With 4th of July quickly approaching, Canada Day just past and Bastille Day next week, it seems that people the world over are celebrating citizenship. Play some national anthems with your child and read the english versions of the lyrics
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
Worldly Words
Learn about a different aspect of the world around you each week this summer! Brainstorm topics about the natural world that your child finds interesting, then put those topics in a hat or bowl. Have your child draw one topic
Starstruck Storytime
There’s no better time than warm, summertime nights to stargaze. Connecting the dots in the sky with the mythology from different cultures can leave your linguistic child star struck. Check books out of the library telling the stories of each
Audible Feast
As we all know, variety is the spice of life…but many of us get stuck in a rut when it comes to the musical genres to which we will listen. When you think about it, though, music is much like
How to Choose the Best Instrument for Your Child
If you have a little musician in the house, they may be chomping at the bit to graduate up from your pots and pans and belting out vocal stylings to toddler tunes to their first musical instrument. Selecting the right
Autobiographical Cube
Inspired by an activity in Multiple Intelligences in the Elementary Classroom: A Teachers Toolkit by Susan Baum, Julie Viens and Barbara Slatin. Take a square box (or die) and put 4 of your child’s FAVORITE multiple intelligences on the sides
Touchy Touchy
Watch a well-acted movie scene or play with lots of interaction. Write all of the character names down one column, then make one column for touching and one column for being touched. Have your child make a tally mark by
Summer Reading Recommendations for the “Body Smart” Child
All ages: Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman. By Kathleen Krull. The story of Wilma Rudolph, the prematurely born black child who, despite suffering from polio, became the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals.
Fireworks are Popping Up All Over!
People often mistakenly associate body smarts solely with gross motor coordination (e.g. sports, dance). But kinesthetic intelligence also encompasses fine motor skills. Take advantage of your kids’ excitement over tonight’s fireworks to flex your kids’ kinesthetic and visual-spatial mind muscles