Motivation and Management Archives - Page 10 of 15

Little Bright Spots: Dress- up Play

August 5, 2016 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Who says dress-up play is limited to certain places like the playroom at home or for certain acceptable days like Halloween? Why do we encourage a child’s imaginative play in the form of dress up at home but have them change before leaving the house?

Recently we have noticed many small children expressing their creativity outside the confines of their homes by sporting their favorite costumes and “make believing” themselves into their character de jour. We love seeing the princesses pushing the carts down the aisles at the grocery store and the Spidermen protecting us while in the next car at the stoplight.

Study after study shows the need for pretend play in the development of children (link to this article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201203/the-need-pretend-play-in-child-development). Dress-up play is one very important way for children to express and develop their creativity and imagination. Plus, what grown up can resist a 4 year old Batman who shyly smiles at you from behind her cape in the convenience store checkout line?

We hope you have the joy of spotting one of these imaginative children in the days to come. May the pretend play so crucial to their development bring a smile to your day.

Wishing that your own fantasies be fulfilled today,

Little Bright Spots: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

July 29, 2016 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

We love reading and books- and those who promote the love of reading. Superstar singer Dolly Parton started Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to make sure that every child would have access to books. Communities sign up to support and promote the program, and in exchange, children from ages birth to five can receive a brand new age appropriate book each month.

To see if your community supports this program or to learn more about the Imagination Library, visit the website at www.imaginationlibrary.com

What can we say? Free books for kids makes us happy!

Happy reading,

The Learning Power of Touch

July 26, 2016 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

“Don’t touch that!” Children hear this phrase in stores, homes and classrooms everywhere. Kids are filled with curiosity and often want to touch things to better understand them. In our haste to preserve the items from harm, or to protect the child, we are quick to stop children from touching objects around them.

However, great learning can occur in if children are allowed to utilize their sense of touch. Many children learn about things by exploring objects with their hands. They like to see how things feel, to pull apart objects and put them back together to see how they work. We miss many opportunities for learning when we stop a child from using their natural instinct to learn about something by touching.

We present the following guideline (TOUCH) for encouraging kids to become actively engaged in their learning through touch:

T- Tactile. Tactile learners are those who learn best through hands-on experiences and “doing” what they are learning. These students NEED you to find ways to make the material more meaningful to them by touch. You will find that tactile learners will be much more actively engaged in their learning, and much less off-task, if you can incorporate hands-on activities whenever possible. Projects are great for tactile learners who like to learn by doing something rather than by listening or reading.

O-Outside of the box thinking. In order to incorporate more touch into the child’s learning, you will need to think outside of the box. What manipulatives can you use to better demonstrate fractions? What mini-figurines can you use to represent all of the characters and act out the events in the story the child is having a difficult time comprehending? (Hint- those free McDonald’s toys work wonderfully for this). In what other ways can you incorporate manipulatives as a guide in the child’s learning or to demonstrate that they have learned? We are surrounded by manipulatives that can be used to aide child in their learning. We just have to think outside of the box to see them as such.

U-Under a dollar. People often think that the best manipulatives come in purchased kits. This is not the case. Manipulatives are all around us. Those found in nature, in homes, and other naturally occurring environments provide a relevance that pre-fabricated manipulates cannot. For example, when a child learns basic addition and subtraction, they are often given counting bears or other purchased manipulatives. This works fine because it gives young children the tactile experience of actually moving bears to understand that the algorithm of 2+3 is two bears plus three more. However, rocks from the driveway could do the same and kids are more likely to count rocks in their driveway at home after school than multicolored plastic bears, making the learning more relevant to them. Most manipulatives found in nature or in the home are free or incur little cost to acquire. We challenge you to find manipulates for under a dollar. You do not need large amounts of money to put manipulatives into the hands of a child.

C– Check for understanding. Just having the item in their hand does not necessarily mean the child is learning. Make sure the child describes to you what it is that they are doing/feeling/manipulating. Clarify the points they are making and correct any misconceptions that they may have. Make sure the child is describing their learning so you can be assured they are correct in their thinking. Errors in their thinking cannot be remediated if you don’t know what it is that they are thinking.

H- Have fun. Touching while learning can and should be fun! It can be fun for the learner and fun for the adult teaching. The more fun kids have while learning, the more likely they are to continue learning and to seek out their own opportunities to learn. Reading a book about earthworms can be incredibly boring for most kids. However, going outside after a heavy rain and watching and touching earthworms while looking up facts about them in that same book can become a learning experience they will never forget.

