One day closer to the first day of school… Below, we’ve compiled our favorite 10 language arts activities we’ve featured over the summer (as well as our Summer Reading Lists) to make sure your child gets in gear ahead of
Skillful Singing
For most adults, recalling the alphabet goes hand-in-hand with singing the tune, as do many of the concepts we learned in school. For musical kids, this effect is even more pronounced. Chat with your child about some of the language
Quick Tips for Error-Proof Writing
A guest post by Brian Patterson of Grammarly For many people, there is nothing more annoying than a typo. Be it a misspelled word in the newspaper or a punctuation problem on a blog post, readers are almost immediately distracted
After Happily Ever After
Choose a favorite story to act out as a family…but don’t start at the beginning–start at the END! Have each family member choose a different character to play and act out what happens next in the character’s lives. Extra Credit: Every
References We Used As We Developed Kidzmet

Genesis of Kidzmet While we started building the current version of Kidzmet in late 2010, the inspiration for the idea actually came from Jen Lilienstein’s undergraduate senior thesis in 1994. Under the direction of Dr. Francesca Cancian at UCI, Jen
Summer Reading Recommendations for “Number Smart” Kids
Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature. By Sarah C. Campbell. Crisp design and clear photography introduce and depict Fibonacci patterns in nature. Fever Crumb. By Philip Reeve. A lone girl sets out on a mission to retrieve lost technology in a
The International Language
Play a song in a language that your child doesn’t know in a style that appeals to him/her. What does it sound like the singer might be talking about? What is it about the music that makes him/her think so? The
Make it Your Mission! Part 2
Talk with your child about people who do work that’s similar to what your child said his or her mission was in the last exercise. Are there careers that are close in nature? Volunteer opportunities? Do some research online and

