I had a lunch outing with a young mom the other day, and was delighted to see that she brought her two-year-old son.  Of course, being two, he got a bit antsy before we ladies were done with lunch.  Twenty years ago, I would have jiggled the baby, tried a few distractions from my diaper bag, then had to excuse myself before the tyke started howling and disturbed the whole restaurant.  My young friend just handed him her mini tablet!  When he tired of one game, she helped him switch to another, then finally put a movie on for him to watch while we finished lunch and he dozed off to sleep.  Quite a change over twenty years!

Now, I’m not being critical at all.  Parents are going to use the tools they have available to occupy, entertain, and yes, even educate their children.  A few generations ago, we had televisions, then desktop computers and video games, and now tablets.  The same questions loom, and I’m pretty sure we will arrive at the same answers: It’s not necessarily the technology that’s bad for kids, it’s how we choose to use it.  The scientists can debate all they like, but the fact of the matter is that tablets are here to stay, and developers are very mindful of young parents’ tendencies to want distractions for little ones.  Tablets for kids are here to stay.  How will you choose to respond?

Granted, I don’t have a young child in the house anymore (though someday I may become a grandma).  I do have some strong opinions on the subject, though, perhaps because I’m an educator.

Like television, computers, video games, and all of the other techie toys that we’ve grown so fond of, let’s use these devices sensibly with the kids.  The key, like for most of the rest of life, is moderation and discretion.

I do feel that kids need to learn other strategies for distracting themselves, for soothing themselves to sleep, and for interacting with the rest of the world.  I do feel that it is very counterproductive to ALWAYS hand your child a gizmo when he or she is fussy.  I also feel that we do children a huge disservice when we use these devices as a substitute for interaction and monitoring that parents have always needed to be doing.  In other words, tablets are no more babysitters than televisions were when my children were young.

That being said, tablets and phones and similar items are not going away any time soon, and we need to learn to use them (and have our children use them) wisely and well.  Take the good things and maximize them and weed out the counterproductive aspects.  That takes a bit of doing, but it is quite possible.

One of the first things I would suggest is an app (yes, there really is “an app for that”!) that allows you to enforce usage limits for your child.  It will also give you information about just how much of the time you give your device to your youngster, which is good to have a clear idea about.  One such app is only 99 cents in the Apple App Store and works on all of your Apple devices.  Check out TimeLock .  If Android is more your speed, check out MM Guardian.  I’m quite sure there are others out there as well, and commercials are indicating that the new Kindle Fire comes equipped with such parental controls.

Consider the types of things you have for your child to do on the device, as well.  Find apps that are developmentally appropriate, that contain no advertising, and that limit access to the internet and social media for your younger children.  It’s good to be able to disable those features if they are there.  And yes, these sorts of apps do exist!  One of my favorite review sites for Ipad apps is Best Apps for Kids, where you will find info about apps for children of all ages.  Of course, I have to admit to just a little bit of bias here; I write for the site.  If you’re interested, you can see my opinions of several great educational apps linked at my author page on Best Apps for Kids.  Stop on over to visit, and get some great ideas of what’s out there for your children to enjoy while they learn!

*************************

Got a question or a comment about tablets for kids (or any other educational topic)?  Please leave it below, or you are welcome to email me directly at sfleming1235(at)gmail.com.

Tablets for Kids-If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…

Start with plain, old-fashioned listening.  Kids tend to talk in the car, and talk far more than they do at home.  You might need to institute a “no electronics” rule as you travel, but it can be well worth your while.  Without the distraction of the television, video game set, stereo, and toys, there is little left to do BUT talk.  Something about the lack of eye contact even makes talking about those difficult subjects a bit easier, too.  Children riding in cars with their parents sometimes share bits of their lives, information about their friends, their fears, their dreams, and their problems.  Riding is rapidly replacing the vanishing family dinner table as the time for conversation, and many families are finding that if you can’t beat ‘em, you might as well join ‘em.

The same rules apply to mobile conversations as those that previous generations had around dinner tables.  Be a good listener, and avoid disciplinary or corrective comments.  Keep the conversation a pleasant time of sharing so that everyone feels comfortable.  Make sure everyone in the car gets a turn to speak, and that no one tramples the feelings of others.  Respect for others’ opinions and civil conversation rules should apply to everyone.

