A few posts ago, I listed some great literacy activities from our school board. Here are some numeracy activities to get kids doing math (same source, TDSB). Again, I’ve put in bold the ones I think are particularly interesting. Estimate speed/distance/time relationships while travelling with your family. What was the […]
Crafts
Get involved in your child’s school
Enrich your child’s learning, help your teacher, get involved. I despair when parents complain that their kids aren’t getting what they need from their school. I despair, not because the children aren’t getting what they need from their school, but because we parents have been conditioned to accept those terms […]
Current events
I’ve been doing current events at my son’s school. I approached my son’s teacher a few weeks ago, and proposed a weekly, half-hour current events discussion for the grade 3 / 4 class. My son’s teacher is very cool, and progressive and totally supported the idea. He also helped to […]
Dry-Erase Crayons
Things that make you go “d’uh!” This is one of those inventions that you wish you’d thought of. Dry-erase crayons. How good is that? No mess, no smell, no drying out. But do they work? This is the best part – they really, really do work well. The colours are […]
Thank-you cards
A great literacy activity. Your kids have probably just received a bunch of gifts, and I’m betting that at least some of the senders weren’t in the room when they were opened. So that means thank-you cards. They’re not optional. In our house if you don’t want to write a […]
Great homework
Our son’s teacher created an awesome homework assignment. And it’s something parents could do, too. I just asked my son and his friend if they’ve finished their homework (it’s just two days into the winter break). They both said yes. Even though there was a lot of reading involved, and […]
Make a book for Christmas
This is a great time to make your child a book for Christmas or Hannukah.Children of all ages are motivated to read a book about their favourite subject – themselves. Here’s how*Buy a small scrapbook with stiff pages. (Craft stores have them. You can also use a photo album.) *Select […]
Munsch contest for Canadians
Here’s a very exciting contest for Canadian kids. I’ll start with the best part – the winner gets a home visit from Robert Munsch! How exciting is that? (Extremely.) To enter, simply write a short story with your family and submit it here. If you win (and we’re gonna repeat […]
Willy Wonka to the rescue
Willy Wonka has been a huge success. As you may remember from a previous post, my son and I were looking for a book to read aloud, and I stumbled upon Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Raold Dahl. We read it in the course of about five nights and […]
One-Page Wonders
A fun, one-page book your child will want to read. Here is an awesome, one-page book you make. There are three simple steps: 1) Download the .pdf of instructions. 2) Download and print the .pdf of the book (colour). 3) Fold the book according to the instructions. OK, a fourth […]
