I haven't made the best of decision when ever there is a decision placed before me, but I try I really do. I got talking to a student today, he was making some wrong choices that was affecting how he was acting and what he was allowed to do. He said that he wanted to start over tomorrow, so he wasn't going to work today. No we have to start today, because the choices that we make today are going to affect tomorrow, whether they are good or bad. Today's choices will affect tomorrow and possibly farther. I got thinking, wow somebody should be giving me this talk, maybe someone was giving it to me, and using me as the mouth piece to try and teach myself. Do you believe in a higher power? I do, and I'm thinking He was trying to talk to me.


Wes

Into the swing of it

Well it is Back to School!
I hope Mom Dad and children are all ecited. I am. I am teaching 4th grade this year and it is going to be fun.

Some might have thoughts about school being the way it was 20 or even 10 years ago. Well it is not it has improved so much it is fantastic.

I think some parents will be glad for some new teachers that are coming into the profession. There really are some totally fantastic teachers. Love school- no love learning.

Wes.

One of the hardest things to do during the summer is set up a routine. I know, I'm there. I was going to be so good with my son and really help him with his reading and get that exploding beyond were he was. Well the summer is a third over and we haven't done very good. Yes we have done some work, but nothing like I wanted. its tough I know. So If you are having a hard time like me this might help, and yes you probably already know all about it. But It will work. Write out a plan, schedule and stick to it. Have your kids help with the plan they will be more likly to do it and help remind you about it. Don't stick it in some drawer. Stick it on the refrigerator. Why there? Well that is have some of the most traffic in your house, you will see it and remember.

Have a great summer.

wes

kids off the Couch

Want some ideas that are not just reading. Well here are some multimedia ideas.

Kids Off The Couch.com Heres what they have to say.

Kids Off The Couch.com offers a free, weekly e-blast that takes what kids love -- good films, books, music and digital media -- and uses it to inspire family adventures. From art and architecture, to nature and sporting events, we connect families to each other and to the world.

kids off the couch.com

have fun
wes

do you want to learn more about how to help your child in their reading and help them during the summer. Well Reading Rockets just might be the place for you then.

summer reading web cast
parent tips
articles and research
book lists

Reading Rockets

have fun
wes

Scholastic reading program

Scholastic has a real fun summer reading program. you ought to check it out.

this is what they say
To kick off summer reading 2010, Scholastic hosted a live book trivia game show featuring top children's authors competing in the Ultimate Author Showdown.
Watch the full game show video here.

have a blast

wes

Want to keep your kids active this summer well there are a ton of summer reading programs out there. I am going to share a few with you. So here is the First.

Barns and Noble has a reading program with an incentive for for kids.
A FREE BOOK

Barns and Noble FREE BOOK program

have fun

wes

Summer reading

OK it is summer (well for most of us, I know some have year round school.) the kid are out having fun and the last thing on any ones mind is learning. Well That may not be the best thing. While our kids are out for the summer,if they don't read they could fall a full grade level back. So if they end school with a 3.2 reading level, when school starts again in the fall they will be starting at a 2.2 reading level. Wow, that is a big deal. The good thing is that it does not have to be way structured. It shouldn't be, its summer. But reading can still be fun. My little boy is fighting me a little bit but we are still doing it. The other day we read some books under the trampoline. He is going into 1st grade and thinks things like that are great.

So remember to read and make it fun.
I guarantee that your public library has some great things going on. And Its FREE.


wes

4 minutes plus their age

I would like to share something that I wrote last year and then add a little more with some thoughts that I have.

 My son just is starting kindergarten and it is different to watch him grow up now and send him off to school. The past two days I have taken him to school and picked him up, what an experience. It really is good, kind of scary as well. today I walked him to the front doors and let him go to his classroom by himself. As well I have had the opportunity to watch my little girl while my wife is canning. This is also a great experience, pretty demanding though. What a great opportunity I have, I hope I don't take it for granted.

