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
Poetry Puzzle
Adapted with permission from Chicago Park District’s “Once Upon a Day Camp” Guide Read selections from an anthology like The Rattle Bag and compare the word choices of the authors from different eras. How has the English language changed over time? What
Become a Story Sleuth
Tie together logic and language over the summer with whodunit puzzles! Playing detective once a day will strengthen your child's mind muscles in an enjoyable way. Timing how quickly puzzles are solved and charting the solution speed over the course
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
Fall Recipes Your Kids will “Gobble Gobble” Up
Few things are close to cooking for at-home learning activities that don’t feel like learning. There’s math involved in measuring and adjusting recipes; linguistic smarts involved in recipes & reviews; kinesthetic work involved in chopping/kneading/stirring/etc; interpersonal & communication skills involved since
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
Sew Cool!
While many parents think of sewing as “antiquated” and/or “just for girls”, there are plenty of benefits that can be derived from both your sons and daughters learning to sew in the kinesthetic intelligence, visual/spatial intelligence, logical/mathematical and naturistic intelligence realms. Kinesthetically speaking :: from
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
Summer Reading Recommendations for the “Self Smart” Child
All ages Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids. By Carol McCloud.Through simple prose and vivid illustrations, this book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation,
One-Size-Fits-All Doesn’t Work for Education
by Meredith Resnick, M.Ed & MA I have always been skeptical of clothing items that say one-size-fits-all. And for good reason! Although those gloves with the ‘one size works for everyone’ tag may in fact fit my 4 year old