February 2013

Newsletter

630-968-8474

Is there any better family activity than reading together? 

  

Reading together as a family is fun, it's inexpensive, and it's beneficial to everyone. Here are a few tips about how to make family reading time a regular part of your family's entertainment.

  

Take turns choosing what books to read. Kids love to have a hand in what the family will read together. Then, take turns reading. Give everyone a turn. Read with expression to make the stories come alive.

  

Give children time to browse in their favorite sections. Check with the children's librarian about the best and newest selections, suggestions for your family's needs, and your child's interests. Show enthusiasm about your child's books. Talk about them. Ask conversation-starting questions.

  

Kids like telling you about their favorites, but they also are curious about yours when you were their age. What were your favorite childhood books and stories? Get Grandma into the act too, as well as favorite Aunt Heather and fun Uncle Evan. Then, read those books together during one of your Read-Aloud Nights.

  

What would happen if...? Re-arrange some scenes and heave the kids put them in their proper sequence. They love that ,and it's a good check for their attention and understanding.

  

Make simple sets and costumes. Kids love the creativity, the activity, and the fun. Kids are motivated most and learn best when they're active and can use their imaginations.

  

Let your kids see you reading daily as you read for information or just for the fun of it. We have children's undivided attention for such a short amount of time. Use it wisely to help them establish healthy habits and attitudes about reading.

  

  

  

  

Research studies have shown that when students take simple recall tests as they study, they retain about 50 percent more information than students who didn't. It is a known fact that when students take their studying seriously enough to quiz themselves on their progress, they up the ante for success. This is, after all, why teachers give no-risk pre-quizzes a few days before a major spelling, algebra, or social studies test. Students get an idea of what they've mastered and where they need to spend additional time and effort.

  

Here are some suggestions for no-risk, no-stress, pre-test quizzing that can be fun as well as helpful. Watch those grades and confidence rise.

  

Give quizzes yourself.

When your child has a test coming up, encourage her to begin studying several days ahead of time. Each night during homework and study time, spend some time with her asking questions from her notes, textbook, online reading, or teacher materials.

  

Flash cards are particularly helpful for material that needs to be learned with "automaticity" or with such mastery that you don't even think about it. The times tables, for instance, or the alphabet, or some important dates. Quizzing with flash cards can be fun, especially for younger kids, who feel a real sense of accomplishment for correct answers.

  

When kids quiz each other, they're particularly serious about doing well. They want to succeed in front of each other, and they enjoy thinking up questions that are even tougher than anything the teacher will throw at them.

  

As you take turns reading, stop to ask questions periodically. Every couple of paragraphs is a good rule of thumb. Ask simple recall questions (who, what, when, and where), but don't forget the more interpretive questions (why).

  

Use a stopwatch. 

Timed quizzes add another dimension to studying. Set a simple stopwatch for a minute or two, or use an egg timer, and ask a series of questions to see how many your child can get in a minute. This can be particularly helpful fir the material he'll need to know off the top of his head.

  

Talk about the quiz.

After each pre-test quiz, talk about the material. Make the material- Revolutionary War dates, vocabulary, math strategies- relevant and real, not just isolated facts for a test. Connect to the real world.

  

Talk about the results.

Talk about improvements and the valuable impact of studying. Remember, you're laying the groundwork for future achievement and good study habits. Start early.