What I would like to share today is something that I have learned even more here in the last couple days, helping my little boy with homework. The attention span that children have. In school a good teacher should be changing their teaching technique or topic almost every 20 minutes. That is right almost every 20 minutes, and for young kids it is even more often than that. So when you are helping you child out with their homework at home done force them to do it for hours on end. You will get better results if they work really hard for 20 minutes take a break (even a 5 min. break) and then go back to working. This is for any child, even for ones that have no learning disability.


addition today
Ok lets up date this a little.  The attention span that your child has is about 4 minutes longer than their age.   4 yr old =8 minutes of focus    6yr old=10 minutes of focus.  this is really strong concentrating focus.   So if you are helping your kid with home work, or working with them through the summer, remember that their attention span isn't very long and changing directions will help.  This doesn't mean work for 10 minutes and take a break.  Have them read a book for ten minutes and then work on flash cards for a few.  You will get the hang of it and see how productive it is.

Happy Memorial Day. Hope it is a good one with friends and or family.

wes

Multiplication Finger Tricks

Some of us just need some help from our fingers.  Hopefully this is for you.

Multiplying on fingers

Yes, it can be done. Multiplying on fingers is not as easy as adding or subtracting with the fingers, and you do need first of all to know how to multiply low numbers by 2, 3, 4 and 5. But most children who have difficulties with multiplication have problems with the 6, 7 or 8 times table.
It's a bit complicated to remember what to do, and some children would find it more trouble than it's worth! However a child who learns kinesthetically and has difficulty remembering anything by rote would probably grasp this quickly. So do try this with your children, even if it seems highly complex from your adult point of view.

Here's what you do:

Hold your hands horizontally in front of you, with your elbows sticking out, palms facing away from you, tips of middle fingers touching. (That's the hardest part to describe in text!)
Mentally (or with marker pen) number the thumbs as 6, index fingers as 7, middle fingers 8, ring fingers 9, little fingers 10. And define the thumbs as honorary fingers for the purposes of this 'manual calculator'.
To do any multiplication, from 6x6 through to 9x9, touch two fingers together which represent the numbers you want to multiply. For instance, for 7x8, touch index finger of one hand to middle finger of the other.

Now comes the tricky part with finger multiplication

The two touching fingers and all the ones nearer to you than the ones touching are the 'tens' group. In the 7x8 example you have five: both thumbs, both index fingers and one middle finger are in that group, so the answer contains 5 tens.
The remaining number of fingers on each hand - in this case 3 on one hand and 2 on the other - must be multiplied together to give the 'units' of the answer. 3x2 = 6.
The answer to 7x8 is five tens and six units, 50+6 = 56.
It sounds horrendous, but some children love it and it really works.

One minor point about multiplying on fingers

Sometimes the 'units' add up to more than 10, in which case the ten must be 'carried' and added onto the other tens. For instance, if you multiply 6x7, you will have 3 tens (2 thumbs and one finger), with 3 and 4 fingers respectively remaining, and 3x4 is 12. So either add 12 to 30 and don't worry about it being units, or carry the 10 mentally and add 40 to 2 - either way you get 42.
It works for every multiplication from 6x6 to 10x10 (not that you'd want such a complex method for multiplying by 10 - if you think you do, try reading the page on multiplication tricks). 

Clicking on "page on multiplication tricks will take you to the page were this came from, with more math tips and help.


Wes

Multiplication Tricks

 Multiplication Tricks

Multiply by 2:   Add the number to itself

Anything multiplied by two must give an even number:

in other words, the last digit must be 2, 4, 6, 8 or 0.

Multiply by 3: It All Adds Up

Let's see if 3 has any special properties.

4 x 3 = 12     1 + 2 = 3

5 x 3 = 15     1 + 5 = 6

6 x 3 = 18     1 + 8 = 9

7 x 3 = 21     2 + 1 = 3

When you multiply by 3, the digits of the answer add up to 3, 6, or 9.

You can't really use this to multiply faster. But it is a quick way to check your work.

Multiply By 4

To quickly multiply by four, double the number and then double it again.

Show

             4

          x 3

           12

Cheer: 1, 2, 3, 4, all went marching out the door. (See 7 x 8)

4 x 4 = 16.  you must be 16 to drive a 4x4.

Multiply by 5: It's All 5s and 0s

Let's look at a few facts about 5.  If you multiply a number by 5 it must end in 5 or 0.

2 x 5 = 10

3 x 5 = 15

4 x 5 = 20

5 x 5 = 25

6 x 5 = 30

7 x 5 = 35

See a pattern? If we multiply by an even number, the ones digit is 0. If the number's odd, the ones digit is 5. This trick is great to check your multiplication by 5.

