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I've found these to be interesting reads. I thought I would post them here for your browsing. Please share articles with me that you think might be of interest to other third-grade parents. Thanks!
5 Things to ask your kids instead of “How was school?”
What made you smile today?
Who did you sit with at lunch/play with at recess?
If you could change one thing about today what would that be?
What was the hardest rule to follow today?
Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
Here's an article that made me stop and think a bit....are we praising achievement in our students more than being caring or kind?
Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids
Here's an interesting video that was shared with me...makes me reflect a bit:
What did you do for fun when you were a kid?
Here's an interesting article from Bright Horizons about developing critical thinking skills in kids:
Developing Critical Thinking In Kids
Watch this video of Carol S. Dweck describing the importance of the "Power of Yet". It supports what I and the other teachers at Chester Elementary are trying to encourage with Growth vs. Fixed Mindset.
This year I'm incorporating Growth vs. Fixed Mindset activities within the classroom. Please see the following link for information about the difference:
I love at the end of the article how Carol Dweck gives us examples of ways of encouraging children toward a growth mindset. She uses math as an example, but it can be used with any subject or activity that your child struggles with.
This quote stuck with me as well: "Let’s acknowledge that (1) we’re all a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, (2) we will probably always be, and (3) if we want to move closer to a growth mindset in our thoughts and practices, we need to stay in touch with our fixed-mindset thoughts and deeds."(Carol Dweck)
Here's another video that illustrates the difference between: Growth vs. Fixed Mindset
I just read an interesting article titled 8 Ways Parents Discourage Their Kids from Reading. We may not even realize we are doing it. Check it out by clicking on this link:
Amy J. Barry attended a literacy workshop at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison. Pam Allyn used this acronym for encouraging your child to read:
R: Ritual E: Environment A: Access D: Dialogue Read more about it in this link.
Parents Can Help Create Lifelong Readers, Amy J. Barry from Valley Courier
25 Ways to Ask Your Kids "So How Was School Today?"
How to Get Your Kid to Be a Fanatic Reader
RIF-Reading is Fundamental (articles)
Reading Tips to Help Your Child at Home
Mr. Patterson shares his opinion with the CNN audience on how to get kids to read. I find it hard to disagree with most of what he says. I found it an interesting read and thought I would share it with the parents in my room. He does make many good points! The article is the next link:
James Patterson Reading Picks for Kids
Past and Present Nutmeg Award Books
5 Things Parents Need To Stop Doing This School Year (Allow me to add that I am not complaining about anyone e-mailing me and I'm always looking for volunteers! :-))
20 Ways to Encourage Reading
1. Scout for things your children might like to read. Use their interests and hobbies as starting points.
2. Leave all sorts of reading materials including books, magazines, and colorful catalogs in conspicuous places around your home.
3. Notice what attracts your children's attention, even if they only look at the pictures. Then build on that interest; read a short selection aloud, or simply bring home more information on the same subject.
4. Let your children see you reading for pleasure in your spare time.
5. Take your children to the library regularly. Explore the children's section together. Ask a librarian to suggest books and magazines your children might enjoy.
6. Present reading as an activity with a purpose—a way to gather useful information for, say, making paper airplanes, identifying a doll or stamp in your child's collection, or planning a family trip.
7. Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters. Older children enjoy showing off their skills to an admiring audience.
8. Play games that are reading-related. Check your closet for spelling games played with letter tiles or dice, or board games that require players to read spaces, cards, and directions.
9. Perhaps over dinner, while you're running errands, or in another informal setting, share your reactions to things you read, and encourage your children to do likewise.
10. Set aside a regular time for reading in your family, independent of schoolwork—the 20 minutes before lights out, just after dinner, or whatever fits into your household schedule. As little as 10 minutes of free reading a day can help improve your child's skills and habits.
11. Read aloud to your child, especially a child who is discouraged by his or her own poor reading skills. The pleasure of listening to you read, rather than struggling alone, may restore your child's initial enthusiasm for books and reading.
12. Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting passage in a book, an interesting tidbit in the newspaper, or a joke in a joke book. When children read aloud, don't feel they have to get every word right. Even good readers skip or mispronounce words now and then.
13. On gift-giving occasions, give books and magazines based on your child's current interests.
14. Set aside a special place for children to keep their own books.
15. Introduce the bookmark. Remind your youngster that you don't have to finish a book in one sitting; you can stop after a few pages, or a chapter, and pick up where you left off at another time. Don't try to persuade your child to finish a book he or she doesn't like. Recommend putting the book aside and trying another.
16. Treat your children to an evening of laughter and entertainment featuring books! Many children (parents, too) regard reading as a serious activity. A joke book, a story told in riddles, or a funny passage read aloud can reveal another side of reading.
17. Extend your child's positive reading experiences. For example, if your youngster enjoyed a book about dinosaurs, follow up with a visit to a natural history museum.
18. Offer other special incentives to encourage your child's reading. Allow your youngster to stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a chapter; promise to take your child to see a movie after he or she has finished the book on which it was based; relieve your child of a regular chore to free up time for reading.
19. Limit your children's television viewing in an effort to make time for other activities, such as reading. But never use TV as a reward for reading, or a punishment for not reading.
20. Not all reading takes place between the covers of a book. What about menus, road signs, food labels, and sheet music? Take advantage of countless spur-of-the-moment opportunities for reading during the course of your family's busy day.
Source: RIF Parent Guide Brochure.
Two Sculptors
I dreamed I stood in a studio, and
watched two sculptors there.
The clay they used was a young child's mind,
and they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher, the tools she/he used were
books and music and art.
The other, a parent, who worked with
a guiding hand, and a gentle, loving heart.
Day after day, the teacher toiled
with skill that was deft and sure.
While the parent labored by his/her side,
and polished and smoothed it over.
And when at last their task was done,
they were proud of what they wrought.
For the thing they molded into a child
could neither be sold or bought.
And each agreed she/he would have failed
if she/he had worked alone.
For behind the PARENT, stood the SCHOOL,
and behind the TEACHER, the HOME.
~Anonymous
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