So why is it so important to keep these rolling conversations going?  Why bother nurturing them and enforcing rules?  It’s much simpler just to turn the volume up on the radio and allow everyone to disappear into his or her own private thoughts.  Why should we work to keep conversations active?  It’s simple, really.  Pleasant conversations with parents and other adults help children in lots of ways.  Kids who converse are more socially adept than their peers.  They build a closer bond with their parents.  They are less likely to indulge in risky behaviors as teens, and parents know more about their children’s activities if you keep these lines of communication open.

Conversation with family is a safe time to practice many social skills.  Children who are involved in regular conversations learn the give and take pattern, discover more about how to read body language and facial cues, and better perceive underlying meanings from tone, word choice, and other subtle clues.  These abilities will help your child to succeed in the social milieu of school, church events, youth meetings, teams, parties, and other group situations.  A child who is deprived of this practice is condemned to learn these skills from peers in less supportive environments.  If a child does not succeed, he or she may have difficulty in social situations well into adulthood.

Any relationship needs attention and nurturing.  We’ve all had friendships wither and die due to lack of communication and conversation.  Without regular contact, it’s very difficult to keep a friendship alive and help it to grow.  Parents who want a close relationship and eventually have friendship with their adult children need to begin laying the foundations for that in childhood.  Travel-time conversations are one way to find the time to begin the process.  As you and your child chat, you are showing that your youngster holds an important place in your heart and mind.  Your attention is a powerful tool!

During these times of nonthreatening communication, you will have countless opportunities to express your beliefs and your feelings about sensitive and controversial topics.  It’s a great tool to help you convey your values to your children.  Youngsters may not have the opportunity to see you apply these important life tools, but you can discuss times and places where you have made moral decisions and their outcomes.  You can help your child to learn to consider consequences and match actions with values.  In this way, you can influence your youngster along the paths that you feel are best.

In addition, conversation builds academic skills.  Children who converse with adults on a regular basis use a larger vocabulary, employ more complex sentence structure, and can express themselves more freely than those who do not.  These fundamental language skills, in turn, support improved reading and writing skills.  Students who have a wide vocabulary have an easier time understanding the material that they read and can identify unfamiliar words more readily.  Writers who have a good command of oral language are more able to set their words to paper to create various kinds of written projects.  Children who have developed the listening skills necessary to participate in give-and-take conversation also develop the skills necessary to listen to oral directions and follow them.

Conversation with adults will also add to your child’s store of basic knowledge as you discuss your surroundings, current events, historical perspectives, and the underlying reasons why the world is the way it is.  For young children, this may take the form of answering “why” and “what if” questions.  And just like favorite story books, children may need to hear the answers to favorite questions again and again.  This is a normal and natural part of the learning process, and hopefully you will indulge your young friend.  The repetition meets a number of psychological needs as well as cementing concepts into place.  Older children will increasingly want to delve into history questions, like “what was it like when..” and “how did this happen?”  They will search for deeper answers to questions that begin with “why,” and for further information on ideas that have been presented to them elsewhere.

Don’t bemoan the number of hours you spend on the road with your children; take advantage of it!  “Mom’s Taxi” is a great place to converse and truly get to know your passengers.  You can build social skills, develop values, add to knowledge and much, much more as you chat with the folks in the backseat.  And you may even learn a bit about them and their lives if you listen carefully.  Turn off the radio, turn off the CD players, and put away the hand-held video games.  Car time doesn’t have to be wasted time!  It can be the most valuable time of the day.

**************

Got a question?  Leave me a comment!  I’ll get right back to you.

Turn Travel Time into Talking Time: Mobile Conversation

How do you recognize a struggling reader? It can be quite difficult, because children have different sorts of reading problems, and because many are working hard to hide their difficulties. They feel stupid or inadequate.  Sometimes they’ve even been told they are lazy or that they just aren’t “trying hard enough.”  Struggling readers may hurry through homework, have difficulty reading and following directions, have trouble on tests, or avoid bringing homework home.  They may hate to read, may have trouble reading silently, may make a lot of mistakes when they read aloud or be reluctant to read unfamiliar material.  Struggling readers may read very slowly, take an inordinate amount of time on tests or homework tasks, may refuse to write or have difficulty creating paragraphs or even sentences.  Some struggling readers even have trouble telling stories out loud!  Any of these signs can be a clue that your child is having difficulty with reading, and any of them should prompt you to get the matter checked as soon as possible.