Multiply by 6:

If you multiply 6 by an even number, they both end in the same digit.  

                      Example: 6×2=12, 6×4=24, 6×6=36, etc

The rule doesn’t work for 6 times an odd number such as 6 x 3 = 18

Rhyme:  6 times 8 went on a date and didn’t come home ‘til they were 48.

              6 times 9 is 54—shut your mouth and say no more.

              6 x 6 is thirsty sixes

Multiply by 7:

Rhyme:

7x7 is San Francisco 49ers.

Five - six - seven - eight, Fifty-six is seven times eight.

Multiply by 8:

8 x 8 is Nintendo 64

Multiply by 9: It All Adds Up to 9

Have you ever heard of the Amazing Facts of Nine? Let's  take a look

.2 x 9 = 18   1 + 8 = 9

3 x 9 = 27    2 + 7 = 9

4 x 9 = 36    3 + 6 = 9

5 x 9 = 45    4 + 5 = 9

6 x 9 = 54    5 + 4 = 9

7 x 9 = 63     6 + 3 = 9

8 x 9 = 72     7 + 2 = 9

9 x 9 = 81     8 + 1 = 9

See the pattern? When we multiply a single-digit number times 9:

- The tens digit is one less than our original number.

- The tens digit plus the ones digit equals nine!

Multiply by 10: Just add 0

The easiest number to multiply by is 10. Just “add 0.”

3 x 10 = 30

140 x 10 = 1400

Multiply by 11:  up to 9x11:

 just repeat the digit (Example: 4x11 = 44)  

 for 10x11 to 18x11:  

 For this example we will use 11 x  54.

• Separate the two digits in you mind (5__4).
• Notice the hole between them!
• Add the 5 and the 4 together (5+4=9)
• Put the resulting 9 in the hole 594. That's it! 11 x 54=594

The only thing tricky to remember is that if the result of the addition is greater than 9, you only put the "ones" digit in the hole and carry the "tens" digit from the addition. For example 11 x 57 ... 5__7 ... 5+7=12 ... put the 2 in the hole and add the 1 from the 12 to the 5 in to get 6 for a result of 627 ... 11 x 57 = 627

Multiply by 12:

Multiply the number by 10 then by 2 and add them together.  For example  12 x 9 = ?

Multiply 9 by 10 = 90 and Multiply 9 by 2 = 18 then add 90 + 18 = 108 so 12 x 9 = 108

Times Tables

I am thinking that you kid might not like times tables that much.  Well unfortunately they are not alone.  I the thing that will help or hurt your kid in school, mostly from 3rd grade on is how well they know their times tables.  Here is a game that they might like to play.

If you can get some 12 sided dice (regular dice will work as well, but 12 sided will be best because that is what they need to know, times tables up to 12).  Here are some ideas.  These big ones might be real fun.





Just some Ideas.  Wal-mart defiantly would have the 6 sided dice, it a start.  (that is if you don't already have dice.)

If I could name one thing that would help your child the most with math it would be their times tables.






Next time Multiplication tricks


Wes

Our Attidtude about math.

Do you like math?  The chances of you saying yes is very slim.  Most of us have grown up not liking math and hate having it for homework. 

We grow up saying
"I am not good at math, I hate it."   So, we go through school not liking it and not doing very good at it, BECAUSE we think we aren't very good.  Why do we think this way, well what is your parents attitude about math.  Do you remember what they used to say about it.  It is most probally the exact same thing that you had said, or you do say. 

Our kids grow up thinking about math the exact same way that we grew up thinking and think now.  So If you would like to have your kids not have that attitude toward math, leave those feellings somewhere else when you are around your kids.  

Be possitive about homework and math then your kids will have the same fellings and attitude about their homework and math.

Great learning to you.

Wes

Here are a few books/websites in a few different areas that might be of use to you at home with your children and their education.  They could help out with homework, or attitudes.  Or if you want to start home schooling here is some help.

Youth Change Your problem-kid problem-solver    

Ebooks and printables

Click Here!

Tension strategies

Click Here!

Home school road map

Click Here!

The A patterns and sounds

Today we are going to talk about the vowel a.

The patterns that it has and the sounds it makes. (Note: the "_" means that there is a consonant there.)


