HELP YOUR CHILD TO THINK THINGS THROUGH

Being able to thing things through and realize an expected chain of events is an important skill for your child. Be sure to ask questions like "What do you think about that?" or "What do you think will happen if…?" Then be sure to really listen to your child´s answers, too. You will benefit from this as much as your child because you will learn what and how you´re your child thinks and how they process the information. That will help you communicate more efficiently as they grow older. When your child is comfortable communicating with you without fear of reprisal they can be more open and honest.

NUMBER CANS

Make some "Number Cans" to teach numeric concepts to your kids.
Cover empty vegetable tins with construction paper. Number the cans from 1 to 10 and draw dots on with a marker or crayon. Set out craft sticks or drinking straws. Help your child count the number of dots on the cans and place the right number of sticks inside them.

LEARNING NUMBERS

These are good "mini-rhymes" to use when your child is learning how to print their numbers.
1-A straight line, one is fun.
2-Around and back on the railroad track-two,two,two.
3-Around the tree and around the tree, that´s the way we make a three.
4-Down and over, down some more. That´s the way we make a four.
5-Fat old five goes down and around. Put a flag on top and see what you´ve
found.
6-Down to a loop, six rolls a hoop.
7-Across the sky and down from heaven, that´s the way we make a seven.
8-Make an "s" but do not wait -- go right back up to make an eight.
9-A loop and a line--that´s a nine.
10-A one first, a zero then, that´s the way we make a ten!

BEGINNING SCISSOR EXERCISES

Before children begin any structured cutting tasks, let them develop a feel for scissors by allowing them to do some random cutting. Let them snip and cut small pieces of paper into smaller pieces until they are comfortable using them. I personally recommend you use the best quality children´s scissors you can find. Children become frustrated quickly when their scissors "don´t work" and they will not feel successful. Once they are comfortable opening and closing the blades of their scissors, have them cut along a straight line drawn on a piece of paper. Advance to a swivel line when the child is ready to "steer" their scissors. When comfortable with that the child can attempt to follow the line on a geometric shape.

READING TOGETHER

When you read to your child, run your finger under the words as you read them. This will teach him that you read from top to bottom and left to right, and those letters form words.

Provide a variety of books for him. Go to the library together. Soon he´ll be able to read some of these words.

BECOME EXPLORERS

My children had a map of the world posted on the back of a bedroom door for years. It became a super reference tool. Make a map of your neighborhood with your children, talking about directions and how to get to their favorite places. Display a map of your area, state, country or the world. Refer to it when questions come up.

BUILDING VOCABULARY

A good vocabulary will help your child throughout life. Being able to express themselves is key to succeeding both in their social lives, their academic lives and later in life in the "real world". Reading to and with your child daily takes only minutes a day and will pay back in volumes. Don´t underestimate the value of books on tape, occasionally substituting these for the radio on a longer car trip. Encourage them to read to you. Keep a variety of reading materials at home magazines, books and newspapers. Act out their favorite stories, or put together a puppet show. Teach them that writing is fun. Encourage them to write from the time they can sound out words and have toddlers and preschool children dictate to you "writing" a letter to a favorite relative or friend. Have them make their own cards to give on birthdays or holidays.

CRAMMING

"Cramming" is not the right way to use those last few hours before a test or exam. Excercise, believe it or not, puts your body at ease, and relaxes your muscles. It also puts your mind in a positive state. These three components combined will make your body ideal for a test writing situation. So, two hours before your next test, perhaps pruise your notes lightly, then take a one to two kilometer run, or a three to four kilometer bike, then return, take a shower, pruise your notes again for a few minutes, and I guarentee you´ll do better on the test -- Good Luck!

DON´T JUST STUDY AT HOME

Remember this: for projects or for tests, simply reviewing at home won´t get you an A! A majority of your studying should be done in the class! When your teacher is showing you how to do something, or teaching a lesson, listen to what he or she is saying, and try to understand. Often on tests, when looking at a question, I remember the answer from something that my teacher said during his lessons. Your teacher would never put something on a test (or expect something on a project) that he didn´t teach in class, so listening is a sure bet to getting a good grade!

HANDING IN SCHOOLWORK

Remember when handing in your next assignment that teachers are only human! A teacher is likely to give a better mark to a project handed in a nice clean, neatly marked, duotang than to a project with pages loosely stapled together that is all dirty and crumpled, even if they have exactly the same thing written on them! Remember that appearance is important, and hand your work in looking acceptable!

