First day of school jitters

There are normally a lot of jittery stomachs the first day of school.  New teacher, new class, new school.  There is an unknown in that.  And then for some students there is total readiness.  But in both cases there is feeling that students like and need.  A feeling that may not be there for the summer.  

It is the knowledge that there is structure.  They know what they are doing during the whole day.  They know what comes first then next and so on.  They know what is expected at school, and for the most part strive to to do.  There is a schedule posted, (hopefully, a good teacher would have one up) which brings comfort to the students.  

As I write this that might be why kids miss school during the summer.  They may not say it, but inside somewhere they do.  Even for us adults we like to know what is going on and when it is taking place.  Kids lose that structure during the summer, (for the most part.)  And more than likely don't have a schedule posted of their summer day.

Are kids ready for school to start?  Maybe more so than adults.  Structure is a big thing.  Just the other day I had a student tell me they were ready for school because of just this reason.  Structure

Wes

At the beginning again.

Here we are again.

So thinking about school and what the best thing to help us be prepared is: well from 4th and on (mostly 4th & 5th) is knowing the times table facts.

And READ. Read, read, read.

School is almost upon most of us, and if we haven't been having our kids read, now would be a good time to start.

Enjoy your last few days or weeks.

Wes

educationwithwes.weebly.com

reading vowels

Something that I do in my class is have the students read the vowel sounds that they would come across while they read.  

No, not just the vowels, a, e, i, o, u and y.  That doesn’t really help.  But the vowel sounds.  ai, au, ou, oa, ea, ee and so forth.  

So here is a little thing that you could do to help your child become a better reader.  Before you have them start reading, go through the words pointing to the vowels and have them tell you what sound each vowel sound makes.

Here is an example.

“When the rain started falling, it fell fast and hard.”

So you would point to each of the vowel sounds and your child would say the sound.  Then go back and read.  Don’t make them sound out the vowel sounds too much.  You should know about how long they can take it.  30 seconds to a minute should be plenty.
 

I have seen some improvement here at home with this.

Wes

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Ok ok, I may had said it before that I have never read Harry Potter, and have only watched the first 2 movies.  And I am a school teacher.  

Well that was before 3 weeks ago.  

I now am on the 3rd book.  I have been going through them about 1 in a week and a half.  I had vaguely remembered some of the story from the movies, but now I am into part of the story that I have no idea about.  I may not be able to read them as fast now as they are getting bigger.  My plan is to get at least 5 of them read before school starts.  Hope the Prisoner of Azkaban doesn't take me out.

Behind the boat? well the video will tell you. 

Back to school

School is just about upon us now, and the first few days and weeks of school can really make or brake the whole year.  As parents there is something that we can do to help our kids be totally prepared for school this month.

1. Schedule -School schedule and summer schedule always seem to be different, no matter how hard we try to keep some structure through the summer.  Make sure we are getting to bed early and getting up at the time we would during school.  This way we will be ready for school to start.

2. Learn about the teacher- Most teachers have websites and information that you could learn about the teacher and the class.  There is normally a link on the school website to their (the teachers) site.  Check it out you might find some interesting things.

3. Read- It is amazing how much kids slip in their reading levels when they DON'T read during the summer.  If they haven't been reading much during the summer, get them reading 30 mins. a day.  This will help them get "tuned" up for the start of school.

4. Practice Math skills- Same thing with our math facts, if we haven't been practicing our speed at recall is not going to be were they need to be when we get back to school.
Here is a site that they can play games and practice there math facts, along with a few other things.  multiplication.com

Enjoy the last part of summer

Wes

Hawaiian roller coaster ride.

Well for the last day of school our school had a dance festival and one of dances that we did the Hawaiian roller coaster. For those of you that don't know what that is, I didn't, it is surfing. So there is the connection to the picture. School has been out for a week now for us enough playing and back to work. Well ok we have been reading and a little math every day. That's all it will take to keep your child upon their reading and math. One book or chapter a day and practice of math skills and you kid will rock and roll when school starts again.