Connecting Parents and Teachers: What can I ask my child’s teacher?

Kids are back in school! So, what now? Take advantage of Back To School Night and ask your child’s teacher how you can continue to support your child at home. Here are some questions you can ask your child’s teacher:

1. How can I support my child’s social/emotional well being?
2. Can you recommend some books that help my child talk about their emotions.
3. Do you have a feelings chart you use in school? I’d like to use it at home as well.
4. Can you share your daily schedule with me?
5. How can I support my child in math, reading, and writing?
6. What strategies do you use in reading that I can use at home?
7. In math, what counting strategies can I apply while helping my child with homework?
8. Share a success story about my child.

These questions open up the conversation to learning more about your child as a student. It helps you, as the parent, learn what happens throughout the day. Ask your child’s teacher for resources. If you are not sure how to explain math to your child, ask the teacher to share some sample strategies used in the classroom. If your child struggles in reading, ask the teacher what are some strategies you can use at home to help your child. Covid has affected our little ones in different ways. It’s important that we take time to support them not only academically, but also emotionally. Teachers have so much insight into our children’s world. Asking these questions help parents have a bigger picture about your child as a learner.

Don’t forget to ask your child’s teacher how they are doing as well. Teachers do so much behind the scenes work. A little cafecito or special drawing from your child is always welcome too.

xoxoxo

Leticia

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Keeping Kids Motivated While Remote Learning

It’s summer and camps are closed! What next . . . ? Read my blog post on Multilingualkidblogs! I give great tips on how to survive the summer with your little ones. Click the link below

https://multiculturalkidblogs.com

Make Learning Fun!

Once your child starts school (as in pre-k) the pressure is on! Children are learning their alphabet and colors at a much younger age. Whatever you do, don’t measure your child against his/her peers. Each child learns at a different rate and when it comes to reading children technically have until the end of second grade to master reading. Did you know that in some European countries children are taught to read in second grade and not Kindergarten like in the U.S.

It’s so important for our children to play and spend as much time outdoors as possible. Dramatic play and discovery is important in the elementary years.  Hands on learning is the best type of learning in my opinion.

My son is in K and his teacher gave me a list of words he should know. I looked at it and laughed. There is no way I am doing boring flash card drills with my kid.  He loves homework and wants to learn to read. He is always asking me to read labels and titles for him. I tell I’m he will read when his brain is ready. He is curious about letter sounds and learning words. I notice he loves to paint, so I gave him a few words and he painted the words on paper. He had a lot of fun and enjoyed figuring out the sounds. It seems like a better way to teach words rather then putting them on a flash card. I don’t know if we will do it everyday, but it is a great way to integrate art and literary. So before you run to the store and buy flash cards consider tapping into your child’s interests to teach them new things.

 

Which letters should children start writing first?

If you want to teach kids which letters to write first, start with the “tallest” letters. These letters are t,b,k,l,h. Get wide ruled line paper with broken lines in between the solid lines.  Label the top line sky line, the broken line plane line, and the bottom line grass line. See the attached photo taken from Barbara Wilson’s Fundations website. http://www.fundations.com/

When practicing with your child refer to the lines as stated above, it gives them a reference point and a pattern to remember when writing these letters. Once your child masters these letters move to the rest of the letters in the alphabet which start on the plane line.

Happy Writing