Social Skills Readiness

In middle school, children will be meeting new students from other schools and from home school. This is a time of making new friend.  For some children, this is something they can handle easily, for others it is one of the most frightening events in their lives. Our daughter is in between. She’s not shy, but doesn’t make friends easily.

We’re preparing her by registering her for summer activities where she doesn’t know anyone. When we travel, she’ll go off to the children’s events on her own. She’s been reading books about friendship and I’ve bought one for her as a surprise to read over the summer – Fab Friends And Best Buds: Real Girls On Making Forever Friends

Getting Organized

We’ve already started helping our daughter get better organized during the end of this school year,  but will work on it more over the summer. She’s going to be responsible for getting herself ready in the morning. When we go out for the day she’s going to be in charge of bringing her belongings. When we travel, she’s going to pack for herself. We’ll be buying school supplies that she can use to help in this area too. She’ll be using her calendar and the one on her computer to remember important dates.

She’ll be rewarded for her accomplishments over the summer and of course when school begins again. She wants more time on the computer, to see movies and to have friends over the house. All fine with us.

More Focus on Academics

When we went to the middle school open house, we were given a list of  the Florida Sunshine State books, which are recommended reading for students based on their grade level. The principal stated in his speech to us that this was not required reading, but since our daughter enjoys reading, she’ll be going through the list. To keep her focused on math, one of problem subjects, we’ll be using math in our daily lives. We’ll have her choose the lowest price items when we shop, figure out the tip when we eat out, help with measuring when we cook, etc. She’ll also play math games online.

She enjoys meteorology so she’ll track the weather for our trips, keep track of the tropical storms and hurricanes and play with a new weather device she received as a gift. None of these are things that she doesn’t enjoy. We plan on making them fun and exciting for her.

Keeping Communication Open

We have worked at keeping communication open between us and our daughter, but this summer we are going to work extra hard at this. We want her to voice any concerns she has about starting middle school.

Visiting The School

There are a few opportunities to visit the middle school over the summer and we’ll take advantage of them. We need to fill out forms when she decides what sport she’s interested in. I signed up for the PTSA so I’ll go to any meetings or see if there’s any volunteer events where we can help. There’s also another open house right before school starts which we’ll attend.

Book Recommendation

We already purchased this book and highly recommend it – Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, The: Middle School (Worst Case Scenario Junior Editions).  It covers everything from what to do if you’re bullied to how to cope with pimples.

Are you more concerned about moving on to middle school than your child? What did you do to prepare your child for middle school?

Ferdinand, a yellow frog,  wets his bed one night, but has no idea what has happened. When he tells his friend, a boy, who has gone through the same thing, he is told how to handle it – use the toilet. But Ferdinand remembers what happens with toilets:

“Oh no,” said the frog, “I’m not going in there.” I’ve heard the loud sound that thing makes!” “Every time you go in there, I hear a WHOOSH sound, I’m afraid that thing gives me the shakes!”

Soon, though, Ferdinand conquers his fear and is very proud of himself. His fear is put into words that are easily understood by toddlers as well as the way that he gets over them. Written by Jay Tucker, a father, teacher and writer and illustrated by D.E. West, a father, husband, graphic designer and artist, Ferdinand Uses the Potty: An Empowering Toilet Training Tale is published by Loving Press.

My Review: The rhyming, adorable character, Ferdinand and the bright, cherry illustrations make this a book that your child will want you to read again and again. My daughter had major fears of potty training and I wish that I had this for her. Seeing a frog go through it with the help of a child is a creative move. I recommend this to parents who are in the throes of potty training of going to give it a start.

To Purchase: Available on Amazon.com for $11.86

You can also read a parent’s guide, get coloring pages and play Frogger on the Ferdie the Frog website.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of the book by Loving Press and The Parent Reviewers for this review. The opinions stated here are my own.

There has been a change in her school hours though. She is in school about a half an hour longer than last year. That doesn’t sound like much, but it throws off our home schedule, especially dinner time. We’ve come up with one solution where she eats her snack while doing some of her homework. We look over what is required and chose something that is easy for her to do.

I sit with her while she’s eating and work with her a bit. Then she’s on her own with her homework. I do check it of course. Next we work together on some chores which help her calm down after her day in school. After dinner, she has plenty of time to play, talk on the phone and read. Bedtime is a set time every night.

Having a schedule makes school time easier and calmer for parents and children. No more yelling in my house!

The main message of the address will be about students working hard and staying in school. At first the President asked for students in Pre-Kindergarten to Sixth Grade to write letters to the him about how they can help the President. That has now been changed to having students write letters to themselves about the goals they want to achieve.

There has been an uproar about this speech. What do you feel about it? If your school is going to show it, will you allow your children to watch it?

No worries about coming up with something that you don’t want your children to see. There is only material that is G rated and pertains to what you are researching. You will find images, videos, an atlas, dictionary, encyclopedia, songs and even games. It’s fun and easy to use.