STUDY CORNER

All children deserve a special place to do their studying in. A small desk, a special corner of your desk, a tray table and chair in their room, what is important is that they have somewhere to keep their dictionary, other reference books and school-related material. If your child does their studying at the kitchen table set up a shelf for these materials in a nearby convenient spot.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Do your homework while your children do their school assignments. Balance your checkbook, pay bills, fold laundry. Show the attitude that "We´re all in this together." Let them know that your are there if they need you. When they do ask for help, play detective. Help them search out the answers to their questions. Go to the library together and show them how to find the answers they need. Many families find a weekly trip to the library an inexpensive, fun, family activity. By teaching them how to research for answers, you teach them a life skill they will use forever. When you are all finished reward yourselves with a game or treat.

FIVE TURKEYS

Cut five turkey body shapes from brown felt and 15 tail feathers from red, yellow, and orange felt. Number the turkey body shapes from 1-5 and place them on a flannel board. Put the feather shapes in a pile. To play the game, have your children take turns selecting a turkey and placing that many feathers on it. (Can also make out of construction paper as an individual center.)

A FISHY MATH GAME

In a shoebox make this homemade fishing game with an educational twist. Cut construction paper fish and mark them each with a number. Attach a paper clip to the nose of each fish. Tie some string to the end of a wooden spoon and on the other end of the string tie a magnet "hook." To play this game your child catches 2 fish and has to add the numbers on them. If correct he/she can keep the fish, if not the fish go back in the box. Play until all the fish are caught.

INDOOR SAND BOX

Hang on before you holler "NO WAY!" , read on to see how easy and not so messy this is. Day care centers and pre-schools have "Sand Tables" for children to explore in. You can provide this experience at home too! I use a large plastic storage container with a lid, it measures about 2´ x 3´ in width and length and is about 6 to 8" deep. I change the contents occasionally to one of the following. Cornmeal, Sand, Rice, Pebbles, Garden Dirt, etc. This "indoor sand box" is great for hiding little toys, driving little cars, playing with shoves and pails, anything you might have done last summer at the beach. When you bring the indoor sand box out for your child to play in, set it on a vinyl tablecloth or use an inflatable pool. You will soon find your child enthralled for hours!

TEACHER COMMUNICATION

Talk with teachers. Get to know your children´s teachers and talk with them about what you can do to help at home. Try to attend open houses, conferences, plays, concerts, games and other activities at school. Introduce yourself to your child´s teacher in person or by phone.

PLAYGROUP SAFETY

Having a number of young children together for a play-date is good for your children. They make new friends and develop their social skills. However, the young guests may have a different environment at home. The following suggestions are important to establish before the play begins. This is a simple method that protects the children as well as informs them of what is to be expected in your environment.
1. Take a few moments to discuss rules and safety with your children and their visiting friends before they begin playing. For example you could say, "Our rules are simple--no hurting each other, no screaming, and no running indoors."
2. Checking toys, play and sports equipment on a regular basis to make sure they are safe.
3. Another common-sense way to protect the kids, is to monitor your their activities and make sure they are not doing anything dangerous.
4. Checking your home for potential dangers. Do you have a throw rug that people tend to trip over? A walkway that gets slippery when it rains? Find ways to fix these problems.
5. Talk to the parents before any play dates take place and discuss your concerns about the children´s safety and what they expect of you. Ask them if there is anything they absolutely don´t want their child doing, such as climbing trees or riding scooters.
It is also a good idea to have extra protective equipment on hand. An extra bike helmet, kneepads and wrist guards are useful. In fact I even have my tricycle bike riders wear their helmets to get them into the habit at an early age.

HOW TO STUDY

If you have a test coming up, remember that studying isn´t simply breezing over your material lightly, and that it takes more than five minutes. An effective method of studying is to read over your material in full, whether you think you have to or not, and then ask a family member, preferably mom or dad, to ask you some questions based on the facts. Mom and dad are best because they are most likely to ask questions similar to those that the teacher will ask on the test. I find that this is an effective way to study, but remember: you can´t study the night before the test and expect to do well, you should review material very lightly every night, and perhaps study longer within a week of the test.

TEACHER CONFERENCES

Here are some general questions and information that can be shared with your child´s teacher on your conference appointment. Even if you find your child is doing well, and you seem at a loss as to what to discuss in your conference, these questions are alw