I ask, " Why are you not finishing your classwork honey?"

If you find yourself saying to your children "focus! focus! focus!" then you have been sounding a lot like me for the past few weeks.  Needless to say I am beginning to sound like a broken recording.  The wonderful Mrs. Peters the teacher of my daughters kindergarten class sent home a note the other day.  Mrs. Peters like any good teacher went on to express a concern and wanted to know if everything was okay with Sade.  Unfortunately, Sade had not completed the listening and writing assignment of the day.  I was so grateful she took the time to inform me of her observations.  I immediately started to think about what could I do to support her and help Sade be more successful in the classroom.

 

 

Keep Calm and Complete Classwork

 

I sat down with my little student and had a discussion about why she had not completed her class writing assignment.  Her response was simple she tried so hard to complete her work and she did her best. I thought to myself what can we do to improve your focus in class?  After considering what I know about my child pretend play is very important to her.  I give her 15 minutes upon arrival from school to unwind.  So I decided to move that around to the evening.  After reading a few articles to get some helpful ideas I have devised a next plan of action to help my little student focus throughout the day.

 

 

Family Planning requires a few tools and resources.

 

 

 Tool Box:

1. How does the environment affect a child's brain development?                                             https://www.sharecare.com/health 

2. How to Improve Attention Spans:                   http://www.parents.com/kids/development

3. Dietary plan:                                    http://www.multivitaminguide.org/

• I wanted to make sure that my daughters diet was supplementing those very important minerals that she would need to help with her brain development and function.  We I researched her multivitamin it was not even in the ranking 100.  Needless to say if your child has the type of diet that includes all the right amounts of the food pyramid then you beating half the battle.  Unfortunately, I am that parent that has to seek alternatives and supplement those nutrients that are  to the development of a healthy child with a developing brain.

4. Book Recommendation YOU-Raising-Owners-Manual

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5. Calendar of events:

• Depending on what region of the world you live in like me you have to consider that the winter season has required a few snow days and necessary indoor activities.  My child is probably experiencing a great deal of cabin fever.  So with the upcoming winter recess I will schedule activities with an opportunity to get out and socialize.  For example the movies, bowling and indoor ice skating.

 

Bowling is for everyone!

Lego Movie

 

 



       

It is always a great idea to reevaluate your family plan and to consider how personal lifestyle, academic goals and weather may or may not be affecting your child and their progress.  Please share your thoughts and any other ideas for me. Good luck!

Our Tools Equals Our Success

Its a new year and as much as we would like to start fresh we are still in the middle of quarterly grades, standards and goals.  After the holidays we can regroup and renew our approach to succeeding in school.  We are four months into the school year and whats so great is we should have a better understanding of what its going to take for our child to succeed in this year. For example,  we know homework patterns and we can support our children in building a stronger relationship with their teachers.   

Tool Box:

Great books to read for new ideas that are buzzing around the world!

I was talking to a fellow mom and she shared an important observation.  She thinks each year is going to be a great opportunity to teach our little scholars "Time Management Skills".  She thinks that teaching little students effective habits of successful people is the start to utilizing time efficiently and effectively.  By exposing our little scholars to new and effective ways of managing schoolwork and extra curricula activities we are building a strong foundation for success in the classroom and life.   It should create accountability, an awareness of what it takes to complete goals,  and how to prioritize.

Visual mapping:

Faithfulprovisions.com

Momstoolbelt.com

You might think what age is too young to get started? As I watch my daughter grow and stretch as a person I have learned their is value in good practice and an occasional challenge.   To my surprise my daughter is well suited to meet most of those challenges.  What a great confidence booster!

Time for Action

So, reflect upon what is working and what to enhance as you think with the end in mind.  Aim higher for a balance and effective lifestyle.  As parents we should model and or learn these new skills we are trying to encourage.  It absolutely renews my life and my ability to reinvent myself in all these wonderful areas that I'm trying to nurture in my child.  So lets make it a family affair by setting goals, broadening our interest levels, exploring new learning styles and becoming life long learners.  What a gift and a legacy to share with our children.  Good luck!

Home School Connections

As the weeks have skated by everything seems so rushed.  I received a few notices from the teaching team at my daughters school to put it simply I appreciate the attempts to keep me current with what is going on in the classroom.  

Home school connections is the only way a parent can keep up with the latest topics, themes and activities in the classroom.  These Home School Connection notices include vocabulary words your child should know, symbols being used in the classroom, activities to practice at home and books you can buy to read that support what they are doing in the classroom. Here is an example:

So here are a few suggestions for other parents like me:

• What I have done for my little student is created a word wall that I add to every two weeks.  

• I have ordered books from the book list to read to her and add to my library. You can check your local library for similar text.

• I have created a project based activity along with the suggested activities shared by the team.  This is to accommodate my child's other learning styles. 

• I also use youtube videos for kids to research images and information for my little student.  She really enjoys a 3 to 5 minute video on topics such as tornadoes,  earthquakes and recently facts about fire.

During the transition into Common Core and standardized testing I have taken to being more involved and less shocked by the Department of Educations new realities.  I believe at times this system can hinder the growth of many to accomodate a new breed of students.  I am being proactive about her school work and my mission to be a partner in education.   I'm supporting my child through her learning and supporting these teachers who I believe love to teach.  I hope as parents and guardians you can too.  Good luck!