much is Too Much? Read More »
It’s fun receiving holiday cards in the mail to keep in touch with family and friends. But why throw these beautiful pieces of art away at the end of the season. A good “green" tip is to keep them from year to year and repurpose the cards with fun crafts that the children can make. …
5 Crafts Made With Christmas Cards: Creative Time With Recycled Materials Read More »
From the time your child is a baby, he or she is learning about science. From exploring and observing how bath toys sink and float to experiencing weather changes on a walk outdoors, science is everywhere. They may not understand the concepts yet, but scientific learning is taking place As children grow they are naturally …
How a STEM/STEAM Education Encourages a Love of Science Read More »
I recently had the opportunity to review a new book, Playing with Collage by Jeannie Baker (Candlewick Studio, October 2019). This book is the perfect resource to collage making and teaches the various techniques and the variety of materials you can use for this art. The word “collage" originates from the French word “colle" that …
Collage Making: Learning About This Art Technique Read More »
As we near Halloween, playing games in the classroom is not only fun but also helps to foster important skills, both educational and social. Here are a few activities to engage your students during this fun holiday. Halloween Team Spirit This Halloween game is perfect as an icebreaker and a way for the children to …
Spook-tacular Halloween Games for Parties With Children Read More »
Do you have problems with your toddler sharing at play dates? Are you dealing with territorial battles? Problems with sharing are part of normal development in toddlers, but parents can foster sharing skills in young children with a few learning opportunities and offering praise along the way. Since toddlers naturally want to mimic adults, begin …
Toddler Sharing: Is Your Child in the MINE Stage? Read More »
“No peace in the world without peace in the nation, No peace in the nation without peace in the town, No peace in the town without peace in the home/school, No peace in the home without peace in the heart." Quote by – Tao Te Ching The International Day of Peace (Peace Day) is …
International Peace Day: Activities for the Elementary Classroom Read More »
Under the Influence: Art Itself Do you know art? Have you been to a museum or a gallery where you can see legendary works of art? How did you feel when you saw your first famous painting? Art makes of itself an emotional experience and we may feel sadness, surprise, curiosity, or even have feelings …
Do you remember the movie, “Alexander and the Terrible No-Good, Very Bad Day"? It was a horrible day and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I realize that teachers have an occasional off day, but when those terrible days stack up, this leads to problems. Teacher burnout can be a real danger. Do you …
It’s a jungle out there. Entomology professor Julie Peterson says there’s an estimated 10 quintillion insects on earth’s globe. If you have not heard of that number before, let’s just say that insects have the largest biomass of earth-bound animals, and probably represent 80 percent of the classes on the planet. And there are still …
Appreciate literature in your classroom. It is one of the best ways to motivate your students to take an interest in written as well as a spoken language. Why not integrate learning across the curriculum with good books? Don’t fall short on ideas for the upcoming school year. Turn to your children’s literature library and …
Hands-on Learning With Books: Activities for the Early Childhood Class Read More »
Whether you are a parent who is homeschooling or a teacher needing a lesson plan for the classroom — family is a good theme. Celebrate this very special relationship by using a variety of activities that focus on “my family”. Take this theme into reading, writing, speaking, music, and art. My Family Quilt There is …
My Family: A Theme Lesson for the Primary Grades Read More »
Playing outside during the summer is healthy and promotes benefits from exercise, however a young child’s body cannot adapt to extreme changes in temperature. Children’s bodies absorb more heat on a hot day. They do not perspire as easily as adults, so they are less able to cool off by sweating. The Three Main Forms …
Young Children and the Dangers of Heat: Preventing Heat Illness Read More »
It might not seem important to think about salmon and muse over their history or ponder what their life is like today. But it’s a vital story in the scheme of our ecological environment and what is happening to a once extremely valuable species. Besides, salmon is the best example of the cog in the …
Going Against the Grain: All About Salmon Spawning Read More »
We are lucky to live in a nation where freedom and justice for all prevails. We as parents/teachers are the ones to teach our children the importance of patriotism. How much does your child know about the United States? When we understand our country’s history and events, we respect each other more and feel like …
Patriotism: Activities For Children That Can Nurture a Love of Our Country Read More »
Magnets are magnificent. Their force is invisible, but its effects are found all around us. Magnets are used to hold schoolwork on refrigerators, they can help us find our way on a walk, and we even use them in televisions, computers, and MRI scanning machines where doctors can see inside the human body. How amazing …
All About Magnets: A Theme Unit for Elementary School Read More »
World’s best-selling crime writer with one-half billion books sold; and read in more than languages than Shakespeare—Check √ Creator of popular characters: Tommy & Tuppence, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple—Check √ Adaptations for movies: Murder on the Orient Express, Witness for the Prosecution; and long-running play: Mouse Trap—Check √ But did you know she had …
Octopuses are cool. Part of the Cephalopoda class (pronounced sef-uh-luh-pod), which is any member of the phylum Mollusca, a small group of highly advanced and organized marine animals including eight-armed octopuses, ten-armed squids, cuttlefishes, and the shelled chambered nautiluses. Octopus size is so varied it can be as gigantic as a school bus or as …
For years before the European explorers came upon American shores, the native nations prospered around the areas of the Southeastern areas known today as North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Discover traditional crafts of these tribes (Catawba, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole) –nations of people who lived in a …
Native American Crafts For Kids: Southeastern Nations Read More »