 
Here are the patterns

          a_ (can)         a_e (bake)           ai (paid)       ay (hay)     
           ar (car)        all (call)               aw (saw)


 

 
The sounds that "a" makes, well there are a few. The basic two sounds are the short and then the long sound. The short "a" says its sound while the long "a" says its name.

Pattern                  Words

   
Example: short "a" as in            a_                    cat     ran    cap      back

                 sat     man    nap    snack

   

Long "a" as in               a_e                    bake   name   gave    take

 

these are not long "a"

but make the same sound        ai                     rain      wait       tail      train

   

or                                  ay                    day      say       pay     may

 

A few of the other main

sounds are                             all                    ball        all        tall         hall

   

 aw                 saw        paw       jaw    draw

 

   There are a few others but these are the main ones. Hoped it helped. Remember your child's homework and education are some of the most important things that you can give your child.


 

 
Great learning to you and your kids.


 
Wes

 

The 44 sounds of English

I guess before we really get into the sounds that the vowels make I would like to give you all the sounds that are in the English language.

You may think that there really are more sounds than these but this is really all that there are.

Take the g, it makes a hard and soft sound; /g/ and /j/. This is every sound that there is.


 
So here goes.

Consonants Sounds	Vowel Sounds
/b/ (bat) /d/ (dog) /f/ (fan) /g/ (gate) /h/ (hat) /j/ (jump) /k/ (kite) /l/ (leaf) /m/ (mop) /n/ (nest) /p/ (pig) /r/ (rock) /s/ (sun) /t/ (top) /v/ (vase) /w/ (wagon) /y/ (yo-yo) /z/ (zebra) /ch/ (cheese) /sh/ (shark) /zh/ (treasure) /th/ (thumb) /th/ (the) /hw/ (wheel) /ng/ (ring)	/ā/ (cake) /ē/ (feet) /ī/ (bike) /ō/ (boat) /yōō/ (cube)̂ /a/ (cat) /e/ (bed) /i/ (fish) /o/ (lock) /u/ (duck) / / (alarm) /â/ (chair) /û/ (bird) /ä/ (car) /ô/ (ball) /oi/ (boy) /ou/ (house) /ōō/ (moon) /ŏŏ/ (book)

# 11 on the vowel side  is an upside down  "e".  It is called a schwa.  I could not find it within Microsoft.   (that is why it is blank.)   I will keep looking for it.  sorry.
 
Great learning to you

  
 
Wes

coming tomorrow

Due to an unforeseen problem, my post from today will be posted tomorrow.   Look for it.  "The 44 sounds of English".   don't forget to ask me some questions.

Great learning to you
Wes

Sight Words

There are words in the English language that just can't be sounded out to say them right (well ok some you can), but we all need to learn to read them by sight. These words are called sight words. These words we just have to learn to recognize them when we are reading and know what they are, hence Sight Words.


 
Here are some of the first words that really need to be known by sight.


 
a                  are            who                                       

and              be             have                                      

look            came          out                                                 

me              do                                                                   
my              get                                                                 
said            no                                                             
the             like                                                              

to              our                                                              
we            saw

you          there




These my be repeats but are High Frequency Words.    Which are the same as sight words.
High Frequency meaning that they will come across these words a lot when they read, so they really need to know them.

 it              on           is           red          or            to 
and           for          no          so           mom        in 
with         dog         not         like          not          said 
love         will          my         we          dad          big
by           was         do          look        here

There are many sight words but here is the most common ones that are learned or need to be learned.


 
Great Learning to you


 
Wes

Each Vowel Has Different Sounds

The English language is probably the hardest language to learn. Why is that, well it breaks its own rules way to many times. Then it just has rule after rule. Where as many other languages has a rule and they stick to it.

Take our vowels, they each have a sound that they make. A has a short sound-- a --as in cat, hat, pat. Then it has a long sound-- ā -- as in day, fate, bake. Like when a word has an a followed by an consonant then an e (vcv=vowel consonant vowel), it changes the vowel sound. In any of the vowels this happens

Then when an-- r -- is right after an vowel it changes the sound of the vowel as well. Our language is truly amazing and hard to learn, but we all have done it, and I bet some of us have learned some of the rules and we didn't even know that it was a rule, or a rule breaking another rule. Yes you are truly amazing learners.

So for the nest month I want to go over some of the rules that dictate how our lovely language is read and spoken. And yes there will be more than what I share and help teach, but what I want to share it some hints and helps that will help you help your child with their school work, and over all improve their reading ability.