You can do a quick check up on reading at home any time you want.  Get a book that is for your child’s grade.  You can use a textbook from school or a book from the library that is clearly marked with a grade level.  You can even find text passages for various grades online and print them out.  Have your child read an excerpt that is at least 100-400 words in length.  Read out loud.  Count the number of words that your child misses.  Count words that are stumbling blocks, words that your child has to stop and “sound out” and words that cause a noticeable hesitation.  If there are more than five of them, there might be a problem with reading.  Your child should also be able to answer questions about the text, summarize it, and retell the events in order.  If any of these pieces are missing, there may be problems.  This simple test will help you know if your youngster is reading at the level expected of children in that grade.

Find a problem?  The best answer is to talk to your child’s teacher and get some advice.  Consider some tutoring or other intervention.  Find ways to encourage more reading, read aloud together as a family, learn new words together and play language games.  And try these First Aid tips.  They can help a young person over a hump and get reading back on track.

Tip One

Make sure your student knows the sight words.  These are the basic common words that are generally taught in the early grades at school.  Many are phonetically irregular, and they are all so common that they must be committed to memory for efficient reading.  You can find lists online or from your child’s teacher.  Common sets of words include the Dolch list for younger children and the Fry list for older children and adults.  Buzz through these lists and find out if your reader has any difficulty with any of them.  If so, plan to practice the words until they are memorized.  Sight words make up a large percentage of the words we need to read every day, even as adults, and so it is vital that they be learned as automatically as our name, our phone number and our address.  Each one should be recognized instantly and with no hesitation.

Does your reader have trouble with some sight words?  Try these first aid ideas to help:

1.  Find the words and highlight them in text, like in a newspaper.
2. Spell the words with manipulative letters.
3. Copy and write the words over and over.
4. Find the words in word search puzzles.
5. Choose the version of the words with correct spelling.

Tip Two

Help your reader learn to visualize.  Most proficient readers make mental pictures as they consume text.  We form pictures that illustrate stories, that organize information, or that show how to do something.  Struggling readers often do not do this.  Help your child learn to make pictures about what they are reading, and you will find improvements in comprehension and retention.

Does your reader have trouble with visualizing? Try these first aid ideas to help:

1. Illustrate text. Draw pictures to go with stories, make diagrams or charts or graphs to go with nonfiction text.
2. Encourage the creation of mental images. Ask questions about a scene that are not answered in the story directly, like the color of a person’s shirt or bike. This can force a mental picture.
3. Describe scenes from memory.  This makes a great car game.  Have your child describe part of your house or something else that cannot be seen at that moment.  Give points for accuracy and detail.
4. Retell narratives in sequential order.  These can be stories of events that really happened to the child or the family, or they can be the things that happened in a favorite story.
5. Describe inventions or totally new and unique foods.

Tip Three

Create active involvement. Everyone reads, comprehends and remembers better if their brain is actively engaged.  Simply staring at the words, or even reading the words without taking in the information is not enough.  Your child needs to be making mental connections, hooking new information up with old, and more.

Does your reader need help with involvement? Try these first aid ideas to help:

1. Talk about topics before reading about them.
2. Introduce new vocabulary and words that may be difficult.
3. Read to find the answers to questions or to get information to solve a problem.
4. Fill out a graphic organizer or outline while reading.

Tip Four

Chunk letters in groups of three.  Many struggling readers don’t have a good strategy to manage long and difficult words.  For whatever reason, their understanding of higher-level phonics skills just isn’t working for them.  One way around this is to follow the Rule of Three.  Look at the hard word and pay attention to the first three letters.  Often this will give you a recognizable chunk of the word.  You might see a prefix, a consonant blend or digraph, or a smaller word you already know.  It also slows the reader down long enough to pay closer attention to the rest of the word.