This kids search is even helpful for parents of toddlers. For example if you want to find a song or nursery rhyme about clouds, just put the word “clouds” in the search box and move the drop down box to “songs”.  For older children, you can go as broad as using the encyclopedia to read everything about clouds to narrowing down to finding specific names and images of clouds.

Educational search engines like http://www.kigose.com can assist homeschoolers, public and private school students and parents. Teachers can even use this in the classroom to have students do some research on their own in the classroom.

Madame Esme? Yes, that is what Esme expects her students to call her to the chagrin of her principal. In the Chicago public school where she taught that first year, the students were commonly beaten by their parents, hungry, and lived in poverty. Expecting anything of them was, well, unexpected. But Madame Esme held high expectations for every one of her students.

Her unique teaching techniques brought out the best in her students. She used her creativity to inspire her students to learn to love reading, to get over the hurdles they had in certain subjects or even behavioral issues and to believe in themselves.

There is humor and sadness, feelings of futility and motivation, a call to action to parents, the government and others on behalf of teachers and heart warming stories that you won’t forget, all in Educating Esme. I highly recommend this book for parents, for people considering entering teaching, novice and experienced teachers and anyone that has an interest in education in the US.

This is the expanded edition for the 10th anniversary, which includes a Foreward by Katherine Paterson, author of  Bridge of Terabithia, Afterward by Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook and “Advice for Aspiring and New Elementary School Teachers”.

*There is some adult language in this book. I did not feel offended by it as this is a diary and factual book. The language was also commonly used by her students.*

*You may leave comments about this book, education, teaching, etc. even if you do not want to enter the giveaway.*

Giveaway: 1 Winner will receive a copy of this book.

The Rules:

1. Contest starts now and ends Monday Sept. 7th at midnight EST.
2. Open to US Residents only.
3. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.
4. Winner has 2 days to claim prize.
5. Have fun and tell your friends.

How To Enter:

For One Entry For Each Below: (please leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Sign up for this blogs RSS feed by email. I’ll be checking!
2. Leave a comment about one thing that a teacher did that made you feel more confident about yourself, or helped you in a subject you had difficulty learning. This can be about you or your child.
3. Write a blog post about this contest. (let me know the link to your post)
4. Leave a comment on my blog Brain Foggles (let me know which blog post please)
5. Leave a comment on another post on this blog. (let me know the post please)
6. Join this blogs Facebook Networked Blogs page – found on the sidebar. (leave your Facebook name please).
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Win the book Educating Esme @ConnieFoggles Read about an awesome teacher! http://tinyurl.com/m7covr PL RT

This giveaway was sponsored by Algonquin Books. By posting this I am entered to win a gift card. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

SMART stands for:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely

This is related to making goals with students and can be used for parents and teachers. With my children, getting school work, projects, homework and studying for tests was and is always easier when I was able to assist them to recognize what they were trying to accomplish first. Then break it down into steps. Check off what is done and complete the goal.

This Goal Setting Form can get you and your child on the right track. Find more tools for free from Goal Setting For Students. Don’t forget to check out their blog and resources.

We’ve been seeing the Back To School sales already and got my daughter’s school supply list at the store the other day. It won’t be long until school is back in session and that means weekly Spelling Tests. I work diligently with my daughter’s schoolwork so studying for Spelling is something we do together frequently. She’ll be going into fifth grade and I’m trying to get her to work on her own more. I’m also trying to help her lessen test anxiety.

SpellQuizzer is a spelling program that helps children master their spelling and vocabulary. I’ve taught my daughter to use it already with her spelling words from fourth grade. Then I spoke the words using a silly voice into our computer microphone. When my daughter listened to them, she not only had a laugh, but she actually did some homework during the summer!

SpellQuizzer is spelling software not just for students that need help learning their spelling and vocabulary words, it is for students who want to work independently, parents who need or want a break from the spelling nightmare practice and students who want to improve their spelling too.

For those that need help, they can practice as often as you see fit on their own. Then you can test them once or twice a week. For children who like to work on their own, they can set up their lists and even record the words by themselves.

If you don’t have the time to review spelling with your child all the time, this does the trick. And for children who want to go beyond what is taught in their class, there are pre-made spelling lists you can download and use from the SpellQuizzer website. There’s even college and beyond level words.

Some points to know about SpellQuizzer:

• The software has a built-in spellchecker that recognizes both US and UK English spellings.  The spellchecker warns the user when creating a spelling list if they enter a word that appears to be spelled incorrectly.  Because of this safeguard it’s reasonably safe to let children create their own spelling lists guided by the curriculum they are working on.
• If your computer doesn’t have a built in microphone, you can purchase an inexpensive one for under $10 that works well with this program.
• If you have problems with hearing the words after they are recorded, check the Help Section of SpellQuizzer. It is most likely that the Microphone Boost isn’t turned on by default. This actually happened with us but was easy to fix.
• There is a free trial offered and video demonstration available.

