Does Social Networking Hurt Student Grades?
Scroll down to page 5 in this article in American Teacher. It poses some interesting questions about the pros and cons of Social Networking sites. It’s worth a read.
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Do You Need Help With Current Events?
Has your kid been assigned Current Events yet? Well, if they are in 4th or 5th grade either they have gotten the assignment or it’s probably on the way. I assign Current Events every Monday and it’s due on Friday. We spend time quietly reading each other’s writing and then talking about a few [...]
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Are You Over-Planning Your Child’s Life?
My friend and fellow educator Andra sent me this short article last week written by parent specialist Tom Hodgkinson. I think it’s good food for thought. Are kid’s lives over-planned? Is there not enough down time in their lives for them to pick flowers or go for a walk with you?
I think it’s worth [...]
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A Great Place To Find Terrific Picture Books
As a teacher, one of the most difficult things to find are good multi-cultural children’s books. One publisher does a great job at it, Children’s Book Press, out of San Francisco. They have many bilingual books (Spanish/English), books written about the Latino, African American, Pacific Islander, Asian and Native American cultures. There are also terrific [...]
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The Food Journal – A Great Way To Encourage Writing
You ask your son or daughter: “Honey. What do you want for dinner?”
“Um, that thing you made last week.”
“Do you remember what it was called?”
“Um, it was red and bumpy and it tasted good. I liked it. I want that.”
Red and bumpy? Are they describing a rash? That didn’t help at all. And all you [...]
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The Morning Commute: New Ideas On How To Get To School
You pile your kid in the car. You drop them at the bus stop. You jump on the train.
If you live within 2 miles of your child’s school, instead of taking a train, car or bus, how about taking the 10 to 25 minutes to spend time with your kid during the commute having [...]
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Skateboard Graphic Contest For Kids & Adults
I think this is one of the coolest ideas I have seen in a while.
Comet Skateboards founder Jason Salfi, a contributor to The K5, is having an online contest to design their next skateboard. I thought this would be a great chance for both kids and adults to submit, or better yet, collaborate with your [...]
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It’s Easier Than You Think: Make Paper At Home With Your Kid
I often search the web for good ideas to use in my classroom, especially = art projects. Although I have made paper a number of times with my students, which they always love, I thought this video from Howcast was good enough to share with you. It’s a great activity to do at home. And [...]
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Q-tips. Newspapers. Magazines. A few postcards from your Uncle Jeffrey. Tape. Picture hangers from left over frames from IKEA. Ribbon from old birthday presents. What do you do with all this stuff?
Don’t throw it out!
Put it in the Magic Art Bag.
The Magic Art Bag sits on the Art Shelf in the corner of [...]
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Reading, Writing and Taking Photos With Your Kid
These days, everyone has some sort of digital camera. And I am sure that at some point, your child has gotten hold of it or quite possibly has one of their own. Click, click, click – they snap away, taking image after image.
When I was five-years-old, my mother bought me was a small Kodak camera. [...]
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