Does your reader have trouble reading long words?  Here are some first aid ideas to help:

1. Do word sorts based on the first three letters.  Give your student groups of words that begin with the same three letters (you can raid the dictionary), then sort them based on how the first three letters sound.  Is the vowel long or short? Is there a prefix?
2. Try reading nonsense words.  These are groups of letters that you have made up and that are not real words.  You can pronounce them if you follow phonics rules, though, and they are great for practicing chunking.  An example would be “buntip.”

Tip Five

Use the Six Syllables Rule.  English is a complicated language, and there are exceptions to nearly every rule, but one handy thing to know is that there are just six types of syllables.  Each syllable has just one vowel sound.  The six types are the consonant-vowel-consonant (like ‘cat’), the open syllable (like ‘be’), the vowel and R syllable (like ‘car’), the consonant-vowel-vowel-consonant syllable (like ‘head’ or ‘rain’), the consonant-LE syllable (like on the end of ‘bubble’) and the consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e syllable (like ‘came’).  Learn to recognize these six, and you will be able to read just about anything!

Does your reader have trouble reading long words?  Try these first aid tips:

1. Sort words by the classification of first or last syllables.
2. Learn the division rules so you know how to split syllables.
3. Use colored letter cards to spell syllables-they will make distinctive patterns if you use one color for vowels and one for consonants.
4. Put syllables from different long words on separate cards and try to reassemble them into the words they came from.

Find out more about helping struggling readers at my website, http://www.quickreadinghelp.com.

**************

And as always, feel free to leave a comment or drop me a note at sfleming1235(at)gmail.com.

First Aid For Struggling Readers

The simplest codes are created using substitution: “a” becomes “b”, “b” becomes “c” and so on, as in the phrase above.  Another simple code can be created by substituting numbers or symbols for letters.  If you have a personal computer, check your available fonts for symbol sets like Wingdings on most PC’s.  These will print various symbols instead of letters as you type.  These types of codes make it easy to uncover the translation.

Your young child who is learning to read and spell will practice these skills by matching coded symbols, letters or numbers with a key that you provide.  Pig-Latin, Op-Talk and other oral codes build understanding of spelling patterns.  Sign language finger spelling also encourages children to improve their spelling skills.  Your older student will be challenged by trying to decode the message without a key.  He or she will have to use knowledge of the English language

(what letters often go together?  What suffixes or prefixes might be on the words?) and will learn about letter frequency.  Did you know that “e” is the most common letter in English?  “S,” “r,” “m,” “t,” and “n” are other very common letters to try.  You can add a little zing to messages by writing them in code, and help your child practice many academic skills at the same time.

When your student is older and more experienced, you’ll want to provide a greater challenge.  Try a Tic-Tac-Toe code, for example.  Build the encryption key by making three tic-tac-toe boards.  Number them however you wish (one number for each puzzle board).  Now, put the numbers one through nine in the small squares in each board.  Put the letters of the alphabet into the squares as well.  Now you can assign each letter a puzzle board number and a square number, so if you’ve put everything in sequence, the letter A becomes “11″ and D becomes 14.  That’s assuming you put the letters A-I in the first grid, working from left to right and top row to bottom.  The J would be coded as 21 because it is in the first box of the second grid.  You can get creative by mixing up the letters when you put them in boxes, or by labeling the grids differently.

There are some amazingly complex codes in existence, as well.  Keys can be made from favorite books, from mathematical sequences or equations and many other things.  Your older student may well enjoy a bit of research into how codes are used in espionage and how codes have been used throughout history.  Who knows, you just may help your student towards a career in cryptography!

7-9-22-5 9-20 1 20-18-25!  9-20’19 6-21-14!

(translation: Give it a try!  It’s fun!)

*****************

As always, I’d love to hear from you!  Drop me a note or leave me a comment with questions or suggestions!

