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
article originally written for LessonPlanet by Jen Lilienstein For many kids, annual standardized testing is one of the highest periods of stress1 during the school year. In fact, according to the Kids Health1 website, the number one kid stressor is
Haiku and Tanka
Pick up a child-friendly Haiku collection like If Not for the Cat or Cricket Never Does to introduce your child to the art and science of Haiku and Tanka. Talk about the structure of Haiku (5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in
Time for a Time Capsule
A “2020 Hindsight” time capsule can be a fun (and easy!) way to fill the summer with self-reflection and encourage intrapersonal growth/awareness in your children. Wash and dry an empty plastic or glass container with a lid that can be
Summer Reading Recommendations for the “Nature Smart” Child
All ages: Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. By Joyce Sidman. Twelve poems celebrating the night are accompanied by prose about nocturnal flora and fauna. Newbery Honor Book Farm. By Elisha Cooper. Experience life on a very real farm with
Get in Gear for Back-to-School :: MATH
The countdown to the school bell on the first day of school is officially upon us! In fact, many teachers were required to report for duty today. We’ve compiled some of our favorite math activities we’ve featured on our blog
For the Birds
Inspired by 7 Times Smarter by Laurel Schmidt Birds are generally abundant whether you’re a city-dweller or rural resident…but by the age of nine, while most kids can name 16 TV shows and 7 fast-food chains, they can only name
On Cyber Bullying as a Social Phenomenon
by Dr. Tali Shenfield, Clinical Psychologist Our society has changed a great deal over the last fifty years. Technology has increased our ability to communicate with each other. The world has gone wireless and the average human being today carries
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
Hearing in Color
Using a pitch pipe, have your child picture different colors as you play each note on the scale (e.g. red for C, orange for D, yellow for E, green for F, aqua for G, blue for A, purple for B).