The K5 - elementary education for parents

Is Teaching Your Kid Self-Defense A Good Idea?

This is an interesting article I found at GreatSchools.net. It’s a topic that comes up often.  It’s  a topic that both parents and teachers should think about.
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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 Way To Teach Change: The Time Capsule

No matter what grade I am teaching, from 1st to 5th, every year I create a time capsule with my students. Each child completes their own information sheet, including details about their favorite activities, hopes and fears. We then seal them into a folder and hide them in the classroom. In June, we dig it [...]

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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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J. David Speaks: Setting Up A Reward System In The Home

Do you have a reward system in your home?
I was speaking with one of my colleagues last year about reward systems in the classroom and what we felt would also work in the home. My colleague is a parent of two teenagers, and she clearly explained to me the system she used when they [...]

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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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