•Are You Failing Your Child?
Now that Noah is a month into kindergarten I am happy to report that he loves it and is thriving. Every morning he pops out of bed eager and ready to go to school. On the weekends he actually misses school although he does enjoy the opportunity to sleep in. When I drop him off in the morning he quickly switches into school mode. When I pick him up at the end of the school day he is excited to share all his news of the day including what he learned, what happened in class and on the playground,...
•Learning The Alphabet: Why It Is So Important For Children
What is the alphabet and why is it important for our children to learn it? The alphabet is simply a collection of letters and sounds. Most of us cannot even remember a time when we did not know our letters so it sounds almost absurd to worry about how to teach it to our children. Yet, the ABCs are the building blocks of language. In order to become literate, our children must be able to recognize each letter, both in order and out of order, as well as the sounds connected with that letter....
•Plan Ahead For Kindergarten Registration
It is that time of year again. If you child is already 5 or will be turning 5 on or before Oct. 1 (date depends on your state) then it is time to start thinking about registering your child for kindergarten. There are several steps involved in the kindergarten registration process.
If you are unfamiliar with the process then, it is a good idea to call the elementary or primary school your child will attend for more information. If you are not certain which school your child will attend then...
•Are You Too Old To Go Back To School?
You want to go back to school and continue your education. Perhaps you'd like to earn your first degree or ou'd like to earn a new degree in a different field. You've been dreaming of that degree but haven't dared believe your dream can come true because you think you are too old.
You aren't. It really is that simple. I don't care what your age is, as an experienced college-level educator I can assure you that you are not too old, because there are many nontraditional students on college...
•7 Reasons Why Your Child Should Help
The other day was a busy one at our house. Several rooms needed tidying, vacuuming, and dusting. Several errands needed to be run. Food needed to be prepared. My 4-year-old and I got through it all as a team. I straightened while he returned items to the proper place. We both dusted, vacuumed, and loaded the dishwasher. He tidied his arts and crafts and wiped down the table and counters while I handwashed the remaining dishes. At the post office Noah mailed our package off. At the pharmacy he...
•A Mother's Reasons For Choosing Montessori
This is the time of year when the parents of many preschoolers must decide where their child will attend school in the fall. I wanted to take this opportunity to share my experience with Montessori preschool education.
My son is completing his second year in a Montessori preschool program and attended from the age of 3 1/2.
I chose Montessori for several reasons. First, my son is a bright, inquisitive child who already had a sound grounding in recognition of his alphabet, numbers, shapes,...
•When Should You Begin Teaching Your Child To Read?
It is never too early to begin teaching your child to read, or at least laying the foundation for early literacy skills, and it can definitely be left too late!
If you are not sure then think about this. Statistically, more American children suffer long-term life-long harm from the process of learning to read than from parental abuse, accidents, and all other childhood diseases and disorders combined. In purely economic terms, reading related difficulties cost our nation more than the war on...
•Teach Your Child Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness skills are key to reading success.
Phonological awareness is an important foundation for learning to read. Scientific research has documented that phonological awareness is a better predictor of reading success than IQ, vocabulary, or socioeconomic level of the family.
Research has shown that children who begin reading instruction with sufficiently developed phonological awareness understand the instruction better, master the alphabetic principle faster and learn to...
•What Is Your Bottom Line?
Life is challenging. We all know that. On a good day the challenges make life exciting and fulfilling, but on a bad day those challenges just wear us down.
One way of effectively coping with the many challenges that life throws every day is to come up with a bottom line gut check rule to apply to those challenges. It can help you put life, and all its challenges, into perspective.
Most days I am living the American woman's dream. I have not one but two fulfilling careers plus a husband,...
•Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?
This is a question that most people grapple with from time to time and it has largely been on my mind this past week.
You see one of the best people I know -- my Uncle Carl -- had a very bad accident this week. While working on the wood lot with his son, his hand got caught in a log splitter. In the end the damage was so severe that his left hand had to be amputated.
Although no longer a young man, my uncle is very active and enjoys working with his hands. He is right handed but clearly the...
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