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
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
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…
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
Be Playful
Have your child become a playwright. Take his/her natural gift for language and storytelling and apply it to playwriting. Creating dialogue, imagining character motivations and developing story arcs will help your child strengthen interpersonal smarts in a way that’s comfortable for
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
Secret Hideout
Go to a nearby “wild” space with a few of your child’s friends and help the kids create a “secret hideout” solely from the trees, rocks, branches, etc. Show the kids how they can not only use the hideout for
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
References We Used As We Developed Kidzmet
Genesis of Kidzmet While we started building the current version of Kidzmet in late 2010, the inspiration for the idea actually came from Jen Lilienstein’s undergraduate senior thesis in 1994. Under the direction of Dr. Francesca Cancian at UCI, Jen
Summer Reading Recommendations for the “Music Smart” Child
All ages: Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! By Robert Levine. The book is divided into two major parts: composers and their associated musical periods,