How do you use tactile learning? Have you found great inexpensive manipulatives? We would love to hear your ideas about teaching through touch!

Happy Exploring,

Why You Should Think about the 3R’s this Summer!

July 19, 2016 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Retention. Regression. Recoupment.

What????

These words may sound foreign or out of context in relation to children’s learning. But they SHOULD be key considerations of summer programming for kids.

Veteran teachers have long known and understood how students lose learning over the summer months. Parents may also understand that their child may stop progressing over the summer. Often, neither party feels in control to change the situation. However, teachers and parents both play a role in eliminating “summer slide” and insuring children come back to school ready to learn and with limited loss of skills.

Everyone can benefit from thinking about and taking action to intentionally address these three R’s impacted by summer break. It is not to late to take action to help children learn this summer. We offer these suggestions to you so you will know how to answer parent questions about summer learning and/or give suggestions to parents as to ways they can combat the 3 R’s over the summer.

Here are the 3 R’s:

Retention– Retention refers to the amount of previously learned knowledge that a student can remember over the summer. This is not about gaining new knowledge. Retention refers to students keeping knowledge that they have previously learned even though they are not in school to practice and apply that knowledge. One student may retain much of what she has learned during the previous school year while another student may find the knowledge “escapes” her over summer break. Depending on the child, retention of learned skills and knowledge can be greatly impacted by long breaks such as summer vacation.
Regression– Regression refers to the sliding backward of skills that some students experience over the summer or other extended breaks. Unlike retention, where educators consider if a child retained what they had previously learned, regression focuses on the loss of skills and knowledge. Specifically, we look at what the child was able to do when school let out for break and which of those skills are lost over the summer. When regression occurs, students need to be retaught the skills that they forgot over the summer break. Much like retention, the existence of, and the degree to which regression occurs, is dependent on the child and the particular skill.
Recoupment– How long will it take the child to re-learn the skills that they lost over the summer? A week? A month? Almost all students need to be re-taught skills after long breaks. Teachers build recoupment time into their lesson plans at the beginning of the school year. However, some students need longer to recoup their learning loss than others. Recoupment refers to the amount of time needed for a student to relearn the skills that they lost over the summer.

So, what can we do to address these issues? We can intentionally incorporate experiences that help children and adolescents practice skills learned during the previous school year.

Consider Tutoring

Parents might consider hiring a tutor for a few hours a week. Many teachers work as tutors over the summer and parents may be able to hire a certified teacher that will help their child to maintain and even gain new skills. Many college education majors work as tutors over the summer. Your local school of education may be able to help find a qualified tutor. Parents can also post ads on sites like Craig’s List. Spending a little money to help a child go back to school without having lost skills may be a very worthwhile investment for families.

Consider Summer School and Camps

Summer classes and camps are often educational opportunities dressed up as fun. Many classes and camps incorporate activities that address the 3 R’s. Don’t forget about free summer programs at the local library. Research has shown that reading just twenty minutes a day will help students keep reading skills learned during the school year.

Suggest that Families Plan Educational Activities at Home

Activities at home with parents, siblings, and babysitters can help students retain the information they learned while eliminating regression and recoupment time at the beginning of the next academic year. Many card and board games such as Uno, Backgammon and Scrabble allow children to practice basic skills. Create a list of your favorite educational games and send that list home in May. Suggest to parents that family vacations and day trips can also be learning activities. Zoos, museums, aquariums, and even a trip to the grocery store can be educational. Suggest to your students that they volunteer to add up the groceries as they go through the store to practice math. Suggest students utilize the unused pages of a school notebook by writing and illustrating a summer travel journal.

Get Ready For the New Year

Many schools and teachers send home notes at the end of the school year listing summer book suggestions. Consider sending a note home before school starts welcoming your new students and giving some suggestions for books, games or websites for students to explore before school starts.

Being intentional in addressing the 3 R’s over the summer does not have to be costly or time consuming. We would love to hear what you are suggesting parents do over this summer to address retention of knowledge and/or skills, in turn reducing regression and recoupment time in the fall.

Happy Summer Learning,

« Previous Page
1
…
8
9
10
11
12
…
15
Next Page »

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Connect with us on Social Media!