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
Broadway Baby
Watch a broadway show or musical theater movie with your child. Have him/her make up a song for one of the other characters in a scene that wasn’t singing…or compose a song for “after Happily Ever After”–what happens to the
Make It Your Mission! Part 4
Think about how you want to set up your event. Do you want people sitting in chairs facing you at the front (e.g. stage/audience) Do you want people sitting in chairs in a round circle? Do you want people standing
Math Music to Your Ears
More than a quarter of a century after learning the states to the tune of “Do your ears hang low”, I still remember the states alphabetically in this way. And even though I’ve never had ANY use for the greek
Effective Breakout Groups for Long-Term Projects

Break Apart by Multiple Intelligence FIRST Place at least one child with a parallel preference in each of your breakout groups. E.g., for a history lesson, place a child with and intra- or interpersonal preference in each breakout group; for
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
Letter-Perfect Park Poems
Adapted with permission from Chicago Park District’s “Once Upon a Day Camp” Guide Go to a park or into another natural setting (e.g. beach, woods, etc.) with your child. Then show your child a letter perfect poem like this one (a poem
Cultural Care Package
I don’t know how it is in your house, but at our house, getting something in the snail mail box is always a thrill for my kids. I must admit, I was the same way when I was young. I
It’s (Math) Party Time!
The common core standards set forth the following criteria for math proficiency are grounded in 8 math “commandments” that include contextualizing, strategizing, modeling, precision, reasoning, structure, content proficiency and perseverance. We feel these standards are missing a crucial first step…
Get in Gear for Back-to-School :: LANGUAGE ARTS
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

