Raising Intelligent Kids

While working in the field of educating children, parents often ask me, "How can I help my child at home?" Although, I have different answers for different situations. For example, I may suggest to the parent of a kindergartner, to point out letters and numbers on signs as they are driving through town (environmental print). For a third grader just starting to learn fractions, I might suggest letting their child help out in the kitchen using measuring cups and spoons. For all students, however, I will always recommend reading to your child, encouraging your child to read, and making sure your child sees you reading. I truly believe these are the most important things anyone can do at home for children of all ages. Reading fosters sequential thinking (beginning, middle, and end), problem solving (problem and solution), increased vocabulary, and comprehension. Reading at home helps children do better at school in reading based activities such as reading fluency...

Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash The summer of 2022 is going to be huge for travelers! After staying home for the pandemic, people are restless and ready to go places. I wholeheartedly believe in giving kids new experiences and adventures.  Encountering new vocabulary, historical places, and works of art encourage abstract thinking, creativity, and can improve comprehension!  Here are my top tips to make traveling with your kids a little easier. Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash If you and your family are planning a trip that involves flying this summer, be aware that this is the summer of "revenge travel." After being cooped up for two years, families are traveling in record numbers. However, the airlines (and the weather) are not quite ready for the onslaught of travelers . Be prepared for canceled or delayed flights and long waits at the airport. You may even have a long wait after boarding the plane, as I did on a recent flight. We were told that the plane could not ta...

    Avoid summer slide in elementary students by:   1.)  Reading with and to them daily.  Reading is a great conversation starter. It really can help you with your relationship with your kids. Reading helps children develop new vocabulary, which in turn, increases their reading comprehension. Reading is also great for the imagination and can help build confidence and self-esteem!   2.)  P lay learning games.  There are so many benefits to playing educational games that go beyond just the subject matter! First, kids learn how to interact with adults and other children. Games foster a sense of good sportsmanship and can increase social-emotional learning. Second, learning games encourage strategic, creative problem solving. Third, educational games help kids to pay attention to the learning because kids love to have fun! 3.)  Provide tutoring services.  Tutoring provides one-on-one attention or a small group setting to help your child focu...

I recently saw a meme on Facebook, you know one of those pictures or videos that just keeps spreading around, that said “All children are gifted but some take longer to unwrap their packages”. I have never been a fan the word “gifted”. In a school setting, it just means that kids identified as gifted are eligible for certain services or programs. Special Education is basically the same thing - aren’t all kids special? Obviously, all kids are special and each child has his or her own unique talents and skills.Technically though, all kids are not qualified to participate in gifted programs or special education programs and never will be. This does not make them or their individual needs less important. Although there is much evidence for the heritable factors of giftedness the term itself seems to de-value hard work, perseverance  and an aptitude for one or more subjects. One thing I never like to hear in my classroom is, “I’m bored”. I teach my students that if you are b...