Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonics: What's the difference?Children learn to do many things, but reading is and will always be one of the most important things a child learns to do. How can we as parents, guardians, and educators ensure that children are receiving the right type of instruction to become successful readers? Well, to make that happen, they need explicit instruction with phonemic awareness and phonics.
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Liberty Science Center
Have you ever visited a museum with your children and spend a lot time telling them, “Don't’ touch that!” “Be careful”. If you’re a parent, then you know exactly what I am talking about because no one wants to be responsible for broken exhibit pieces. But when you visit places that are geared towards children and their little touchy hands, then it eases the stress away. I love taking my children to places where they are able to TOUCH EVERYTHING! |
Earth Day Recycled Bird Feeders for Kids
Boxes are very special to my children. We usually save boxes, cartons, and toilet paper rolls for arts and crafts. We have used those materials to make airplanes, binoculars, cars, houses, alphabet board game, and whatever else their imagination has conjured up. |
Spring Time Planting for Kids
As new life starts to bud, children will have questions about the changes in their environment. And I encourage you to welcome their questions and explore with them. Provide hands-on activities to make the learning concrete and fun. |
Why Broken Crayons Will Improve Your Child's Pencil Grip
As a teacher and mom, I must admit, it has been a pet peeve of mine when children break the crayons! However, I have learned to love a broken piece of crayon. Here’s why… |
Introducing Patterns to Toddlers and Preschoolers
When you introduce patterns, start with an AB pattern which is two objects that will repeat. For example, red, blue, red, blue, red, blue. As you introduce the core pattern (the two colors used to start the pattern), repeat it three times and then ask, “what comes next?”. Whatever your choice of objects, it should be an AB pattern. You can use cars, crayons, markers, or buttons. You can even make it a movement pattern by asking your child to clap and jump. |
Legos, Literacy, and Math
Children love to play with a number of things from store bought toys to boxes. If you ask me, they prefer the boxes over the store bought toys because their imagination runs wild. They also have a love for building structures whether it's with wooden, cardboard, or even large Lego blocks. Play is the job of a child. That’s what childhood is all about, but play can always be turned into meaningful experiences. Have you ever heard the saying, “children learn through play”? I’m sure you have. Today's blog post is a great read for National Lego Day. |
Don't Let Your Preschooler Write With A Tablet
I have worked with preschoolers for many years and have noticed a decline in their fine motor skills as technology became more and more popular with the little ones. I mean, think about how many preschoolers you know with a tablet. Probably quite a few. I am not saying that it is wrong to have one, just simply limiting the time and activities on the device. Children have fewer opportunities to participate activities that will strengthen their little hands, and because of that, I have found writing to be a challenge due to a lack of muscle strength in their hands. |
What To Do With A Box?
Before you throw out those boxes from all the holiday festivities, you might want to consider how you and the kids can use your imagination to transform the boxes. Children have a fascination with boxes, so it's only right to use them in a creative way. |
What IS subitizing?
Subitizing is the ability to quickly recognize a small number of objects without counting. For example, if you hold up three fingers and your child is able to quickly tell you there are three fingers without counting, then they are able to subitize. Subitizing is an important skill that will support young learners later on in kindergarten and beyond for adding and subtracting. There are many subitizing games to play with preschoolers to help develop this skill, but first, let’s discuss the two types of subitizing.
Subitizing is the ability to quickly recognize a small number of objects without counting. For example, if you hold up three fingers and your child is able to quickly tell you there are three fingers without counting, then they are able to subitize. Subitizing is an important skill that will support young learners later on in kindergarten and beyond for adding and subtracting. There are many subitizing games to play with preschoolers to help develop this skill, but first, let’s discuss the two types of subitizing.
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