Getting Cryptic: Using Secret Codes to Build Skills

Very young children are often experiencing snow for the very first time!  Even if your child is past his or her first winter, young children’s memories are hazy at best.  Talk with your child and provide special words for what he sees and feels, such as “crunchy,” “slippery,” “frosty,” and “slushy.”  Older kids will enjoy exploring new words such as “hoary” and “crystalline.”  This vocabulary-stretching will also give your students a head start when they begin to study literature and poetry in the upper grades.  What kind of word picture can your son or daughter make about this snowy day?  Encourage her to use words that appeal strongly to the senses.

Tracks are a natural study for snowy days.  Look for animal tracks, people tracks, and vehicle tracks.  Try this game:  While players are not watching, the leader makes unusual marks in the snow with sticks, rocks, or other devices.  Players try to guess how the tracks were made.  These simple activities help your children understand cause and effect, and encourage logic and reasoning.

Your young scientists can explore snow’s physical properties.  Catch snowflakes on a black piece of paper and check them out up close with a magnifying glass.  Have your child describe what he sees: is the flake thin, hexagonal, pointed, round, or what?  Older children can create diagrams of different types of flakes.  Does your scientist notice any categories of shapes?  What happens to snowballs that are put in a container in the freezer?  The refrigerator?  How is snow similar to ice?  How is it different?  Why does it take longer for piles of snow to melt than thin layers?  The questions are as endless as your child’s curiosity, and all that separates another annoying question from a science experiment is your attitude.  This is a great chance to use reference books to find out the how’s and why’s of snow.

How about a snow sculpture contest?  Traditional snowmen are nice, but can anyone build a snowcow?  How about a snow rabbit?  One caution, however.  Older children and great packing snow can create a dangerous situation.  Be aware of what the young architects are up to and supervise tunnels, tall walls, and roofs to be sure your children are safe from cave-ins.

Or, try playing “Fox and Geese.”  This tag-like game is best played when snow is deep enough to make paths.  Tramp out a large circle, and make several spokes that meet in the middle at the hub.  Choose one player to be the fox.  The fox tries to catch a goose and the first goose caught gets to be the next fox. Players must stay on the paths!  If the fox steps out, that player must catch two geese to be done being the fox.  The hub area in the center is safe for up to two geese at one time.

And for those unfortunates who live in places where snow is a real novelty or unheard of completely, you can still join in the fun!  Try some snow art.  Use white soap flakes mixes with enough water to make a paste and spread it on black or dark blue paper to create a snowy scene.  It makes a nice textured creation.  Try experiments with ice, as well.  Which takes up more space: ice or water?  How long does it take ice to melt?  Does it make a difference how large the chunk of ice is?

If your family is looking for books about the snow, check these titles:

• Snow by Thelma Bell
• A Walk in the Snow by Phyllis S. Busch
• Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Your librarian will have other suggestions, as well.  Have a cup of hot chocolate and snuggle up with a good book!

******

Got a question?  Have a comment?  Leave it below and I’ll get right back to you!

Snow Wonders

• In January, do some dragon activities on Appreciate a Dragon Day (Jan. 16).  Write stories, draw pictures and more.  National Popcorn day is January 19th. You can do science experiments with popcorn on that day.
• February 8 is Extraterrestrial Culture Day. What an opportunity to be creative with writing, or to research reports of UFOs.  On February 24 celebrate Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, with all of the obvious benefits.
• March 12 is Donald Duck Day. You can celebrate with everything from stories and games that feature the famous cartoon star to learning about animation.  March 27 is Quirky Country Music Titles Day.  It’s a great day for creativity, and for learning about a big part of the music culture in the United States.
• On April 7, pay special attention to measurement because it’s Metric System Day.  The 13th is Thomas Jefferson Day, and I’m sure your creative and fertile mind can think of some related learning activities.
• May 9 is Lost Sock Memorial Day. Play matching games with young children, and write sock stories with older ones. How about a want ad for a lost sock?  The 16th is National Biographer’s Day. Read some real biographies, and write a few of your own.
• June 12 is Raggedy Ann and Andy Day. Did you know there are stories about the famous duo?  Find them and read a few!  June 16 is Fresh Veggies Day.  How about trying a few new and unusual ones for your area?
• July 8 is Video Games Day.  Besides providing an excuse to play, try having kids write down directions or “cheats” for their favorite games.  It’s a great exercise in clear, concise writing. The 24th is Tell an Old Joke Day.  Jokes are also wonderful memory exercises, in case you hadn’t thought of that.
• August 7 is Sea Serpent Day, which provides an enormous opportunity for reading, research and writing.  August 28th is Radio Commercial Day. Experiment with sound effects and record your own old-time radio commercial.
• September 16 is Collect Rocks Day. Use the time to learn about geology and other related things.  The 22 is Elephant Appreciation Day. This opens the doors for anything from a research project about endangered species to reading stories about Babar or another famous elephant.
• In October, you can celebrate World Habitat Day on the 4th.  What can you learn about the environment?  The 12th is Old Farmers Day.  Try paging through the Old Farmers’ Almanac for interesting tidbits. Can you chart their weather forecasts and see how accurate they are?
• November brings King Tut Day on the 4th.  What can you learn about this famous Egyptian king?  November 24th is a great day for a talent show because it’s Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day.
• December 11 is National Noodle Ring Day.  That’s one of those days that I don’t quite know what you’d do with it, but it’s full of possibilities.  December 28 is Card Playing Day.  Teach the group a few new games, or have them find a new game to teach each other.