Here is a little hint. Short vowels say their sound, but long vowels say their name.

Short a --cap, tack, van

Long ā -- fade, take, baby

 
 

 
 

Great learning to you.

 
 

Wes

Martian man

Here is an activity that you can use to help your child develop their Phonemic Awareness better. The grade level is k-1st; this would work for older students that struggle as well.

 
 

This is called Martian Man. You will need a puppet to help you out with this, because the puppet speaks (stretching out the words) and your child will translate what the "Martian Man" said. If you don't have a puppet a simple one made out of a small paper bag will work.

 
 

1st you need to introduce the puppet to your child and tell them that he/she speaks a different language but that they will be able to speak the language soon.

 
 

2nd the "Martian Man will say words that are exaggerated and stretched out. For example: Man—the Martian Man will say

 
 

MMMMMMMMMMMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnn.

Make sure that the sounds that the letters make are really pronounced well.

 
 

Your child will then quickly say the word, man. This will show that your children know the sounds and able to blend them together. This activity may be done in school, and that is ok because the more reinforcement your child gets the better.

Remember to use smaller words at first and words that your child knows. Words that have 2-3 sounds are great words to start with.

 
 

Here is a list of some simple words that you can use.

 
 

Man can cab dog cat sat ran up at had van car jar fat mad ball hall drag

 
 

Have fun.

 
 

Wes

 
 

Rhyming short vowels

The biggest thing that I, as a parent and teacher, think is most important in reading is knowing the sounds that each of the letters make. And yes it can get very confusing at times. But there are a few simple rules that can make it easier. So here are some of the letter sound and rules that govern them.

 
 

Short a, e, i, o, u All have their basic sounds

Short a --     cat rat pat ran tan back tack tap sap

Short e--     pet let met set pen men ten sell well bell

Short i--     hit bit fit tip trip dip flip chin fin bin

Short o--     chop mop top hot not dot rock sock lock block

Short u--     bug rug dug hug truck suck duck bump jump pump

 
 

Yes there are some other rules like ou, oo, aw, ow , bossy "r" and others but I want to leave those to another time.

 
 

The thing that has helped my son a lot, with his reading ability, is having little words like the ones above on flash cards and having him go through them. I had him just start out with 4 different groups each vowel has at least 4 of its own groups. Once he has mastered that group then grab a new one and start incorporating it into the circulation. These first group of words needs to be rhyming words, it really does make a difference.

 
 

Here is a couple groups from each short vowel.

 
 

short a--

-at: cat, mat, sat, pat, rat, flat, hat

-an: man, can, van, ran, fan, pan, plan, tan

 
 

short I--

-it: hit, sit, fit, pit, kit, bit

-ig: big, fig, wig, dig, pig, twig

 
 

short o--

-ot: hot, pot, lot, not, got, dot, spot

-op: top, pop, cop, hop, mop, stop, drop, chop

 
 

short e--

-et: pet, net, set, met, wet, let, jet

-ed: red, led, bed, fed, shed, sled

 
 

short u--

-ut: cut, nut, but, hut, shut

-ug: bug, hug, dug, rug, jug, slug, mug, plug

cat	mat	sat	pat
rat	flat	hat	man
can	van	ran	fan
pan	plan	tan	hit
sit	fit	pit	kit
bit	big	fig	wig
dig	pig	twig	hot
pot	lot	not	dot
spot	top	pop	cop
hop	mop	stop	drop
chop	pet	net	set
met	wet	let	jet
red	led	bed	fed
shed	sled	cut	nut
but	hut	shut	bug
hug	dug	rug	jug
slug	mug	plug

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

I hope this helps with your child with getting better at reading. This is not the first step that you need to take. Learning the letters and sounds is first. But once they know the names and sounds of letters this will help a lot.

 
 

Happy learning

 
 

Wes

Files for you to have

     I am putting together some pdf files of activities and homework help that you can print off or use on your computer to help your child.  They will be for different subject.  This is something that I wish I would have had easier so that I didn't have to look around or make them.  Most I have been making for my son. Now they will be in 1 easy location to find.  If there is something that you would like let me know and I will research that or make one up for you.  Multiplication tables, literacy info whatever it may be. 

