Inspired by 7 Times Smarter by Laurel Schmidt Supplies Needed: thick book (old phone books work well), kleenex or toilet paper, construction paper or cardboard and glue stick or craft glue Take your child on a nature walk in your
Color De-Coding
Depending on your child's reading level, use color coding to help kids see patterns in spelling, vocabulary or grammar. For instance, if your child is learning to read, find an article in a magazine at home or print out a
Family Activity Friday – World Music!
This weekend, listen to some music from other parts of the world with your family. What different instruments are used? How about harmonies, chords, dynamics or rhythms? Do these differences in the country’s music give you any clues with respect
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
Just Dreamy
No matter whether you believe that dreams can help you solve problems, give insights into what’s to come into your life, or simply are strange jumbles of emotions and images from your day…they do offer an interesting look at your unconscious
Personal Soundtracks
I don’t know about you, but my favorite cassettes and CDs as a kid were the movie soundtracks. They were the ones that best “put me in the mood” for whatever it was I needed to get accomplished…or however I
Forces of Nature
Inspired by 200+ Active Learning Strategies by James A. Bellanca Play some nature-based music (we recommend trying some of George Winston’s Seasons based piano solos from the early 1980s on YouTube). Have your child pretend to be either the forces
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
Innerspace List Poems
Adapted with permission from the Chicago City Park District’s “Once Upon a Day Camp” Guide, which was adapted from original source “Art & Poetry Projects for Kids”, by Alice George Using a piece of butcher paper, draw an outline of
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