You can see from this random sampling that each day is full of fun and surprises when you tie your calendar in to learning.  If you’d like more information, you can visit Holiday Learning for Kids or Bizarre and Fun Holidays.  I’ve got more holidays and even more learning ideas posted on those two sites.

Happy Celebrating!

*********************

As always, I welcome your questions and comments.  Please drop me a note to get the conversation going!

Learning with Crazy Holidays

We all have a role to play in preventing this problem.  Most of these learners didn’t suddenly fail in high school.  They were struggling for years before finally getting so frustrated that they gave up on learning.  It’s up to us as teachers, parents, grandparents, care givers and leaders of children’s activities to spot the struggling learners before they become statistics.  With proper intervention, most people can overcome whatever learning hurdles are causing the problem.

Do you know a child who is having trouble mastering basic grade level skills?  Don’t let it slide.  Statistics show that kids will not “outgrow” the problem.  They are not lazy, uncaring or disobedient (at least not at first).  Learning problems can cause all of these negative outcomes, but students always telegraph signals of trouble long before kids give up and become problem students.  Sit up and take notice if your student is taking hours to do a thirty-minute assignment.  Don’t ignore a child who complains that school is too hard or that the teacher “doesn’t like” them.  Watch the grades-marks that slip from A’s and B’s to C’s and then to D’s and F’s.  That’s a sure sign that something is going wrong.  Take action to rescue the student before discouragement sets in.

What can be done to help a struggling student?  Perhaps the most important tool is insisting on mastery learning for basic concepts.  We’re all familiar with the grading system in place in most classrooms and even in home schools.  An “A” signals that the student was at least 93% successful on the task.  A “B” usually signifies an accuracy between 83 and 90%.  A “C” means a score in the 70′s and a “D” is often a score in the 60′s.  An accuracy score much below 65% is usually considered to be failing.

The problem is that students can achieve 66% accuracy and still “pass.”  They move on with the rest of the group to the next skill, even if they are only getting 2/3 of the tasks completed correctly.  That can signify a huge gap in proficiency!  Some of the correct answers might even be achieved by guessing and that actually lowers the amount of knowledge we can be sure the student has mastered.

There are many basic skills where a 2/3 rate of correct answers simply isn’t good enough.  Basic reading and basic math are among them.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to insist that students achieve a 100% on their responses to a skill before moving ahead to the next level?  Of course, this would demand that instruction be individualized for these skills, but that is often already being accomplished in special education classrooms.  I think all students deserve the same consideration, and we just might be able to stem the tide of unprepared graduates and students who drop out of high school.  It’s worth considering!

********************

Don’t forget to leave your comments and questions below!  Would you like advice on an educational concern?  How about information about teaching a topic?  Just drop me a note!

The Case for Mastery Learning

Finding Great Webquests

Use a Webquest Outline

The Heart of the Webquest

Keep the Students Moving

Put It All Together

Creating Great Webquests

WebQuest Background Information

A WebQuest Primer

Why WebQuests?

What’s a Webquest?