     I will also be making a list of some of the best websites that I have found that will help your child have fun while learning.  Here's one right now.   starfall.com

     Here is a fun book that we have been reading to our kids.   "The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil"  by Wiley Miller.   It really has been fun reading.


Great learning to you.

Wes

I Hate Math

"Mom I don't want to do my Math homework.

" I HATE Math."

 
 

Does your kid ever say that. Well I know that there are a lot of kids that say they hate math, or english (I was one of those, well I didn't really hate english, it just wasn't my favorite) or any other subject. The reason that certain subjects are hated is because the learner doesn't understand the topic. If the topic were understood it would be easy. Why do us as parents say that we can't help with their math homework, "It was to long ago." Well if it was understood we would easily help with their homework.

 
 

What about basketball or football or any other sport? What about sewing, crocheting, knitting? What about reading? Most people that I know that don't like reading are not good readers and the ones that love to read can read fairly well. Same with sports or sewing or anything. The main reason that someone doesn't like something is probably because they really don't understand the topic. For sports if someone got to understand it and watched it they would most likely not hate it any more because they would understand it better. Same with math or any school topic. If the time was taken to learn the rules the certain topic would become understandable, and easier to do.

 
 

Another thing that damages our kids is our attitudes toward their schooling. Yes our attitudes.

 
 

"O man, I'm not that good with math, I don't know if I can help with that." Things of that nature. So our kids grow up thinking "Man I'm not good with math." or any other subject.

 
 

Yes we are good because we are parents and we want our kids growing up thinking that they can accomplish anything that they want to do.

 
 

Great learning to you.

 
 

Wes

 
 

Should the students decide what they want to learn?

There is a private school close to were I that I have subbed at before.  The teaching style that is used there is great.  That is if the students really take advantage of it and are very self motivated.  For students that are self motivated and really do want to learn this school is far better than the public schools.  The problem is that most of the students there at this school are not self motivators.  When I was there I was subbing for a science teacher and the students were needing to be working on projects.  That really didn't do that, or they wasted time doing dumb research on the internet or playing a roller coaster game that they said they had been working on.  Well if that was the truth or not I don't know.  But I do know that there has to be help and motivation from home to help the students gain internal motivation for ther homework and school work.
So should students really decide what they want to learn?  If they truly can progress in that type of schooling yes it is probably better for them.  Well maybe.  I think if you  can get a public teacher that really loves what they do and does everything for the kids, and helps them in every possible way then public schools are just as good as any other school.

Great learning to all
Wes

Self Suggestion

Self suggestion is a powerful factor in building character. That is in fact the sole principle through which character is built.

Napoleon Hill


 
There is a lot of damage that happens to individuals when they think that they are worth nothing, that they aren't good enough, or even stupid. Whatever the case may be it is truly and mightily damaging to the individual. The more that we can encourage our children in their schooling and let them know that they are doing great they will have great character and will be truly great.

Let us help our children really become someone great in kindergarten, 3^rd, 5^th, whatever grade or endeavor they undertake. And no, no one else really needs to know. We can be great even without someone else knowing.


 
Positive self suggestion to us all

Wes

Homework--gibberish?

There are times that some of us wrote gibberish on papers just to see if our teachers really read our papers.  Well I never did that and maybe you never did that, but I know some people have, and I am sure there are some teachers that really don't read  the papers.  But when we fake it at home it is our kids that end up suffering.  Yes it may not be right of the bat but eventually they do suffer.  Faking it I mean giving our kids the attention that they need from us their parents.  In the last little while my kids have really needed some of their dad's attention, I hope that I have given them what they need.   My kids homework really isn't gibberish, it truly is important.

Happy day to you

Wes

Do you know how your Kids learn?

We as parents need to realize that there are multiple intelligences, meaning that there are different ways that we learn. We are going to discuss multiple intelligences in depth more another time, but what I want to discuss now is a little less in depth. So getting on with it. Some learn best with hands on. Others learn best if they can visually see what they are doing and learning. Some learn best audibly. I have learned through trial and error how my son best learns. (And I guess that is how all of us will and have learned how our child learns best.) He is a mover. The way that he best learns is by moving, being physically active stimulates his brain and he is able to concentrate better. At home and at school when he is at the table he is almost always standing. Teaching has come a long way, there used to be a time when they would not have allowed that. We know and arrange the environment in our classes to best accommodate the students and their needs. At home we should and need to know how our children learn best. Let us give our kid the best opportunity to succeed in their schooling by understanding how they learn best.