My Review:  The program was quick and simple to download. Once my daughter and I began to use it, it was easy to learn and we got the hang of it right away. Since my daughter likes using the computer for anything, I know that she will study her spelling using SpellQuizzer without any complaints. Once the program was up and running, she ran to get her old spelling words and worked with them for over an hour at one sitting. I’m looking forward to her using SpellQuizzer this coming school year. I know this will lessen her test anxiety because while working on her own, she is able to see that she is capable of getting her spelling words correctly.

To Purchase: Visit the SpellQuizzer and download it for $29.95.

Giveaway: Win a download of SpellQuizzer.

The Rules:

1. Contest starts now and ends Wed., August 5th at midnight EST.
2. Open worldwide. (Reminder, the program recognizes words in English and UK spellings)
3. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.
4. Winner has 2 days to claim prize.
5. Have fun and tell your friends.

How To Enter:
Mandatory Entry: Visit SpellQuizer and leave a comment about one thing I didn’t mention in my review. Please don’t copy the comment above you. If this is not done, all other entries will not count.

For One Entry For Each Below: (please leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Sign up for this blogs RSS feed. (Only new followers)
2. Leave a comment about one school subject your child has trouble learning or retaining.
3. Write a blog post about this contest. (let me know the link to your post)
4. Leave a comment on my blog Brain Foggles (let me know which blog post please)
5. Leave a comment on another post on this blog. (let me know the post please)
6. Tweet this and leave your Twitter ID please:
   

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This review and giveaway sponsored by SpellQuizzer.

1. Handmade Gifts
2. Particular collectibles (but only if the teacher requests or is a true collector)
3. Teaching Supplies
4. Gift Cards

How do I know this? I’ve been through preschool all the way to college with my older daughter and have always been involved with her teachers. Of course, not in college! I didn’t want to just buy things that would end up in a closet or be re-gifted so I asked.

Handmade Gifts – For preschool up to about fifth grade, teachers appreciate seeing what their students have learned or a talent they are proud of, be it writing the alphabet or their name,  a story about their year in school, a thank you letter for the extra help their teacher gave them, or for how they helped them learn about a skill they didn’t know they had. If a child is proud of their art work, a drawing or painting or any other craft item is always welcomed, especially if it can be portrayed or used such as a pencil holder. Be sure that your child puts their full name and the year on their work. Older children can give greeting card with a special message or a letter. Again, if they are gifted in a certain are, let them make something  just for their teacher.

Collectibles - Some teachers cover their classrooms with coffee mugs, Tinker Bell items or posters of dogs. If they keep adding to their collection or talking about their love of these items, it’s a safe guess that they’d be happy to receive another addition. To be on the safe side, you can mention it to them, such as, “Are you looking for more unique mugs?”

Teaching Supplies – We all know that budget cuts have caused many teachers to purchase paper, pencils and even books. Ask if supplies are needed and what in particular. Sometimes a magazine subscription is perfect. National Geographic Little Kids is good for preschool – kindergarten.

Gift Cards – Sometimes you may get a teacher that will say they don’t want or expect anything, or they are happy with a handmade gift. Either way, gift cards are a wonderful way to say thank you. Since my daughter makes either a card or a drawing, I add a gift card as our thank you. This year we chose to use our grocery store cards. Her teacher has been so grateful. He can get just what he wants and it saves him money on a necessity.

What do you do for your childrens’ teachers? I’m sure it’s much harder if you have more than one child in school at the same time.

• Provide tips that teens and tweens care about (clothing, shopping, school, cars)
• Profile green teens who share what they are doing to inspire them
• Include facts to back up the tips and the current environmental problems
• List websites for information

Easy read:  This can be picked up and read between classes. There’s tons of tips, but since it is written in chapters that are broken up into distinct categories, like “Green Your Lunch” and “Green Giving” your interest is piqued so you can grasp it easily.

Humor: This is a fun book! I loved the phrases the author uses like, “American Idles” for cars that take a long time to warm up before they start and “Trim Your Wasteline” for recycling.

Put It To Work: There are a number of events and programs that are outlined in detail so that the reader, a group of friends, a class or even an entire school can start one. For example, you can learn how to begin a school recycling program or “organize a green event”.

Who Should Read This: Although this book is aimed towards teens, some younger children who read well or who are interested in the environment will learn a great deal from this book. Parents and teachers can take advantage of the information too and inspire their children and students to go green.

About The Author: Jenn Savedge is a mother and former Park Ranger. She truly cares about the environment and writes a blog focusing about this.

Buy The Book:  You can purchase The Green Teen from New Society Publishers directly, from Amazon.com or from Barnes&Noble.com for $14.95.

For more information on the book, the author and to read an excerpt visit The Green Teen online.

This review courtesy of the author and publisher.