 
Great understanding and learning to you.


 
Wes

Not My Blog

I just want to keep fresh in you minds that this blog is yours.  And the majority of what is discussed is controlled by you.  So tell your friends and family that this blog is here, so I can put this blog to true use by helping you understand and give ideas on how to help you help your children with their school work at home.  The help that we are giving our boy has helped so much.  Just this morning he was reading some books that he could not have read a couple of months ago.  These books don't have 4-5 words on them,  it's more like 15-20 words per page.    It is truly  amazing to watch and listen to him read.  I love it, and didn't think that a kindergartener could read that much by the end of the year, cause I don't think that I was reading that much by the end of kindergarten.  Well remember this is your blog, so make it yours and ask questions.

Great learning to you.

Wes

Boys and Girls are different

Yes boys and girls are really different in their ability to learn and when they start making progression in their learning ability. My wife was very concerned with our son and if he needs extra help since he is one of the lowest in his class. (This was something that his teacher offered if we wanted, yes she left it up to us to decide. She didn't think that he was so far behind that he had to have it. We said that we would work with him, and he is now showing progression.) But this (lowest in his class) is because he is one of the youngest, which really makes a difference with boys and their learning abilities. My little girl right now at age 2 is far more advanced than my boy was at that age. Girls always seen to be a little more advanced and mature than boys, and yes even at a young age it happens. So if your little boy seems to be behind he really could be behind and needs help, but also his mental ability hasn't developed enough to really make strides in his education. so just be patient and help him out at home.

great leaning to you

Wes

Time with our Children

Today I was subbing, and in the class that I was in there are 4 kids that have some real problems at times. They have a tracker that you have to fill in every half an hour on how well they were. You know, some of that is the students themselves and you really need to work with them in trying to provide the very best environment for them. Sometimes that is hard, other times its not to bad when you are able to get a good relation with the student. But a lot of the times it is the environment that is at home. That might sound harsh, but it is so true.

Even tiny little things that we as adults don't think have much impact, really affect our children. At times I can see this with my kids, not to say I am a terrible parent. Kids truly are sensitive to a lot of things that us as adults have become numb to. Time that we spend with our kids is truly one of the best things that we can do to help our children succeed. I mean true time that we spend with our kids, one on one real meaningful time, time that our children think is the best.

My son is really into his Dad right now and when I don't give him some of the individual time that he needs , it almost seems like he feels that he is not as important to me. (And yes sometimes this impacts how he feels about his homework, does he want to do it or not, or how he does it when he does.) Even little time like doing the chores outside means the world to him. And little things like that can mean the world to our kids and make a world of a difference in how they feel at school and their success.

True Time to our Kids

Wes

Topic Rotation

This blog is for you and your questions. How can I help my child with their math homework? How can I help my kid with their reading? Yes I could just answer questions like this, but why I am doing this blog is for you, so for this blog to truly be effective for you, and be the type of blog I would like, I need questions to answer and then research if I don't know the answer. When I don't have questions I think that I am going to set up a schedule with educational tips and insights to help you help your kids with their homework at home.

So starting in April this will be the rotation.

Topic rotation

1st month--Literacy,

2nd month--Math,

3rd month--Science,

4th--The Arts (music, drama, art)

5th month--General help for you at home.

This is going to be the rotation with the topics that I post about. In addition to the questions that you ask. So yes these topics will be posted as well as your questions.

Great learning to you

Wes

Our Kids health

Our children's health is one of, if not the most important factor for them to be able to really learn at their full capacity. When they are hungry they suffer, their brain is starved of the energy and nutrients that it needs to function properly. Give you kids the health that they need to reach their full capacity.

Here's a great place to help.

Great Learning. At home. At School. Everywhere.

Wes

Our children need us to be involved with them to truly Succeed

I have noticed that my son has made some leaps and bounds from were he was to where he is now just by taking some time with him and sit down with him while he does his homework. There is some extra things that I am doing with him at home that has really helped him read better. Things like this is what I want to share with you. And in the future I will be sharing some great techniques with you. Remember that your child is far more confident when you are helping them succeed. You are a great parent and know everything that your child is learning, your just have to go retrieve it in your super computer, your Brain.

Great learning to you and your child.

Wes G.